So....I have a confession. I have been lurking on other (not to be named) sites trying to get as much information I can fit into my brain before my surgery date next month. To say I have a fear of the unknown is an understatement. Anyway, I stumbled upon some really abrasive views about WLS ... not a complete surprise ... and unfortunately found myself sucked in by the negativity. It is amazing how truly offensive/offended people can be about WLS. That isn’t what really threw me for a loop as I was expecting most of the attitudes, but what really made me pause was a post referring to WLS as ‘elective’ and shaming those who undergo the surgery as selfish during the current pandemic. One of the people to comment and agree with these sentiments was a nurse - or at least claimed to be.

I know that it is 100% hogwash (like most of what was spouted on the site) this will without a doubt be a life saving operation for me, but curiosity is niggling the back of my brain. Just wondering if anyone has received any backlash for moving forward with surgery during this time?

It seems like when someone is a general hater, anything you do will be unnecessary. I had plastics at the beginning of the pandemic and someone pathetically attempted to shame me about it. Ignore them all and live your best life

Edited January 20, 20215 yr by GreenTealael

Absolutely! The better I take care of myself and the better I feel, the better I am at all other things including being a wife, mom, employee, and member of my community.

Don't worry about being selfish, or taking resources away from the pandemic - if they need to cancel/postpone your procedure because they need the staff elsewhere to deal with the pandemic, they will do so. There was a time early on when it was "all hands on deck" in many places to help deal with the overload (while in other places many were twiddling their thumbs with nothing to do because all the elective procedures had been cancelled out of uncertainty as to how the pandemic would evolve, but hadn't hit their region yet and they had nothing to do.)

Many hospitals are in financial distress these days because they haven't been doing many of the elective procedures that pays their bills (in the meantime, the insurance industry is fat and happy because of all of the "elective" treatments that have been put off.

I have a nephew who works for a bariatric clinic, and their surgeons started lobbying the hospital in the early summer (or before) to let them start working again, as the bariatric business makes very little impact on the critical side of the hospital - they rarely have need for the ICU, and their patients are short term, a day or two, so if COVID cases did ramp up such that the hospital needed the capacity, they could easily shut down the WLS procedures and empty those beds within a couple days to make room.

So, actually, you are doing them a favor and helping the health care system by having your procedure and helping to use the capacity that would otherwise go to waste.

I work for a hospital system and I can tell you that the hospitals LOVE elective surgeries. Hospitals lost millions in the beginning of the pandemic if they weren’t doing elective surgeries.

Honestly, the same people who would criticize you for getting WLS would do so whether there was a pandemic or not.

And yes, these same people will also criticize you for being obese. I say EFF ‘em!

Nothing they can say will matter when you are a healthy weight and feeling great! ?

21 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

f they have the space and feel it's safe to do it, they'll go ahead and do it. It has nothing whatsoever to do with a patient being "selfish". Sheesh!

Yes, it is absolutely insane. I think that @Deb9386 hit the nail on the head. The internet is full to the brim with trolls lately and I really should start avoiding these other sites, but curiosity seems to always win out. I am consistently looking for both sides of the story. I was just really curious if anyone on this site experienced what was mentioned...

18 hours ago, summerset said:

Why not? Could very well be a nurse - there are truckloads of fat phobic nurses and doctors out there.

I have no doubts whatsoever that there are health professionals out there that are fat phobic. I have years and years of medical records to prove just that. "Oh, you have a sore throat? Well, it's because you are fat." "You are suffering from a head cold? Well, it's because you are fat." "You ran your foot over with a lawnmower and lost two of your toes? Well, it's because you are fat." Believe me, I have lived it. What I was questioning was whether the troll was actually a nurse or just posing as one to bring validity to the ignorant views they spouted on that site.

17 hours ago, OAGBPal said:

You don't need to argue for or against. If anyone has an opinion you don't like, do not go on the defensive.

Yes, that is something I am working on. It has always been my first reaction... hard to push down the defensiveness sometimes when you are consistently having to prove that you are allowed to take up space... thank you!

17 hours ago, ChubRub said:

Stick with people who lift you up...which is pretty much everyone here!!! HUGS!!!

Yes, thank you! This site is amazing - I guess curiosity wins out sometimes...I really just need to stop going to the sites where trolls and ignorance rule. Ha. I have been following your progress - you look amazing! Congrats!!!

14 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

It seems like when someone is a general hater, anything you do will be unnecessary. I had plastics at the beginning of the pandemic and someone pathetically attempted to shame me about it. Ignore them all and live your best life

Thank you for sharing this. I figured this may be the case. If someone is going to be hateful, they will try to do so at any opportunity they can. I am so sorry you experienced this! BUT, I am glad that you described it as pathetic. That is indeed what it is. Pathetic. Thank you!

11 hours ago, RickM said:

So, actually, you are doing them a favor and helping the health care system by having your procedure and helping to use the capacity that would otherwise go to waste.

Oh my goodness! I really never thought of it this way! Thank you. You are right!!

9 hours ago, pssk said:

I work for a hospital system and I can tell you that the hospitals LOVE elective surgeries. Hospitals lost millions in the beginning of the pandemic if they weren’t doing elective surgeries.

Honestly, the same people who would criticize you for getting WLS would do so whether there was a pandemic or not.

And yes, these same people will also criticize you for being obese. I say EFF ‘em

So good to hear this! Thank you. You are all right, people will be hateful, mean and nasty especially when you are easy prey...which I am right now. I plan to use this advise and say EFF 'em!

Thank you all! This community really is amazing.

So don’t bariatric surgeons, bariatric nurses, and bariatric staff need work just like the rest of us? If they weren’t doing these procedures, what would they be doing to put food on their families’ tables? Are they supposed to become infectious disease specialists now just because of Covid? Docs gotta eat too! ?

I had to step back from all forums for a bit. Even after surgery I was second guessing and even starting to get depressed. I wasn’t reading anything negative or being attacked or anything. I just needed to stop reading everyone else’s experience. This surgery was about me and my family and being healthy again. Medical professionals helped me to make this choice after attempts that I failed at to loose weight. My wife and family were supportive with my other failed attempts and this was my next option.
As for the Covid aspect. If I was to get Covid at this weight I am more susceptible to being in the hospital anyway due to blood pressure and weight so... I’d be there either way. Why not go for the surgery and make it easier on the docs and nurses rather then go in with Covid. 2 days post op vs weeks with Covid. You are welcome docs and nurses.

But truely my stepping back from the forums for a couple weeks has helped me. As well as going to the doctors and listening to my trusted medical professionals. 

I work for a health care organization and trust me people are still getting elective surgeries. Like others have said, hospitals rely on income from these surgeries to stay afloat. People just like to attack people for getting bariatric surgery no matter what and this is a just a new iteration of that. Once the pandemic is over they’ll be back announcing that bariatric surgery is the “easy way out” and that we are all lazy people who will gain it all back anyways. Basically, they hate overweight people and seeing us getting something that might make our lives easier is just terrible for them to see.

As someone in healthcare, my hospital loves elective surgeries. We make a lot of our money off of what people consider elective. Often, we do surgeries that aren’t life saving, but necessary and those are considered elective. Take care of your health and ignore the jerks.

Having started my journey and had surgery all during the pandemic.

On 1/20/2021 at 3:07 PM, ChubRub said:

I just had plastic surgery during Covid, so color me selfish!! LOL!!!

Seriously though, people will say things on anonymous message boards that they would never say to someone's face. That's why I don't read the comments on political articles, etc, b/c it makes my blood boil! Stick with people who lift you up...which is pretty much everyone here!!! HUGS!!!

My original plastics date was in May and got postponed (5 days before it was scheduled!) due to Covid. I rescheduled for Aug and then was more worried that my Covid test would come back positive and force me to be rescheduled again than I was about the surgery! Luckily, that didn't happen. I had my surgery when hospitals were thrilled to be doing surgery again! If that's considered selfish, so be it! It wouldn't be the first time I've been called that by people that don't really know me!

Yeah, I dated a nurse once... when she went into a huge tirade about how the only people “allowed” to not eat gluten “better have diagnosed celiac” I knew it was our last date ???? ... this nurse also had WLS surgery done relatively recently. There is a variety of people out there and I get to discern which ones I want in my inner circle....