:mad:UGH~today i had my first appt with my nutritionist....and i'm just pretty much disgusted. she seemed like she was on a big power trip and wanted me to be discouraged about the lapband. first of all, the minute i said i wanted the lapband vs GBP she copped an attitude with me. then, i told her that i quit smoking in december (they have a 3 mos. abstinence from tobacco prior to surgery rule) and she said "and i suppose you want surgery 3 mos. to the date that you quit smoking and i'll just tell you now that you're not gonna get it when you want it"...and nice little digs like that. she showed me a 'satisfied appetite' chart and said she'd see me in 3 weeks. if i knew how to stop when i'm satisfied, would i really need a drastic tool like a lapband? needless to say i walked out of there with a chip on my shoulder. she also told me i hafta read some book by some author before i come back. give me a freaking break here---i thought we were gonna talk about healthy ways of using my band and how i'll need to eat different. i think that would have been a better start instead of basically making me feel guilty for quitting smoking! oh-and by the way-she told me that i need to quit drinking diet coke TODAY. that really sent me over the edge...i went to make my appt with the administrative assistant (who is awesome and supportive) and she told me to ignore the dietician! it was kinda funny and made me feel a bit better! it's just so frustrating....

is this a normal dietician meeting? if it is....that really sucked...if i were my insurance company, i'd ask for a big FAT refund!

BTW...i know i have to quit drinking diet coke...but months before my surgery? whatever...

What a biatch. You're better than me, I would have given it to her both barrels.

The longer I"ve been banded, the more I think that the health professionals that work around banded patients ought to be formerly obese bandsters themselves. Truly, you cannot understand it if you dont know what its like.

Now I'm a "get on with it and pull yourself up by your bootstraps" kinda girl and I dont have very much patience with "its too hard" or "if it were that easy I would have done it already". Your band is going to help you but you're either going to get with the program or you arent, and if you dont, there's nobody to blame but yourself. But you sure as sugar dont need so called professionals bringing their misinformation and bias into your treatment, nor do you need their judgements and assumptions. You need the facts and you need their support.

And I think that should go for many surgeons too quite honestly. Some are appalling, they have no understanding of the issues surrounding obesity at all.

Sorry you found it so unsatisfactory, but personally I chalked it up to their lack of understanding and I went out and informed myself and made my own decisions about what I would be eating, how I would be approaching banded life etc - because I think everyone has to come at it from their own personal angle. In here you'll find so much helpful information and advice!

It still shocks me that such people are in health care fields. You know, a lot of nutritionists were formerly anorexics or bulimics, which is why they get into nutrition in the first place - they have the total opposite food issues, and they try to convince us that if we just knew when we were full and knew how much a proper serving was, there'd be no problem. Ug, that nutritionist totally disgusts me.

I am working with a nutritionist who deals with lap banders and gastric bypass patients all the time and she was not condescending at all. She just gave me a few new things to change gradually, like cutting out sugar drinks and reducing the number of times I eat out in a week. Not impossible, baby steps. I have a bit of a bias against nutritionists, but I think there are some compassionate ones out there. The one you went to is clearly no health 'professional.'

It's stories like these that make me so greatful for my surgeons office. Almost everyone that works there is banded! I am so sorry she treated you that way, it is fabulous that you quit smoking :clap2: good for you! I'd find another dietician, one that's suportive. BTW what book did she give you to read? If it is the one by Jessie Ahroni it is fabulous :mad:

I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN!!!!!!!!!!!

The nutritionist that did my eval was skinny as a rail and even though she works with my surgeons office and was nice we differed GREATLY on the value of a low carb diet...... she actually made a fist and knocked on her head saying that my brain would not function unless I ate carbohydrates!! I about spit Water through my nose, because I've lost 80 lbs (3) times over the course of 7 years and not once did my brain quit working.... I launched into my spiel about how eating low carb helped my PCOS and cured this formally infertile woman.. (my son is an ATKINS baby) I started explaining the science of it and she about spit water out of HER nose, when I further explained how thing like an egg has .6 carbs in them so it is virtually IMPOSSILE to eat ZERO carbs........LOW CARB is much different than ZERO carbs... our session took 3 hours but in the end I just started nodding my head to get the hell out of there and she approved me.

Sorry to here that your nutritionist was such a bitch. Mine only deals with lap band/bypass patients and she was great and she was a little chunky and understood the struggle.

Boy, do I understand what you all are saying! I have run into those people too, how self righteous can someone be? There are a few in my doctor's office, too. My nutrionist, even though she was super slim, was at least encouraging. Although she did tell me to quit Diet Coke. I was floored with that one, and really feeling sorry for myself. She went on to tell me that Diet Coke, among other things has proven to be relavent in osteoprosis in women. I had heard that too, so before surgery I really cut back, and of course have not had any since surgery.

I was not too impressed with my nutritionist either! Someone mentioned self righteous, that is a good word, but mine did not make me feel humiliated.

Like you said, if I could do this, I would not be here wanting to be banded.

I do have to say though, and I hate to admit it, but it's almost like a drill seargent telling me I HAVE to stick to the food plan they gave me or ELSE!!..LOL. I have not cheated all week and knowin my weigh-in is on Fri. keeps me motivated....whoever knew???? LOL.

Seriously, can you ask for another nutritionist?

If she made you feel humiliated you should report her. We are all paying good money for this service and there is no need for that!

Is this a nutritionist that was referred by the surgeon? It sounds like you need to find someone who is lapband friendly.

the funny thing is...get this...she's not so slim herself (if i had to guess, i'd say 200-220lbs)! i was floored listening to her say how overeating needs to be overcome and she has no problems with saying 'no' to foods that aren't healthy! ummm....i don't think so-sorry!

she is an appointed bariatric nutritionist, which is even weirder...i'm almost wondering if she had gbp or something, but then wouldn't she be more understanding and not so above and beyond overweight people?

Stand in front of a mirror.....look at the ceiling, now look at the floor, repeat several times.

Practice this move, so you can use it to appease the moronic nutritionist!!! And get on with your life, your way! I am just kidding, but really---who needs this kind of crap? If she was really being helpful it would be one thing, but obviously she isn't. So give her the answers she wants to hear, get your hoops jumped through....then when you are done, let them know how perfectly useless she is!

Good job on the quitting smoking by the way---hang in there!!!

I live in a rural area, and a licensed nutritionist was not to be had, so they let my PCP do mine...he is a major granola cruncher anyway, he told me all the same things he told me as I gained my way up through the years, but he was not hateful about it. He is in fact looking into banding for his own wife---guess she doesn't listen much to him either!!!

Hang in there---vent to us, and nod to the nutritionist!!!

Kat

If she makes a comment to you next time about how she can say no to bad food ask her why she is overwieght. If she is making you feel bad then turn the tables on her.

That would have made me really mad, too, but I agree with whoever said just nod and do whatever you have to do to get approved for the surgery. My nutritionist was straight out of a dumb blonde joke. She told me to shoot for 1500 calories a day after surgery. I said, "How can I achieve that only eating 4 ounces of food three times a day?" Then, she whipped out a meal plan and Breakfast included a half a bagel.

Just think of her as a customer. She's always right, even though she's generally wrong. Do what you gotta do.

i've had a couple of days to cool off and i guess the best thing i can do is to just agree with that woman! i guess i went in there with the attitude that we were going to be a little more positive and encouraging---i guess i'm lucky that my psychologist was awesome and so are the other staff that i've met so far...there's a bad apple in every bag, right?

You should totally complain about her! Wow!

I have worked with nutritionists over the years and they have always been supportive and understanding. My surgeon is related to about half of the medical people in his center or something LOL. Seriously, the other doctor that does the non surgical evaluations and the nutritionist are all related to him somehow. Anyway, the nutritionist was great. I said that I was concerned a bit about my preop diet and being able to stick to it and asked what should do if I had a weak moment since I had those sometimes being someone was morbidly obese and all. She said that when that happened for people she sugested a lean cuisine meal. And just stick to the liquid preop diet best I could, no one had been turned away from surgery yet for having trouble with it.

She explained the whole soda thing, but said I could drink my fuze ( I like fuze slenderize), I had one with me actually and she looked at it and said it sounded good because it has Vitamins and is low cal.

I know the other surgeon at the practice, the one who isn't my surgeon, has the lap band himself and thats the only surgery he does. But I went with the surgeon I did because he has an office right in town and I heard good things about him specifically. The place also had nice big chairs-- extra big in waiting room and so forth.

If you don't think they are all treating you well then maybe you should look into another place if you can? You will have to work with these people and want the experience to be as nice as possible.

http://www.illinoisbariatriccenter.com/index.htm

kyethra~

LOL you hit the nail on the head with this!!!

"Anyway, the nutritionist was great. I said that I was concerned a bit about my preop diet and being able to stick to it and asked what should do if I had a weak moment since I had those sometimes being someone was morbidly obese and all."

she pretty much assumed that because i'm signed up for surgery that my appetite will pretty much disappear before i even get the band! like i'm supposed to turn my eating habits around just cuz i feel like it! do you think blue cross blue shield would consider me going from to wisconsin to illinois "out of network"???? LOL!!!