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Do Not Go To Betencourt Medical



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There are some clues that can help you though. I find it pretty easy to spot the "real" posters because they post like real people. The PCs have few posts and they only post about a particular doctor. Generally, they leave no clues as to their real life either. Real posters talk about their jobs, their friends and families, their weight loss, their symptoms, etc. The coordinators haven't got time to do that. Though that doesn't weed out a real person who came here for support with their own band and is also a patient coordinator, of course.

For the most part I agree but I have learned something since posting here. Some docs will pay patients for referrals. There is one doc here that has no formal patient coordinators, ALL of them are patients that post here anyway and when they spot a newbie they go after them like an arrow heading for a bullseye. They get anything from free fills to $500 per patient they refer. Half of them have more IDs than they do change of underwear. The reason I know this is because they have actually PMed me and asked me not to post their doc's stats because it makes him look bad and scares the newbies away. Heh....

Generally though, I don't pay much attention to the "my doctor is great" posts. I look for the negative ones. :) The hack doctors have patients who almost died for no good reason, for example. I also pay attention when people complain about the office staff. You see them WAY more than the doctor. If the office overall is slow about responding to questions, doesn't do a good job with the insurance paperwork, etc. then that's something to give me pause.

I have to say that I look for both. But I pay more attention to the positive posts when someone has been banded for at least a year. Most people who have WLS go through a honeymoon stage after surgery. They are in love with their doc and they are in live with their surgery type.

We have all been fighting fat for so many years and we have all tried so many things that suddenly when we go to this doctor we suddenly see a light at the end of the tunnel and we want the rest of the world to experience the same joy. Weight loss isn't typically a competition, we all want everyone to meet their goals. It's something really unique to us fat folks. When we first get surgery we are thrilled and want the same for everyone and we push our surgery type and swear only our doc is good. After time we learn that wrapping a band around our stomach isn't such a huge thing and it's kinda easy, honestly. We suddenly discover there is more than one doc that knows how to do it safely. ;o) Watch the threads, you'll see what I mean.

So I don't pay a lot of attention to the "I love my doctor" threads until the person seems to be over the honeymoon phase. When they have been seeing the same doc or at least in contact with the same doc for a year then I pay attention. Has the doc been good? Supportive? Available? Or now that the surgery is over is the patient on their own? If there is a problem is it fixed? If there are non surgical complications is help and support available? I don't pay much attention to newbies who love their docs but I do pay attention when someone is a long time poster and posted their experiences from beginning to current.

There is also ObesityHelp.com where there are tons of patient comments for every doctor I've looked up. However, after I registered there, I started getting tons of emails and even phone calls for "Mr. Mac Madame" the name I gave when I registered. So I'm pretty sure they sell your registration info to others. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't have registered as you don't need to in order to read the patient comments.

You know, you can change your info so you can't be contacted. Wasn't sure if you were aware.

Finally, I used your How to Research a Mexican Doctor thread and came up with a list of questions for the docs in my area that my insurance covers and ended up on my short list. I'm sending them off now. :glare:

Thank you for saying that. Sometimes I wonder if it was a waste of time to write that and then someone mentions using it and it makes me feel good. So thank you for saying that.

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You know, you can change your info so you can't be contacted. Wasn't sure if you were aware.

I can't get back into my account. :) I've emailed their support address and pressed the link to be emailed my password a million times too. It's been very aggravating.

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I can't get back into my account. :blushing: I've emailed their support address and pressed the link to be emailed my password a million times too. It's been very aggravating.

There is a guy there that runs the fitness forums and does computer stuff for OH. If you want to PM me your ID on OH I'll log into my account, PM Jeremy, and ask him to email at the email address you signed up with. He should have all that info and can help.

OH kinda sucks. :wub:/

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OH kinda sucks. :blushing:/

Heh heh. I tell you after I got the PHONE CALL and then 5 junk emails and then couldn't log on, I was sure it some sort of VAST CONSPIRACY to sell people's info. Then I calmed down.

Anyway, thanks for your offer, but I emailed them again and asked them to send my password to a different email and they did. (Which they probably shouldn't have, but I'm glad they did anyway.) I don't know why I wasn't getting the original emails but that part I'm sure is my nameserver's fault and not them.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
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