I went to the general doctor today to get a b12 shot. he asked why I wanted it and I explained that i'm 10 days out. He asked me why I did the surgery because i'm not that fat. I told him my bmi was 36 and I was on the verge of diabetes not to mention feeling that i have undiagnosed pcos. He said why didn't you just go on a diet to try to reduce your weight (in my mind I was thinking DUhhhh gee why didn't I think to try a DIET) i told him that I have had a weight problem all my life which has been escalating over the past few years and before it's too late I wanted to take care of it. THEN he said "wls doesn't work over time you wil just gain the weight back"!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you for real dude? i said well if I monitor myself and follow the instructions of my dietition and wls doctor I should be ok he said "ooook well you will see" I said yeah I will just give me the shot will you????

I'm really sorry you have to deal with such a putz. I've been so lucky that my PCP is very pro-WLS. He, along with the entire staff, have cheered me on, fought to get my referral approvals when I was going through my revision to VSG, and have shared my story with his other patients. He has been nothing short of amazing in the WLS support department. I wish more general med doctors would get on board, and lose their bias towards weight loss surgery.

Yeah well today (middle east time) is a weekend (friday sabbath) and my regular doctor was gone...he was so for the surgery (he's american of course). When I told him that i was doing it he was so positive and told me I'm so happy you are making this decision now and are taking control of your health. I can't wait to see my regular doctor and make a complaint!

You could point out to him the rate of failure for most "conventional" weight loss and diet programs. It's dismal! Something like 95% of people fail.

EXCELLENT POINT!!!

wish I had thought of it at the time, I was too busy looking at the remanants of his lunch hanging from his lower lip

You could point out to him the rate of failure for most "conventional" weight loss and diet programs. It's dismal! Something like 95% of people fail.

Apparently this doctor has not done his research and is only going on hearsay. If he wants to learn about the success rate of VSG he should come here and look at the pictures of those of us that have been at goal and kept the weight off for awhile. He was probably basing his remarks on what he may have seen from bypass and lap-band patients in the past. I'm glad this isn't your regular doctor, or I would be advising looking for a new one.

By the way, I take a daily B-12 supplement that dissolves under my tongue, tastes really good, and only costs a few dollars a bottle. On my last labs they said my B-12 was "through the roof", so it works great and no shots to deal with. I get mine at the local grocery or discount store. I'm sure you could probably find it where you are at the pharmacy if it sounds like something you want to try.

Thanks for the tip when I go home I will definately look for it. Currently I'm living in The Middle East (ABU DHABI, think sex and the city two) and they don't have the same Vitamins we have back home.

that man would definately not be my regular doctor. He was a total ass. When i told him that the vsg surgery works well he said "weight loss surgerys are all the same" IDIOT

that sucks... my PCP didn't want me to do the surgery... he was totally against it until i asked him to figure out what my BMI was... after he did that, he was more accepting... it was very funny too because all of his nurses came into the injection room afterwards and asked me about the surgery and told me that i was making a great decision and told me good luck...

some doctors are just idiots... don't stress over it!! oh, and TexasT's rec. for the sublingual B-12 is great! .. i live in Korea, and just today i ordered some online from Walgreen's in the US, and my sister is going to mail them to me

My PCP was not exactly thrilled either when I told him I was having the procedure. He too warned about the weight gain. I calmly explained everything to him on what I have learned and then he said "oh! Well in that case I wish you luck on your surgery!" Once he sees how success I WILL BE I think then he is evern the type to suggest it to other patients. But of course he was coming from a caring perspective. Your pcp was beiing an ass. He will learn the hard way when you go skipping your skinny butt past him if you are there that long. lol

oh no he was not my regular doc...i will only skip my skinny butt past him to fart, that's about it....

my regular doc was awesome about this. he encouraged me and even put me through all necessary blood tests and made sure I had no ulcers and liver function was great before I had the surgery. It was the weekend and this dude was the stand in.

The nurses were supportive because they don't make money on meds. Doctors do. The fatter we are the more money they make on medications for us....

Neither my PCP nor my endocrinologist approved of my wls. I said it was a good thing that I didn't ask their opinion, huh? LOL. In fact my PCPs nurse gave me recommendations for the plastic surgery she said I would need. It's a shame that some medical professionals don't keep up with what's going on around them!

BTW, I lived in Korea for a few months back in 1974. Ex husband-Army, but we never lived on base. We lived in E Tae Wan (sp?) and I loved it!

that sucks... my PCP didn't want me to do the surgery... he was totally against it until i asked him to figure out what my BMI was... after he did that, he was more accepting... it was very funny too because all of his nurses came into the injection room afterwards and asked me about the surgery and told me that i was making a great decision and told me good luck...

some doctors are just idiots... don't stress over it!! oh, and TexasT's rec. for the sublingual B-12 is great! .. i live in Korea, and just today i ordered some online from Walgreen's in the US, and my sister is going to mail them to me

I didn't even tell my PCP (GP) I was doing the op because I knew by then that I would know more than anyone in the practice!!! And I was right. They hadn't got past the lapband and the bypass here in the UK early 2009!! Think its a bit better now but to get it done on the NHS I believe you need to have a BMI of 50+ and co-morbidities. A guy recently lost a court case to get it done before he got to BMI 50 on the basis of a BMI of 43 & type 2 diabetes. I was self pay in Czech Republic so I did not need to get permission but I could afford the £5K fee.

Mine was against it. So, after I had the surgery, I found one that was for it and had other patients that had done it.

It's my choice who my doctor is. I chose the one that is going to support me. She even knew what the sleeve was

I'm not sure if I'm off-base here, but I had to go to my gastroenterologist to get an upper GI and they had not even heard of the sleeve. A gastroenterologist? Neither my doctor, nor the head of the practice who did the procedure had heard of it. I don't live in some tiny backwater somewhere. What gives?

wow I think i would find another gastrointerologist! Holy moly

Italianlady: could you maybe message me the name of your regular, "awesome" doctor? I'm struggling to find a decent general doctor in Abu Dhabi, the majority of them are exactly like that "ass" you described!