Ignorance regarding weight loss surgery

[2muchfun 8,927]

My wife is in healthcare and even she was biased against WLS.

Nurses worlds are filled with the "glass is half empty" scenarios. Healthy people don't fill hospital beds but fat, sick people do.

Sniff(SNF or skilled nursing facilities) beds often have patients who have had Bypass surgery and often need to be tube fed but can't be fed this way due to WLS. Therefore, the attitude or bias against WLS develops.

[CrazyJaney 775]

I agree that we see the sickest of the sick, especially in ICU. I remember taking care of a young women who was septic, on the vent, horrible pneumonia. She had had gastric bypass about 5 years before, so around 2000. She had really never been well. Never had good health restored. Infection after infection related to malabsorption. I admit to letting that sway me. But 15 years later, with much more data, science and multidisciplinary approach to follow up, things have changed. It's time for the medical community at large to look at the data. We should be rallying behind a valid treatment and cure for this massive epidemic.

[pink dahlia 2,513]

Good for you for being pro active towards your health !! I wonder if your fellow students would bash wls if it was THEIR body with YOUR family history ?? I dont think so! I think you made the best decision for your future. That being said , is it possible you could educate these people by telling them your story ? Think what a great role model you could be for them ! Maybe they wouldnt be so quick to judge and would have more understanding if the situation was more personal ? Good luck !

[LindafromFlorida 1,542]

Lyn, God Bless you on your journey. I am thankful you are looking out for your children to be here and healthy for them. The medical profession looks at us fatties as weak lepers. I busted my knee on a malfunctioning elevator at a State Courthouse where I worked in 2007. The well known arthroscopic surgeon dismissed me with 1 post op visit, and sputtered (when I said ...but I am still in terrible pain with my knee) that ahem....maybe you should lose weight or quit work ....., and left the room. I cussed for a day or two and made another appointment and he was perplexed why I was back. I told him how offended I was at his comments. He sputtered some more and apologized somewhat. I went on to work 5 more years to age 65, had another surgeon approved for a total knee replacement in 2009, and to hell with that doctor. nurses, and other smug people who think we are just overeating gluttons. My husband has been a terrible diabetic 30 years, then I was diagnosed too, and I am hoping with the sleeve we added a few years to our love and our life. Best of luck. Keep your surgery/business to yourself. Linda

[1Day1Life4Now 882]

Lyn, I just wanted to say how proud I am of you and your accomplishments. Becoming a NP is awesome. Good job. Stopping this family history of diabetes, obesity, and other things for your children is like being a Super Hero. You have already lost a tremendous amount of weight and I know you will continue. You will be healthy and most importantly you will be around for your babies to grow up and then for their babies. Keep up the good work, fight the ignorance but keep your private info to yourself. Thanks for your what you do. The nurses I had in the hospital during my sleeve surgery were so good to me and it made the process so much more bearable. Take care and good luck.

[LynRN 294]

Thank you all for your insight and kind words.

[Iambeautiful 100]

There certainly seems to be a stigma with regards to WLS. I have not told anyone that i had it done except my daughter and daughter in law who have been very supportive of me. People consider you weak that you cannot stick with a diet or exercise routine. The thing that they don't realize is that this is NOT the easy way out. I went through a living hell the first week out of surgery. I couldn't keep anything down--not even Water. My blood pressure soared sky high along with my heart rate after sugery *( all my pre op heart tests came out completely normal) The nurses and doctors said i was in great health and a good candidate for WLS after reading the results of a long list of pre op testing I endured. My only big health issue was my BMI which still wasn't so high as to not make me a Sleeve candidate.

I just don't get it. If people are drug addicts or alcoholics no one thinks it's horrible for someone to go into rehab. They applaud them for getting the much needed help. So why do they critisize the obese who have an eating disorder or metabolic disorder. I have had food addictions and metabolic syndrom that caused me to lose weight very slowly even with the strictist diets. Now since the sleeve surgery, I can finally control my addictions to food and food no longer controls my life. I have the tools needed to finally beat this and become thinner and to look at food in a new light now. I tried every diet in the book and nothing worked long term. what the general public doesn't realize is that we STILL have to work hard with diet and excercise to lose weight but the great thing is that the VGS has given me the tools i need now to accomplish this because it's like a long acting diet pill. I have no real hunger and it only takes very small amounts of food to fill me up. I have chosen healthy foods to eat even though I am still on pureed foods now but plan on making healthy eating now a long term goal for the rest of my life.... No more snacking on chips and salsa, potatoe chips, pretzels, candy, ice cream, Trips to fast food places when out, eating large portions of food then having seconds and raiding the fridge at night. I have no desire for any of that anymore and since i took such a drastic step to do this, I plan on using this as an advantage and I'm not trying to sabotage my efforts by experimenting with foods that i used to eat.

WLS has come a long way. I know in the past a lot of people died from the bypass back in the seventies and eighties and on when the WLS was not perfected and many obese patients were not screened like i was with all the pre op testings. I'll never forget when i was in nursing training and there was a by pass pt in the recovery area that was like 400 lbs and the Drs had to do CPR on this guy. I heard rude remarks from doctors or residents about this poor man.... i thought it was so unethical and rude. Now days the medical profession recognizes obesity as a disease and not just a weakness in character or a stigma that we are just pityful lazy people that don't care for ourselves nor have respect for ourselves enough to lose weight. I'm so happy we have finally able to come out of the closet and for it to be recognized as a real disease. Believe me i had tried EVERY diet under the sun. I even did the Optifast and lost 70 lbs only to gain it all back in two to three years. Fad diets never work in the long run. Anyone can lose twenty pounds or ever fifty on a diet but it will come righ back on once we slip into our old habits of over eating again...... Hooray..... I will beat this now.... I have confindence and I am so grateful for this surgery.... It has given me a new chance on living versus dying a slow death. I wouldn't recommend this surgery for anyone. If you are young and can diet and excercise and get counseling I'd certainly try that first of all. The WLS should be a last resort but in my case it was. I took the risk but glad that i did now.

[Teachamy 1,042]

Thank you, Lyn for being a healthcare practitioner who truly "gets it". Hopefully, word will spread to your colleagues that this is a viable option for so many of us!

[dylanmiles23 2,198]

So, I am an RN and studying to be a Family Nurse Practitioner. In my Health Promotion class, we were discussing obesity and weight loss surgery. Many of my classmates, all RNs and soon to be primary care providers, had negative opinions of WLS. They all knew someone or took care of someone that had WLS and gained all the weight back or had complications or eating disorders or whatever, which may be true. But I was completely taken aback by the negative attitudes, and frankly, ignorance and misinformation about WLS that still prevails, even among healthcare professionals. My position was that, for the right patients ( those that are mentally prepared and willing to do the work), WLS should be viewed as a viable option in the treatment of obesity. BTW, they don't know that I had VSG. So, a little about me. I am a 32 year old wife and mommy of 3 and 5 year old little boys. I am 5'2 and at my highest, I weighed 276 lbs. That is a BMI of over 50. I am just shy of 4 months out and am down to 208. While I still have a ways to go, I am already smaller than I have been in nearly a decade. I had no real comorbidities to speak of, but I know it was just a matter of time. I am a black woman with a horrible family history of diabetes, heart disease and renal failure. My own mother has been ill for most of my life. She was diagnosed with Lupus in her 30s. Soon to follow were hip and knee replacements, renal failure (she's had TWO kidney transplants), diabetes, hypertension and TWO heart attacks. And most of this was before age 50. And guess what, while she is overweight, she was never the size that I was. My grandmother also died from complications of diabetes at age 57. My mother's youngest brother is also a brittle diabetic and on dialysis awaiting a SECOND kidney transplant and he's not yet 50. I was heading in the same direction and decided I needed to do something drastic to change my fate. So excuse me for taking "the easy way out" to save my own life and health, to spare my kids the fear of "waiting for the other shoe to drop" that I experienced growing up with a mom that was constantly in and out of the hospital. Also, I wanted to lose weight before I become an NP. I just don't know how effective I could be at advising patients to lose weight or exercise or eat right when I was so heavy. So, I decided to help myself before I try to help someone else. Anyway, sorry for the long post. Rant Over!

Good for you!!! WLS is not the easy way out. It is a tool to help make better eating choices. Your sons will be happy having a healthy mommy around longer.

[AutumnPunkin 313]

I am a nursing student in Canada and am in one of the best universities for nursing. I have found that my classes teach us to look further beyond the presenting problem. For example in my last class I had to talk about childhood obesity, and think outside the box to help that family intervene with their child's disability. I was astonished how well my classmates were considerate of a holistic view and ways to help the patient other than the obvious. I am saddened by your news. I also notice a difference between the rn's in my school from other universities locally. Huge difference in holistic care. I plan to work in pediatric as well as my doctors obesity program (of which he has kindly offered me a job haha).

Hopefully some of the new rn's out there can help work with the problems associated with obesity and wls. I k ow my classmates and faculty are excited about my journey. Obesity is something that is so comlicated, that I am glad we are getting NP's like you! <3

[kll724 3,055]

What a terrific program. and maybe, with new nurses and doctors coming up and being better trained in obesity and wls it will influence others too. Congratulations on the program. Karen..aka..kll724

[McButterpants 2,846]

LynRN,

First, congrats on your success. You didn't let fat win. What you've accomplished is admirable.

The stigma behind WLS baffles me. As a society we have no problem purchasing billions of dollars in supplements each year that promise weight loss of 20 pounds in two weeks - that's acceptable. But a medical procedure that forces you to eat less and eat well, is open to ridicule. Watch Dr. Oz for a week and you see how many weight loss products there are out there he endorses - I can attest, I have a closet full of them; money wasted and frustration gained! Our employers and insurance carriers make the decision to treat millions of people for diabetes, sleep apnea, joint replacements, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc., but won't pay for a surgery that would take care of most of those issues in most of the patients.

I used to be one of those people that thought that WLS was "the easy way out". It's because I was ignorant about it. Because of my ignorance, I lost about 10 years of my life being fat and unhappy. I wish I would have been better educated and less stubborn about WLS!

Looking forward, LynRN, do your best to educate those patients that you treat and the health care provides with which you work. You can't change or help everyone, but if you get thru to a few, we are certainly ahead of the game!

Best of luck to you!

[SugarFreeMe 293]

Lyn, I know like everyone else here all too well how some healthcare professionals are un-professional regarding obesity and WLS. I'm wondering if you could help with this by asking your Surgeon to talk with your group. Explain to him the negative attitudes and perceptions your encountering in your class and ask him to educate them. If more people are educated about the real reasons behind the inability to loose and keep it off maybe they would have more empathy and understanding of the disease that is obesity. It's not something we chose to get, but it's something we need to fix and if the medical community were more on board it would make life so much easier.

[Susysleever 265]

LynRN,

First, congrats on your success. You didn't let fat win. What you've accomplished is admirable.

The stigma behind WLS baffles me. As a society we have no problem purchasing billions of dollars in supplements each year that promise weight loss of 20 pounds in two weeks - that's acceptable. But a medical procedure that forces you to eat less and eat well, is open to ridicule. Watch Dr. Oz for a week and you see how many weight loss products there are out there he endorses - I can attest, I have a closet full of them; money wasted and frustration gained! Our employers and insurance carriers make the decision to treat millions of people for diabetes, sleep apnea, joint replacements, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc., but won't pay for a surgery that would take care of most of those issues in most of the patients.

I used to be one of those people that thought that WLS was "the easy way out". It's because I was ignorant about it. Because of my ignorance, I lost about 10 years of my life being fat and unhappy. I wish I would have been better educated and less stubborn about WLS!

Looking forward, LynRN, do your best to educate those patients that you treat and the health care provides with which you work. You can't change or help everyone, but if you get thru to a few, we are certainly ahead of the game!

Best of luck to you!

Mcbutter, I started a thread on Dr. Oz. Numerous comments on supplements and wacky herbs.

[McButterpants 2,846]

Mcbutter, I started a thread on Dr. Oz. Numerous comments on supplements and wacky herbs.

I probably could have paid for my surgery with all the money I wasted on magic pills and "supplements"!!!!!!