Made to feel guilty by Family Doctor?

[PianoLady 0]

I was just wondering if anyone else out there has been made to feel guilty if you have a lower BMI starting out. I had a BMI of 34 with 2 co-morbidities, but my family Doctor acted like I was out of my mind when I shared my plans to be banded. He actually yelled at me. I had to get a release from him because my EKG was abnormal. (Everything turned out fine) He finally signed off, but he said he was making a note in my file that he didn't think that banding was necessary. Mine was self pay so his objections didn't stop the procedure.

I have lost 17 lbs so far and am looking forward to my second fill soon. (Hope to start feeling some restriction) Let me know if anyone else had received any flack from their Primary Care Doctor.

[Llyra 3]

Mine was delighted to discover I was considering the surgery and my BMI was 35 or 36- don't recall which. She'd watched me lose and regain a significant amount of weight several times over the years and understood what I was up against. My surgeon tells me that people who have between 60 and 80 pounds to lose do especially well with the lap band,

I'd find another family doctor, preferably one with some understanding of weight issues and co-morbidities. I don't put up with people yelling at me, especially if I am paying them.

[PianoLady 0]

Thanks for the response Llyra. I must be nice to have such a supportive Doctor. Maybe it is the difference between a Man and a Woman Doctor. I think Women are more understanding of the struggles we all go through to lose weight.

My opinion of my Doctor has certainly changed. He was really good to my Husband when he was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer, so we will probably keep using him, but I will ignore his inane comments from now on in regards to my weight loss journey.

[jigglebutt1 0]

My family dr had me try a few things before considering it (over the last year). of course, they all failed. Lost lbs then gained them right back. He finally told me as my DR he thought my low bmi (31) made it not a good option for me...but as my friend he thought it was great. He saw what my weight does to me emotionally. He says he thinks it is sad that we are expected to prolong the journey....gets fatter and fatter over time untill we are a better cadidate. Prolong the suffering untill we have made ourselves really sick.

I dont care what the issue is I would never go to a doctor who yelled at me. Ever. I would consider changing. If he has labeled you as a wacko will he give you unbiased care going forward?

Good for you!

[Jachut 487]

Mine was very supportive, didnt even question me, simply wrote out a referral letter, even though I had no comorbidities.

I think its a little different here, there's no wrangling with insurance companies for one thing, if the surgeon will do it, its covered, pure and simple.

But also my observations from here make me think that although Australia suffers from similar obesity rates as Americ in terms of proportions of people who are obeste, a lot more people are on the lower end of the obesity scale. So we tend to think that a BMI of 28 is overweight and something needs to be done, whereas I really get the impression from years on here that when you're looking at a lot of people suffering from really really high BMI's on the street every day, that a BMI of say 34 doesnt alarm a doctor that much.

My BMI is 22 now and I'm not usually the thinnest woman in any room. I'm not unusually thin or anything, I'm very normal, which is puzzling when we have such a huge obesity crisis.

[PianoLady 0]

Thanks for the advice. I especially appreciate your last comments. I never have thought about it like that. I think I will be looking for another Dr. Thanks!

[elcee 3,340]

My GP refused to refer me. OK I had only recently moved to the area so he didn't know me well but he said all I had to do was exercise more and he gave me a leaflet on how to lower my cholesterol. He said that a band was far too dangerous.

Needless to say I went to see the Surgeon off my own bat without a referall!I don't like being told that I can't do something.

[MsShay 0]

My local VA has a bariatric program and when I approached my primary care doctor about getting the lapband outside of the VA she was upset. She stated that one of her other patients went through the VA program and had lost 20 lbs prior to his lapband surgery and then hadn't lost any more weight after that. I told her that I was not that patient and that I had done my homework. A month after surgery I went to see her and all she could do was parade me around and call me "her success story/" I just have to laugh about it.

My only complaint is I am tired of people telling me to stop losing weight before I start looking sick or too skinny. These are the same people that tried to talk me out of it when I was big.

[PianoLady 0]

My Doctor also made the comment that it was his experience that people that had weight loss surgery always found a way to "eat around" the surgery and sabotage themselves. I can't wait to reach my goal to prove him wrong. Thanks again for all the input.

[Scotlandlass 0]

Thank you so much for this thread.

I found lap band surgery through the internet and have my op on October 13th in Glasgow through the hospital group. I went to my GP to discuss it after I was approved by the Hospital Group surgeon and my GP totally approves. I have to say though, that he has no knowledge whatsoever about lapband surger and I am shall be his first patient to have it :-) He does know of the bariatric surgeon who has a great reputation here in Scotland and he knows of my co-morbidity and yo-yo dieting so he really is a good GP!

My bmi is 34.5 and I kept thinking I should do this myself - it's great to see the postings on here - giving me confidence to go through with the ops despite my fears, which, I guess most everyone had.

But the waiting............ :-)

[PianoLady 0]

Good luck with your Surgery. My BMI was the same as yours when I had my surgery on June 25. I have since lost 20 lbs and am at 30. You are lucky to have such a support Dr. I'll have to say that my Family Doctor seems to be changing his tune somewhat since he has seen my results. (But I won't hold my breath for an apology. LOL) Just hang in there. October 13 will be here before you know it.

[Paigey 7]

I was really worried that my GP might not be supportive or give me the referral that I needed because he is really heavy too.

He ended up being very understanding and while he'd never referred a patient for Lap Band before, he was right there with me every step of the way and did everything he needed to do to make sure I had all of my tests and medical records necessary to satisfy my insurance.

I'm hoping he will see such great results from me going through the procedure that he'll consider it for himself.