By doctor I mean family doctor/your regular doctor. My family is insisting I see my doctor and get clearance about going to get surgery. My worry is he'll say no to me going because I have a BMI of 32. If he says no can I still go?

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@Mustlose90

Are you having surgery in Mexico? Most US Drs require your primary to sign off. Someone has to say you are safe for surgery.

If you are afraid of your Dr, why do you go to them?

I was required to have my primary/family doctor sign off prior to surgery. It has more to do with general health and being a suitable candidate for anesthesia than anything else. For example, my heart rate was elevated the few weeks prior to my surgery and my blood pressure was borderline high. My Primary doctor explained that an anesthesiologist may not perform surgery if they think it is a risk to put you under. I was treated with meds through my surgery date. Shortly after surgery my previous medical problems resolved themselves. I suggest talking to your primary care doctor and if they won't sign off talk to your surgeon to see if there are other parties that can clear you for surgery. You want to be safe and make sure you have the best possible outcome with the fewest complications.

Actually, I had mixed results. The PA at my family Doctors office was concerned because she said I would be in a constant state of malnourishment. All the other Dr's were for it until they found out I was going to Mexico. Boy, are they going to love me when I see them again for follow-up and tell them "They are Fired"!

I received the best care of my life in Mexico and have zero regrets. If I ever need major surgery again I am heading over the border.

My Gastroendycrinologist was just a pill pusher after a year of complaining about acid reflex and having stomach issues and only getting pills my Bariatric surgeon discovered "One of the worst Hyanial hernias", she had ever seen and she has done well over 4000 gastric sleeves. Three surgeons spent almost an hour extracting my stomach from my esophagus. She said my stomach was so lacerated that is was bleeding and could have lead to serious issues if I went another month. They fixed everything and I have zero discomfort non, nada and nothing.

My surgery saved my life more ways than you could imagine.

My Pcp was for it, and did all my preop testing and post op blood work. But, then again I don't think she is all that well versed in Bariatrics, since she told me the sleeve is reversible. She saw me at my heaviest, and knew my struggles with pre diabetes, cholesterol and high BP.

I did have a surgery friend whose Pcp wouldn't provide medical clearance. The surgeon gave her several local docs to contact and I think she finally got it.

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[mention=326895]Mustlose90[/mention]
Are you having surgery in Mexico? Most US Drs require your primary to sign off. Someone has to say you are safe for surgery.
If you are afraid of your Dr, why do you go to them?

Yes the surgery is in Mexico. I'm in the UK. What sort of checks do they do to qualify you for surgery?

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I'm in the uk. Had my surgery here. My gp knew I wanted the surgery and referred me to have it on the NHS (Bmi 40). I didn't qualify in my area as you have to also have two medical conditions and they don't count depression. I went and had it privately. My GP didn't know until I went for my bloods afterwards.

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By doctor I mean family doctor/your regular doctor. My family is insisting I see my doctor and get clearance about going to get surgery. My worry is he'll say no to me going because I have a BMI of 32. If he says no can I still go?
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If you have accompanying medical issues then your doctor should be able to give you a referral with no problems.

I'm in the uk. Had my surgery here. My gp knew I wanted the surgery and referred me to have it on the NHS (Bmi 40). I didn't qualify in my area as you have to also have two medical conditions and they don't count depression. I went and had it privately. My GP didn't know until I went for my bloods afterwards.

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How did your surgery cost if you don't mind me asking?

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On 28/09/2017 at 5:32 PM, Mustlose90 said:

I mean family doctor/your regular doctor.

My family doctor is about five years older than me.

He has been my doctor since 2002.

On Saturdays, he comes to the swim centre to get feedback on me (and another 4 to 6 of his patients). He even spends 50-65 minutes in the water with us.

I first asked about WLS in 2007 but was willing to try diet and exercise. (This was prior to it becoming Keyhole surgery.)

I asked him again in May 2017 and he referred me to an Obesity Clinic with bariatric surgeons. I passed all the testing and referrals in July and August. On Sept 4, I was offered Oct 12 as my surgery date.

Edited September 29, 20178 yr by Rainbow_Warrior

My general doctor was actually the one who said he thought it would be great for me... that was so shocking to me- I never thought anyone else saw me as really large until that day!

Actually, I had mixed results. The PA at my family Doctors office was concerned because she said I would be in a constant state of malnourishment. All the other Dr's were for it until they found out I was going to Mexico. Boy, are they going to love me when I see them again for follow-up and tell them "They are Fired"!
I received the best care of my life in Mexico and have zero regrets. If I ever need major surgery again I am heading over the border.
My Gastroendycrinologist was just a pill pusher after a year of complaining about acid reflex and having stomach issues and only getting pills my Bariatric surgeon discovered "One of the worst Hyanial hernias", she had ever seen and she has done well over 4000 gastric sleeves. Three surgeons spent almost an hour extracting my stomach from my esophagus. She said my stomach was so lacerated that is was bleeding and could have lead to serious issues if I went another month. They fixed everything and I have zero discomfort non, nada and nothing.
My surgery saved my life more ways than you could imagine.

Damn That's a great story. Glad too hear your doing so well after surgery. I have mine this Thursday.

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I had to be referred to the program by my primary care doctor. It was actually my OBGYN who first referred me to the bariatric information seminar and then when I wanted to officially go into the program I saw my primary. She just asked if I really wanted to go the surgical route because I had a lower BMI but by then I knew this was the best route for me.

My PCP just found out about my surgery a few weeks ago. I was self-pay in Mexico. I scheduled an appointment the month before surgery, but it got pushed back because he went on vacay. He was surprised, but is still doing my post-op blood work for me....And why not? All he has to do is sign the blood work order and interpret it....Almost free money.

My pcp’s first reaction was to tell me about a patient of hers who had died from having bariatric surgery... only upon further inquiry did she mention that this patient had a host of other problems and should not have been cleared for this surgery to begin with.

As for me; she said she wasn’t 100% for it but if I asked her to she would write the recommendation letter so I did.

Anyway, during my clearance practice I found out that if your pcp doesn’t play ball some insurances will also accept a letter from your ob/gyn so ladies, keep that in mind as an alternative.

I don’t understand your statement that your family is insisting you go to your PCP. Are they paying for your surgery? If you’re not a minor then it’s your decision to inform your PCP or not, or see her/him for an appointment before surgery. Since you’ll be self-pay, it is the MX surgeon that will approve your surgery, not your UK doctor. I do recommend you be completely transparent with the bariatric surgeon on your full health history and then talk to them about any pre-op tests or other info they may require. And make sure you pick a surgeon based on competence instead of price.

There are a lot of lightweights on this forum that have had very good results with bariatric surgery, myself included.

Edited October 3, 20178 yr by MarinaGirl