I have my PCP appt coming up and she is not exactly warm & fuzzy. I am a bit afraid she will not support my VSG, and

I need a letter of recommendation from her. She is relatively thin and is somewhat condescending in her attitude about my being overweight, weight loss efforts, etc. What if she doesn't recommend the surgery?

Switch doctors.

agree, switch doctors. Ask your surgeon's office for a recommendation for a good, supportive doctor within your insurance network (if applicable). But you never know, your doctor just might surprise you!

It took me a while to get my Cardiologist to sign off on this. And by while I mean over 2 years. I had been working on him and my other doctors but none of them felt I was big enough at 250. Once he agreed then the endocrinologist and allergist decided to support it. I never did get a PCP to agree though. I had to switch to one the surgeon had a relationship with.

yep - time to switch - my (skinny) pcp was so excited for me that she put the date on her calendar and emailed me to wish me well! I just saw her today (4 weeks post op) she stopped my bloood pressure meds (officially) and cholesteral meds until I see her again for my usual 6 month blood work appt.

I had stopped the med 1 week post op as suggested by my surgeon.

I agree switch doctors. I'm a doctor shopper and will switch until I find one I like. I spent 3 years going to different psychiatrists before finding one that actually listened to me. Less time finding a PCP but I'm going to have to switch here soon because he isn't in my new insurances network.

If I hadn't switched doctors I would've never ended up having the surgery.

I started looking into surgery probably back in 2009-2010. My doc at the time was very much against surgery and convinced me to try diet and exercise again for the umpteenth time.

Then in 2010-2011 I switched to a new, younger PCP that had done a bariatric residency and was convinced of the value.

All in all I am glad things were delayed because if I had gotten surgery sooner I don't know that sleeve would've been covered, or even have been on the radar. But you should definitely advocate for yourself, and your PCP should be your advocate, not your critic and naysayer.

Good luck.

I agree, switching doctors is the best choice if your current one is not supportive. I feel that since I am paying for a service, that in addition to getting a quality product, I should get good customer service too. I would not shop at a store where I was treated with a condescending attitude. A PCP is an especially inport part of you healthcare, you really need to have someone who is one your side. They need to be honest, intelligent, kind, open to your opinions and available to hear your concerns and have an excellent medical skills. Remember your PCP works for you. IMHO I would switch doctors when ;

1. she refuses to write the letter you need (unless she has a really compelling medical reason you should not have this surgery).

2. After she writes the letter and provided you with whatever else you need from her in relation to this surgery, but before the surgery. You need a PCP that you can trust and that will listen to you and be there for you, not someone who is dismissive or demeaning towards you.

Yup! You should have a very good relationship with any professional you have to pay to see!!!!

I am kind of lucky as the NP that I see is awesome I am luck cause I go through the VA so I really don't get the option of changing doctors when they wont do something for me. But I do feel that everyone here is right. If she is not willing to support you on your decision to make your life better, and either prevent future health issues, or correct current health issues you may have then you definitely need to find a doctor that will.

I agree that if this one is not supportive and is condescending, why continue to go to her. There's many doctors our there, find one that supports your vision.

When it comes to weight loss - I'm lucky - my PCP battles his weight himself. He had no problem prescribing me Meridia & later Adipex (both worked for a short time and I gained the weight back) which he understands because he's done the same thing. He was against RNY so when I mentioned the Sleeve to him he was very supportive and said he thought it was a great surgery. I brought them a letter the surgeon had given us and they put it on there system and I picked it up the next day.

However, I'm allergic to aspirin & ibuprofen so if I ask for stronger pain meds than tylenol - he won't do it.

i went through the same thing! i just switched doctors in the same practice and got the ball rolling!! i would have been 2 months ahead of the game because i though you had to have the referral before starting all the crazy pre op appointments but my surgeons office told me no. i got my referral letter literally 2 months before submitting to insurance good luck to you, dont torture urself meeting with someone who you dont feel comfortable and cant relate to! <3

I had a similar struggle with my pcp, she is very thin and seems really "earthy crunchy". I was nervous to speak to her about the surgery, but I was pleasantly surprised. She totally supported the surgery for me (she said she doesn't support it for everyone) she wrote an amazing letter and has been following all my pre-op tests closely. This was a little surprsing to me because I don't meet the required bmi or have the co-morbisities required. I do have a chronic illness that is affected by my weight but is not caused by my weight. In any case i am glad I at least gave her the chance and for me it worked out

Thanks everyone for the encouraging words! I am sooo thankful for this board - it's great to know I can come here to discuss topics like this. I will report back after my appointment.

I had my appointment and all in all, things went better than I expected. My PCP talked with me about the surgery asking me a bunch of questions. I thought she wasn't warm to the idea at first, but after a bit said she would recommend it for me. She has a few patients in various stages around VSG, one very successful after being sleeved a few years ago, and one going through the pre-surg requirements. We even went over the language of the letter suggested by my bariatric surgeon, and she beefed it up a bit.

Pleasantly surprised and super-relieved. I have nut and psych on Sat., endoscopy on Tues. We're getting closerrrr!! Thanks everyone for your support!!