people not educating themselves

[Lorie269 392]

Before I had my surgery, I was on here religiously ( it was still vertical sleeve talk then) and did a lot of research. So to my surprise when I got sent home, I was not told a certain amount of Protein or calories to be Intaking. Because from what I read here, other people's surgeons did that. I was given a food stage list week by week and what kinds of food I could have. I don't remember how long I had to stay on liquids after surgery, but I was told to drink drink drink. I think I was cleared for all foods either 4-6 weeks post op. They only reason I knew how important Protein intake and Fluid Intake was post op was due to these boards I was on religiously before my surgery. I had a very good surgeon too who was very involved with his patients. He would come to our support groups every month. As a side note, I'm allowed to have carbonated beverages and use a straw per his plan. Anyway that was four years ago.

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I have to agree with you. I had my surgery in 2013 at a Center of Excellence and although they did a fairly good job at educating us patients, I learned so much more from these boards. I was also on when it was just Vertical Sleeve Talk.

I also think that not everyone really pays attention or chooses to retain as much information and research as possible. I was always surprised at my monthly pre-op weigh-ins that people where coming in with bags of fast food and junk food right before they were about to be held accountable that month. It was shocking. I was a sponge for my six month waiting period and I soaked up everything that I could. And a lot of that came from this website. I lost all of my excess weight in 10 months and have maintained at my goal weight for 2 years. I did all the hard work, but I owe some of the credit to the veterans on here that unselfishly choose to stick around and spread the knowledge and tips.

[Angela2616 13]

Bowieyfghgghvgggg

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[Angela2616 13]

Sorry that'll be my toddler!

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[Read2016 658]

@@Recycled many of these great doctor have gotten this status based on peer reviews... It is often the case "the great doctor" has an inflated ego and disappoints you the patient.

In the course of seeking a surgeon for my sleeve... I went to see a surgeon who is extremely well known for having done WLS on a TV personality... The consultation didn't reflect anything I would expect from a top doctor.

I also saw another surgeon who also did the WLS on another well known person, no good.

Just as I was giving up hope, someone told me about a third surgeon and he's excellent, great compassion.

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them"

Einstein

Edited June 3, 2016 by nyteacher125

[loriemoms 101]

When I had my surgery, the day I checked out of the hospital, my doctor came in and quizzed me He said Ok, how much Protein a day? How much Water? How much walking? Even almost two years later, I still go in every 6 months for a weigh in and see how I am doing. A good doctor doesn't cut and dump you. I am also amazed how many questions are asked here about what can I eat now that I have had surgery. Your nut should have given you a list. I also had a follow up after each stage with my nut, and went over what to eat with that stage. I think people are afraid to ask their doctors questions. You are paying them enough, USE them!

[Clementine Sky 707]

You have to be your own advocate in almost everything now days. The ones you put your trust in because they are the professionals have become just too enveloped in routine complacence.

I just went to a Urologist because of some back pain and my history of kidney stones. I researched this Doc and he is supposed to be the best urologist and surgeon in the entire region. After 1 1/2 hour wait, saw him for 2 minutes. I had blood in urine so he had his assistant do an ultrasound.....found nothing. Sent me for CT scan.

Did CT scan at local hospital. (I always ask for a copy on disk). Later that day I call the docs office to find the results of CT scan. They tell me urologically unremarkable. Meaning, nothing found.

I review the scan myself and of course, I find stones in both Kidneys. A week later I go in to Doc's for a follow up and when I question them about the scan results, they tell me they usually rely on the radiologist report. So, the great Doc I chose to see, doesn't even read the CT scan he sends me to. I tell them I'm upset they didn't even look at the scan and I disagree with the radiologist. I'm pissed. So, after waiting two hours this time.....the Doc makes an appearance and pacifies me by looking at the scan. Well....la de da !!! Stones in both kidneys. Uh, ummm gee whiz.....they see alot of scans.......duh.... a ton of excuses.

Two appointments with the supposed best Doc in the area, and a couple thousand dollar CT scan and a professional radiologist......and they are all incompetent and would have done nothing without my researching it myself. REALLY. This is what is has become.....a money making business only. No regard for accuracy or the patient's care.

So, moral of story is........You better look out for yourself. ........always.

This is absolutely true. It's imperative that we equip ourselves with knowledge and be on our advocates. There's a wise balance between thinking you've got a medical degree from Google University and that you know more than your doctors and nurses, and thinking all medical professionals must know more than you do and therefore you should accept whatever they tell you without question. There's also wisdom in soliciting advice and insight from others who've gone down similar paths to your own, and can give you some guidance and pointers. Many doctors and nurses have never personally experienced what they are providing treatment for, and therefore cannot possess the same understanding as someone who has. Forums like this one are filled with people with firsthand experience, and they can share about that as well as knowledge they've obtained from their own physicians and other medical resources.

My mom has Interstitial Cystitis, which is a chronic, exceptionally painful bladder disease that is frequently undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. She was finally properly diagnosed in the late 1980s when she was in her 30s. We lived in Florida and on a vacation to LA in the 90s she made an appointment with a urologist in Beverly Hills who had written a book about the disease. The urologist gave her less than five minutes of his time, and offered no true guidance or treatment plan. Throughout the 90s and early 2000s she struggled on a daily basis with pain. Internet forums in the mid-2000s through present day have helped her more than all the urologists and other specialists. She found lists of foods to avoid; ingredients in laundry detergents, soaps, and Shampoo and conditioners that can cause flares; and received so many other helpful tips to utilize. She also found people who actually understood precisely how she felt because they'd felt the same. There's comfort and empowerment in solidarity. I created an account for her on Pinterest where people exchange recipes and advice, and again that's been more useful than what her doctors have given to her over the many years.

I have PCOS and have benefitted from forums like Soul Cysters that are dedicated to it. It's one of the reasons why I've viewed this forum as a legitimate and helpful source of information from the beginning. Obviously you have to use discretion and filter out the information, but there's a lot that can be truly helpful.

[theantichick 2,204]

I used to be an ER nurse, and I was constantly amazed at how little people know about how their own bodies work, and how little they pay attention to any teaching you give them. The stories I could tell...

And some docs are worthless. I had to fire mine after years of her pooh-poohing all of my physical symptoms, to her since the lab tests didn't show anything, it was either depression (she fed me anti-depressants for years) or my weight. After I fired her, I went to a doc who listened to my history and immediately sent me for a sleep study, which showed significant apnea. CPAP fixed a number of my physical issues. I also ended up needing a heart procedure several months later which we now suspect may have been building for some time and causing problems.

So a couple of years ago when I was having aches and pains that didn't make sense and responded ridiculously well to steroids, I wouldn't take no for an answer when my bloodwork came back "within normal limits". I ended up with my auto-immune arthritis diagnosis in a record 5 months because I wouldn't accept a non-answer and demanded a referral to a specialist when no one could give me a good reason I would need more than 10,000 mg a week of ibuprofen to take the edge off my joint pain.

[KeepCalm 223]

There is a substantial percentage of the population who absolutely refuse to listen to anything said to them.

I see it everyday. I saw it in my bariatric introduction seminar... the surgeon says, "Now, after the surgery, your Protein goal is X per day." And literally two minutes later, a hand goes up in the (very small) audience, and their question is "Is there a Protein goal each day after surgery?"

These are the people who refuse to listen to anything unless you clasp their hands in yours, look them in the eyes and repeat everything twenty times and say prettyprettyprettyplease and compliment them on their hair.

And they'll still be clueless even after you do that.

If by some miracle they remember any bit of it, they'll still most likely not remember who told them, or may become convinced that they made the determination themselves.

Average people are still pretty stupid.

"When all is said and done, usually more has been said than done. "

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I probably would have been that person with my hand up asking... because I didn't hear the doctor say it. And I would have done it because I'm deaf/hard of hearing, so, seeing posts, or listening to people talk about others like this makes me wonder if that might have been their issue too.

I do assume that some people are not paying attention and get annoyed with them too, however, when I read something like this it makes me stop and think that maybe they have my same problem. *shrugs*

Asking a question that has already been answered doesn't make me stupid - just deaf/hard of hearing - mostly deaf... but still.

Sorry this touches on a nerve cause my roommate reacts this way to everything with me and he knows I'm deaf.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Raenh

[summerset 5,261]

The NUT was a no-nonsense, again, very thin (which is only appropriate,) woman who looked over my food diaries, chastised me for eating a cookie (warranted,)

Really? Warranted? Chastised because of a single cookie? I sometimes wonder what NUTs expect. Robots or something who always function perfectly?

[stacyrg2 350]

I guess I'm exceedingly lucky. My surgeon is knowledgeable about nutrition and does not hesitate to share that knowledge with his patients. He will also sit with you as long as needed to answer any questions you may have. The program uses a Registered Dietitian who will work with you to create a personalized meal plan. When I was having issues with blood cholesterol, she met with me to go over my food logs and sat down and calculated my new macros based on the calorie consumption set by my surgeon. She also went out of her way to research nutrition for distance runners (again based on my personalized nutrition macros) and developed a plan I could use when training for longer distance races. When I see the lack of help other post surgery patients get, I realize how grateful I am to have landed in the practice I did.

[Read2016 658]

@@OutsideMatchInside I'm am a teacher! I'm a reading teacher and I work with the kids for struggle to read so if anyone knows only too well what your saying its me

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them"

Einstein

[Sophie74656 1,572]

so speaking of nutritionists...would you prefer a skinny one or an overweight one? On one hand the skinny one must know about nutrition to stay skinny, but does he/she understand the struggle with food that an overweight person has, and on the other hand while the overweight nutritionist would understand the struggle, would you not take what they say seriously since he/she is overweight?

[Read2016 658]

This is an interesting thing to consider... As an obese person being judged so much by the outside I tend to judge people by the expertise they have in their field... I do see why some of these Nuts rub people the wrong way... I walked into my nut appointment and she had a food label ready to teach me to read... I was comfortable saying you want me to read this to you? I nicely let her know it maybe better to see what people's level of knowledge rather than assuming they don't know... After that she was good because she was talking about the post op diet and I had tons of questions.

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them"

Einstein

[veteranwoman 25]

@@Sophie74656 - I'm glad you have a great support team. I didn't. The people in Mexico did supply me with the basics, but I did learn a great deal more here. And some people like to get validation. And then there are those poor souls who want to find a loophole to get back into their bad habits. But you do raise a bigger point, it really is up to each of us to verify what we reading. 78.6% of statistics presented online are made up on the spot, so caveat emptor.

Exactly! There was one woman in particular on another forum site that said basically (no kidding, ya can't make this sh** up I swear to god) "Oh I am 3 weeks out on the sleeve and I ate a steak last night and after 4 bites I had stabbing pains in my stomach and then I threw up and then I waited for 15 minutes and ate the rest of the steak and potatoes and I threw up again the, sleeve isn't working this is ridiculous" (paraphrasing but this is the gist of what she had done and said and THEN said the sleeve didn't work!) She got a ton of sympathy and oh my god I am so sorry that doesn't sound very good or oh my god so sorry just get back on track tomorrow. When I read it I said wait what???? Are you KIDDING ME HERE? 3 weeks ago and you ate until you threw up and had major stabbing pains and you're blaming the sleeve for "not working"? GIVE ME A BREAK! Out of about 50 replies I was the only one that saw a problem with it and I got bashed for being honest. lol Jesus.

[veteranwoman 25]

I think from my standpoint people want to hear from real people who had it done. Have most doctors or nutritionists had this done? Probably not so how would they know the pain level etc? I get questions privately all the time on real life experiences.