Since my surgery is next week, I went to my well woman checkup to get it out of the way...My Dr. I've used 10 yrs amazed me with a lecture how I should do this with diet and exercise..willpower he says.:mad0:He left the room not happy with me said surgery won't help RA. I was so bummed out, thought of changing gynco but then will wait one yr so he can see how great I'll be. BTW he is skinny so what does he know. 6 days till surgery, wondering how bad pain is on scale of 1-10? Carla:scared0:

Hi Carla, I would have been so angry too! That is the rudest thing I have heard about a dr. saying. He does not sound like a very good dr. to me. The pain for me was about a 4 the first 24 hours, with 1 hour of maybe an 8 for gas pains. After 24 hours it was a 1-2, mostly soreness.

Carla,

My PCP was the same. She lectured me about how I've obviously never been successful at diets before so why do I think this would be different? I saw her last August when I was getting all my pre-op testing done, then had surgery beginning of January, and will have to see her this coming August for my lady appointment. I too kind of want to show her that she was wrong about me. If it weren't for that, I think I would switch gynos too!

What I find incredibly frustrating about it (at least in my case) is that they are so closed-minded about it. They don't want you to give them more information or statistics, they just want to tell you you're going to fail. WTH is up with that? I want a doctor who is going to cheer me on from the sidelines and support my informed medical decisions, and maybe even ask me questions. I was so worried when I needed the recommendation for my PCP to submit to insurance that she would sabotage me. She came through in the end, but it only took her a MONTH to write the darn thing.

This is the same doctor that when I told her the bariatric clinic nurse suggested an EKG, she administered it and then freaked out (also freaking me out), and said to me "There is no way you're having this surgery!" I went to the cardiologist for extensive testing and guess what? She was wrong about that too! :thumbup: Best of luck with your unsupportive doc! You know we have your back! :001_tongue:

Oh hell no, it's bad enough that we have to hear things like that from everyone else, but our doctors too...come on!! They should be trained to be a little more sensitive when it comes to stuff like that, don't they know that is the last thing we want to hear!! I say prove them wrong, rub how great you look in their faces...then get a better doctor!! Good luck!!

IF you have a local surgeon--or even a local office that does Bariatric surgery even i you are going to Mexico. Call them up and ask them to refer a doctor that is understanding of the proceedure and supportive.

You have to remember that doctors are JUST people. They have a little more education than some of us but that doesn't make the be all end all. And just like we get to choose out friend we get to choose our doctors. He may have been they right choice for you the last ten years but you are CHANGING so you may have to change doctors too. Don't let him get to you. I have found that men are not as sensitve to this issue as women. Try finding a Woman OB/GYN. Good luck and don't let him get in your head.

It is so sad that you are receiving that kind of reaction. I was scared as hell to tell my primary, but she was very supportive. She even prints my weight chart for me during my followups because she is so proud of me!

However, just like all patients have different opinions, so do doctors. My primary said that everything looked great when she took out my stitches. Another gal who used the same surgeon was told by her doctor that it was a terrible stitching job. go figure.

My primary is a younger woman; what age group is your doctor in? Maybe it is an issue of teaching old dogs new tricks?? I am just guessing tho.

I have been seeing several medical staff due to my bulging disks, sleep apnea and physical therapy. Not a single person has critized my surgery. In fact, several had never heard of the sleeve and were anxious to hear more about it so they could tell a fat friend!

Now my 24 yr old daughter still thinks I am crazy, but that is par for the course for her. I rarely do anything right in her eyes. lol

I hope that you will still go thru with your surgery! It is an awesome tool!!

I am so sorry that happened to you!! Working for a doctor I too hear so pretty amazing comments from them. However, you definitely have a choice about doctors. If you want to prove him wrong more power to you! But there are plenty of doctors out there who will support you and deserve to be supported! I'll support you 100%!

I was initially worried that my primary wouldn't approve of my choice but he was surprisingly encouraging. I told him I was having VSG and he said I think you will be very successful and that was that he wrote the clearance right there in the room. It is funny because I had worried so much about it before I went in there had even planned on what doctors I would call to set up with a new primary if he said no but it wasn't a big deal and I am thankful for that. Also, it is strange because about a year and 15 pounds less ago I had mentioned the idea of weight loss surgery to him and he said he didn't think that was right for me but it was as if he had forgotten I had even asked before. Anyway, I think it is terrible that doctors think they can make decisions for you. When the truth is you are the best decision maker for you and you can always make the decision to get a new doctor. Also, I just want to remind people that you are customers when you go to a medical facility just like any other industry you are paying for a service and you are entitled to quality service and should not accept less. We all know we are paying good money for our health care in america and its about time we stand up for ourselves and get what we pay for. That's all for my rant!

Thanks everbody for it makes me feel better :crying: I have a year to decide if he's

good enought to remain my Doctor.lol My surgeon is great, my pcp is 100% there for me and this forum has been my strenght daily for the last months. I can't wait to sit on the loser's bench and to feel like I CAN do this and succeed. you guys rock! Carla

Hey Carla. I'm glad that you've had good support from your PCP. That's way more important than ancillary specialists because your PCP will be the one you'll see the most post-op for everyday issues. I've been lucky that my PCP has been supportive too - although I think he's peeved with me for my up and down weights the past few months. Hey, what can I say? That's why I need the surgery! :thumbup:

Anyway, I debated whether I would tell my GYN since I'll be having my yearly exam before my surgery. I decided about a week ago not to tell. And your post clarifies that for me even more. Although mine may be totally supportive and positive, I can't take the chance. I don't need any negative reactions. The closer I get to surgery, the more fragile my emotions are about the surgery and healing process. I'm still 100% committed and I'm very confident about my surgeon. I know it's the best choice for me, but I'm also still worried about possible complications. I need to work through that in my head without any negative input from anyone.

I had the same PCP for over 10 years and she always stressed eating correctly and excersizing...as if I have not already done that!! She would not do anything but give me guidelines of what I should do, she also tried to send me to a nutitionist. I KNOW what made me fat, I also know what it took to get me to this weight!! I would much rather have the surgery and be limited by the AMOUNT of food I can eat, than to be harped at for what I can do to change it! I tried every diet known to man, diets DON"T work!!

Sorry, got a little worked up there!

Oh yes, I agree with the emotions being fraigle and that is why it took me by suprize it.. HURT:confused1: my feelings but it's ok he is going to be suprized next year and on op of everything else, he had me on Evista and refused to give me the script like I was going to fill it against his wishes, I'm reasonably intelligent and have stopped my meds(for RA) like the surgeon said..all he had to say was here's your script, wait and see if you need it before filling. Fab by fifty hit the nail on the head, we are grown women and we know our bodies, I'm tired of being obese,self conscious, I want to live to see my grandchildren marry and dance a jig at the wedding.lol. 4 more days, guess I need to get my ticker up...excited,scared. Carla