Surgeon disappointed in weight loss / Bandsters a Dying Breed?

[Spartan 4]

You've now confirmed my suspicion, I will not give you the courtesy of a reply.

Which means, of course, that you don't have an answer.

Thanks so much for sharing that thought.

S.

[Laura steele 2]

I woud tell him to kiss off!!! You have done fantastic and he should be praising you for it.My surgeon would have.He's not much of a Dr.if he can't make his Pt.feel like she is doing a good job.Maybe he wanted you to pay for more surgery and have a bypass! Get another Dr.!!!L.

[LollyMoe 1]

BigBirney: Your comment about bypass people wanting to lose weight w/o all the work isn't quite fair. They work for thier weight loss too, just as we do for ours. They have to take B-12 injections, exercise daily, diet, avoid dumping syndrome, Vitamins for life, avoid mal-asorbation, depression, and life changes. They, more than us banders, have to deal with re-gaining thier weight as rapidly as they lost it. The bypass is not reversible either. Don't put them down please. They are on a journey just as we are.....one pound at the time.

Now, A New Woman, my advice to you is for you to have a frank talk with your surgeon. Let him know how you feel and how he made you feel. If you can't come to a better understanding, find another one if possible. Your weight loss is fantastic and should be acknowleged. He's a un-caring physician if he can't "listen" to you. Believe, as a retired nurse that has had a lot of experience with physicians, I can tell you that they are not Gods---even if they try to act like one. Keep up the good work and take care of yourself first.

[babsy 0]

I agree we shouldn't criticise anyone for the type of surgery. Different strokes for different folks. Most of us have to trust the surgeons judgement for what will be best, as well as doing our research, and understanding ourselves and how compliant we are able to be with a new lifestyle. Like with the reasons we are overweight - there are many common stories, but also many differences.

On this subject, I had an interesting time last week, with 2 of my patients.

One came in to get his 2nd band removed, and have bypass surgery. He had his 1st LAP-BAND®® 5 yrs ago, and successfully lost 90kg (198lb) before the band slipped. He got it replaced with another band, and it was never right. He was constantly vomiting, miserable, and ended putting back on about half of the weight. In surgery they found it was twisted and so was his stomach.

The other had bypass surgery 10 yrs ago, and has struggled with severe malnutrition for the last 6yrs, to the extent she was an invalid. She came in to have the bypass reversed, and is very anxious about putting the weight back on. She'd lost about 50kg.

I feel that I made the right choice for me, and so does my surgeon. But that doesn't make it right for anyone else.

[bburleigh 0]

:thumbup:He sounds like he is money hungary and wanted the by pass to make the extra money. To accuse you of smoking, so what....I know they don't want you to smoke but to badger you about it is unprofessional. 52 lbs and to keep it off is great. I was told the Lap Band loss would be between 40-60% the first two years...sounds like you are on track.

Okay, so I have two topics here to discuss and they kind of go hand in hand. First a little background on my story. I was banded on 3/12/09. I am 5'2" and started my journey at 233 lbs (BMI 42). This morning my scale (naked and on an empty stomach) said 178.00 so that gives me a weight loss of 55 lbs in a year. I am thrilled with my weight loss because I know that I would have surely gained in that year and I have not consistently lost over a years period like that without losing/gaining/losing/gaining.

I went for a one year visit with my surgeon on Monday 3/15. In preparation of my visit he wanted me to have an upper GI which I did. He wanted to check the placement of my band and the restriction. He was getting a little concerned about how tight my band was (9 cc's) before he would ever consider any more fills. Makes sense to me.

So I go for my appointment and I tell the nurse that basically my band is fickle. Some days I feel like I am exactly where I need to be and other days I feel like I could be just a little tighter as my portions sometimes are a little bigger than I'd like. Not an every day thing but happens on occasion. I was in no way begging for a fill.

So surgeon comes to the door and motions me out of the office (no hello BTW) to follow him. I follow him to a computer screen where he shows me the my upper GI and shows how well my band is doing, says hes happy with the placement, all looks good and that I have some good restriction. I'm still okay with that because I wasn't 100% convinced I needed adjusted. I really just wanted to talk it out and find out where I should be, but I think he automatically was on the defensive that I was going to insist on a fill. As we are walking back to the room he says to me "you smoke?" To which I reply "No." He then says "well, I smell smoke, does someone in your house smoke? So I kind of shrug my shoulders because I'm confused by this and say, "Well, I don't smoke but yes, my husband is a smoker." I'm confused though because I came from work to the appt. He then goes on to say "Well, the one thing I can smell is smoke and you smell like smoke." So I again say, "well, I've never been a smoker, in fact I lost my mother to COPD, and my sister and father to lung cancer. I'm not a smoker." Well the subject finally drops but what gets in my craw is that I can tell he still doesn't believe me. First thing that bothered me about the appt.

Then we move on to talking about my diet, what I've been eating, he tells me my choice for the afternoon lunch was horrible (3 chicken fingers and some mashed potatoes). Which, okay, I can agree with that. But I remind him of the other meals that were good choices. He then proceeds to remind me that "you would have done better with bypass but YOU wanted the band". So I tell him that I'm very happy with the band and I say "You know Dr. X, I've lost over 50 lbs (it was 52 at his office) in the last year, don't you think that's good. So he tells me that it's okay but not exceptional and how only 5% of his patients are bands now the rest bypass. The thing that really got me was that I could tell that I am a disappointment to my surgeon. I think he only views me as bringing his statistics down which makes me really upset because I think I should be applauded for what I have accomplished and not made to feel bad. He ended up giving me a .5 cc fill (which I told him I was surprised he was giving me that much) and he had me drink some Water (first time ever) before I left the office. I think he thinks I'm insistant on fills (only one visit was I ever insistent) because I don't come in and say I'm at my sweet spot. I never throw up, rarely feel stuck and at times still felt my portions were too large. But I guess because I wasn't telling him what he wanted to hear, I'm not successful and he's taking it personally or something. The whole experience was so negative I just don't know what to make of it. If your surgeon acted this way, how would you feel?

Second question, since he told me that he's only doing minimal bands now, and said the stats for the whole state of Michigan for bands were "lousy", are we becoming a dying breed to bypass?

[atgoalgal 0]

First of all, everyone on here has had one intention and one intention only -- to support me. For that I say THANK YOU SO MUCH! Your posts did help encourage me to resolve this with my surgeon. I do not personally think he is an ass or any of the other words he's been called because I think that we mis-understood each other. Even so, I have not taken any offense to any of the things that have been said about my surgeon by posters because they were said out of anger and support for me. Sometimes people just need to vent and if it helped support what I was going through I'm okay with that. And you guys all validated me so much! Again, thank you. I also appreciate Spartan's feedback because she did have some good points. So if it is my surgeon and I am the original poster, and I'm okay with everyone on here, let's let this drop. I can't thank you all enough for your support. I really needed it and you came through big time.

Just wanted to thank you for taking the high road. I also think it's important that we deal with facts. Will start a thread with the data later today. I wish everyone the best on your own journeys.

[BetsyB 9]

Lisa, good for you! I'm so glad you discussed your concerns with your doctor. I have a feeling you're on your way to a much more constructive working relationship with him.

[AnneGG 0]

Me, too, good for you, Lisa! You've been a great example for us all of taking the high road, and doing what really works! I also appreciate your understanding the contribution of all the posters.