At my initial consult on 5/21/10 my mother & I met with the surgeon. During this visit the surgeon was a royal douche-bag and did everything he could to be-little me and talk me out of getting the Band. He made sure we knew that he had very little confidence in the Bands ability to help me lose & maintain weight loss. He told me I would be better off having gastric bypass (which he also does). He said that it works faster and has less follow-up. He told me to go home and think about it some more and exited his office. I walked outta of his clinic in tears and my mother was ticked off.
On the drive home my mother said not to let him discourage me & that if I had to find another surgeon 100's of miles away we would make it happen. But before we even reached the house I had already made up my mind. I ran inside and called the clinic I had just left and told them to go ahead and schedule my surgery. Hell, I didnt have to sleep with the man, I just had to let him perform my surgery.
I had to lose about 15lbs pre-operatively for insurance purposes. I went through all the pre-op appts & requirements, never seeing the surgeon. By the time my surgery rolled around I had lost 32lbs.
On the day of my surgery I never seen the surgeon 1 single time. Never seen him in recovery, never seen him for the 3 days I was in the hospital post-op. I did however see his nurse practitioner a few times and one of his partner surgeons, but never him.
I am almost 3 months post-op now and I still have yet to see my surgeon. All my follow-up appts have been with one of his partners. I am now down 55lbs without any fill yet.
Could the surgeon be avoiding me? I hope he feels like the douche-bag that he is. I hope he monitors my progress and eats his words of negativity. I think in a way, his negativity has motivated me to prove him wrong.
On a different note, the partner surgeon that seems to have taken over my case is far more pleasant. However, I am concerned that he is a bit inexperienced. He seems to avoid having to give me a fill. I realize I am losing at a good rate but whenever I express concerns to him about my constant feelings of hunger he tells me a fill will not help me. I thought that was the point of the LAP-BAND®®, to help curb the constant hunger. And it's not just head hunger, I am following the program to the letter but within a hour of eating I am hungry again. It feels like torture. He's not allowing me to utilize my "tool".
My next appt is 11/12, I've cut way back on my usual excersize routine just to slow my weight loss so that he can't use that as an excuse for not giving me a fill. Am I wrong for that?
Any input will be greatly appreciated.
-Amy