I went to my PCP today to get referrals to the dietician and the surgeon. When I told the nurse why I was there, she winced when I said I was considering lap band surgery. She winced! She said, "Well, you're young. A really good diet and exercise program will probably work for you if you give it a good try." Huh. Isn't it funny that someone has just met me knows all about what's best for me. Here I was worrying about what my parents would say...

The doctor was OK. She admitted she would rather see someone lose weight with diet and exercise than get surgery, but she would support whatever worked best for me. Well, gee, no one ever told me to try diet and exercise before! I'd rather lose weight that way too! Just think,all this time I should have just asked total strangers how to live my life and I would have been fine!:drool:

Just think,all this time I should have just asked total strangers how to live my life and I would have been fine!:drool:

LOL Imagine that!

Like the GP I saw ONE TIME ONLY!! who asked me in his broken English, "Why you eat de butter and de gravy and de mayonnaise?" As if I'd done all this to myself by overindulgence in condiments!!!!

:cursing:

Then there were all the other PCPs I DID go to for extended periods who would just say, 'Well, yes, you're borderline diabetic, but at this point, we'll just control it with diet and exercise, which you need to do anyhow."

SERIOUSLY? I need to diet and exercise? I had no clue!!!

Eventually, by the time I found a more Enlightened PCP, I'd also aquired a cardiologist for heart problems and carried a glucometer with me every where!

Be proud that your taking good care of yourself and moving forward instead of waiting like some wallflower at the homecoming dance for a doctor (a jock? maybe) to figure out you may need a tool like a lap band and offer it to you.

btw -- I didn't set out to write a rant, but, it is what it is.

My sympathies luigismama! I wonder if these people don't think before they talk. Gee, diet and exercise? Do you think that ever crossed a large person's mind???? Good grief. I mean really, do they think that someone will go through surgery on a whim? It just irritates me when I hear stuff like this!

My doc is anti-surgery as well. When I tried to talk to her about my weight, she gave me another blood test. Then said that we both knew that I don't have a thyroid problem anyway. She went on to say nothing else, but give me a little book about diet and exercise. DUH!

I HAVE tried diet and exercise. I CAN lose weight. I just can't seem to keep it off...... It is not like I think that the band is a magic wand and I will wake up thin and healthy!

Well, luigismama, good luck in your journey. Ignore (if you can) comments like that as they are not well thought out and rather rude!

Thanks, Nana and Hope! I know this is just the first or many comments like this I will hear on my journey. I'm choosing to vent and laugh about it! After all, it's not about them and their opinions and discomfort with my decision- it's about me taking back my health and becoming the woman I have always been (trapped in a large body). I thought I'd share because I know it's safe here and others have heard the same things from their doctors, family, friends, loved ones.

Like the GP I saw ONE TIME ONLY!! who asked me in his broken English, "Why you eat de butter and de gravy and de mayonnaise?" As if I'd done all this to myself by overindulgence in condiments!!!!

:drool:

Then there were all the other PCPs I DID go to for extended periods who would just say, 'Well, yes, you're borderline diabetic, but at this point, we'll just control it with diet and exercise, which you need to do anyhow."

SERIOUSLY? I need to diet and exercise? I had no clue!!!

I know that you weren't trying to be funny, but I about pissed my pants laughing when I read this!! :cursing: It sounds exactly like what I would have thought/said....LOL

I was soooooooooo lucky, my PCP was 100% supportive. She knows I've struggled for years. She has other patients that have been banded, and is all for it.

I'm sorry your doc was a little less than supportive. You're right, though....it's all about choosing your own path to HEALTH!

I have tried to explain to people that you don't get to be over 300 lbs because you eat McDonalds instead of healthy food a couple of times a week. Something has to be seriously wrong with your body to get to that state. I'd like to see some of these thin people stay thin if their body tells them it's hungry every 1-2 hours. I bet they couldn't do it either.

But people don't want to hear that. They'd rather believe we are just lazy or ignorant or both.

I think they have to believe that ... because if it's not a personal failure that makes us fat, that means it could happen to them. And that scares them.

ever thought of telling em to mind there own buiesness..lol

When I told my pcp I was considering the lap band, she informed me that their office had done extensive research on overweight people The statistics show that those who have been significantly overweight for some time might lose the weight but less than 5% keep it off. I wish your pcp had done some research before opening their traps. Good luck

I guess I'm the lucky one, I actually had 2 of my doctors recommend the lapband surgery and I didn't even bring it up. After hearing that from 2 doctors over a 6 month time period, I decided that I should get serious and look into it, thus, here I am and I'll be banded on March 21. This website has been a godsend to me for gathering information and getting input from other people who've already had the procedure and I think this is just what I need to help keep my weight off once I get to my goal. I'm like everyone else here, lost the weight and put back on twice as much. Just remember you're doing this for you and don't let other people's comments get to you, this is your body and your life!!

My DMIL told my husband that I should try a good colon cleansing..........Oh my, have I been missing the boat! All this time I thought diet and excercise was the answer when all I needed was to take a really big sh**t!! That would certainly help me loose the extra 80lbs that I have been carrying around for 10 years!!! Some people are just SO CLUELESS!! Walk a mile in my shoes Mrs. 100lbs soaking wet and then talk to me!!

They told me that I was to young too and that I should diet and exercise. I told them that I have been on every diet from weight watches to eating for your body type. I have been to areboics, swimming, yoga, and owned every piece of work out equipment. I told them that all the programs made me feel like a yo-yo. I would lose some pounds and then gain some. Don't ya know I would like to be like everyone else-eat like everyone else. I don't eat like a normal person-I am always watching what I eat-get depressed when ya fall off track and start all over again. When the Doctors say you are to young its like being slapped in the face sometimes. I feel that now that I am 33 years old it would be easier to adjust to the lap band life style because I am so want to change my life that I have tried every diet and exercise program that this is my only option-my only tool that can help maintain my weight at a steady healthy weight. Keep ya chin up. Doctor or nurse must have been skinny and never had to deal w/yo-yo weight.

xoxox-good luck:)

My DMIL told my husband that I should try a good colon cleansing..........Oh my, have I been missing the boat! All this time I thought diet and excercise was the answer when all I needed was to take a really big sh**t!! That would certainly help me loose the extra 80lbs that I have been carrying around for 10 years!!! Some people are just SO CLUELESS!! Walk a mile in my shoes Mrs. 100lbs soaking wet and then talk to me!!

lol! I cracked up when I read this! How funny. I wasn't aware that I had almost 140 pounds that I could just go sit on the pot to get rid of! You made my day!

I was really afraid to go to my PCP for the referral. He sometimes has this tone that reminds me of the boss on the movie Office Space. I was expecting a "Yeeahhh, I'm not reeeally sure this would be the best route to go ...yeeeahhhh..I'm gonna need you to go ahead and try this diet I've already had you on 3 different times before..yeeahhh.."

But THANKFULLY a nurse in his office was going through the lap band process herself and she pracitically threatened him bodily harm if he didn't refer me!

He has really been supportive so I feel a little bad foir doubting him.

I did get a reaction from my S-I-L that I wasn't expecting. She's always been open to cosmetic surgery (never had any, but talks about what she'd like to have done) but when I told her that I had decided to have the Lap Band done, she gave me a sideways look and said," Well, I hope you've really prayed about it and feel comfortable with that decision." With an almost "Tsk-tsk" in her voice. I wasn't sure what she was saying. Is a lap band a sentence to eternal damnation? Maybe in some religions, but she's a Basptist CEO (Christmas and Easter Only)!

Pam - you made me laugh out loud at work with your story about "de condiments"! Thanks for the laugh!

Robin