Priorities out of whack?

[plain 12]

*disclaimer*

easily offended DS'ers may want to stop reading

So, I was snooping in the DS forum on OH, and it seems like quite a few were drawn to that surgery because they could "eat normal food all they wanted". Sure, I know that these people are probably the minority, and that most of the DS'ers use it as a tool, responsibly. Heck, for that matter, I'm sure there are a lot of banders that misuse the band (although I haven't seen many here......perhaps they know better than to flaunt their flagrant misuse of the band).

Do the DS'res have to get a psyche eval like the banders (uh.....I guess I can only speak for my area)? It just strikes me as a little odd to fix the outside without even trying to fix the inside.

[green 6]

It seems to me that the Duodenal Switch is the gluttony option when it comes to weight loss surgery. Ya can keep on crammin' it in because it won't stick around in your system long enough to do ya any damage. Well, some folks really, really love eating and this would be the surgery for them. The only drawback is that anything which issues from your anus could flush al-qaeda out of hiding, a potentially valuable resource, eh. Obviously the army needs a platoon of DSers in Special Ops. Pooping will trump puking.

[Ang1982 4]

Do the DS'res have to get a psyche eval like the banders (uh.....I guess I can only speak for my area)? It just strikes me as a little odd to fix the outside without even trying to fix the inside.

Just thought I would through out there that - not all Banders are required to have a psych evaluation. I believe it depends on if you are using insurance to pay for it (I think that requires it) and other than that it's surgeons discretion. I was a self pay and not required to have a psych eval.

[losingjusme 12]

my insurance paid 90% and i didnt need it ...

[*susan* 1,709]

I was self-pay but my surgeon did require a psych. eval.

[HarleyGirl 1]

Just thought I would through out there that - not all Banders are required to have a psych evaluation. I believe it depends on if you are using insurance to pay for it (I think that requires it) and other than that it's surgeons discretion. I was a self pay and not required to have a psych eval.

I was a self-pay and DID have to go through the psych eval. My doctor is very strict about candidates being suitable for the surgery. She will send folks in for counseling or whatever if she feels they're not ready for the surgery......no matter how it's paid for.

I didn't even consider DS.......I so want to change EVERYTHING about how I eat and my relationship with food.....

[plain 12]

Yeah.......one of the posters on the other forum actually wrote that she decided on the DS because the DS support group she attended (just for info) met at an all-you-can-eat buffet. That was really the thing that hit the "WTF" switch for me.

[Ang1982 4]

Yeah.......one of the posters on the other forum actually wrote that she decided on the DS because the DS support group she attended (just for info) met at an all-you-can-eat buffet. That was really the thing that hit the "WTF" switch for me.

Yah sound the "WTF Horn" indeed. *shakes head in amazement*

[Wheetsin 714]

Most insurance-paid WLS require a psychologist, especially the more permanent options.

It just strikes me as a little odd to fix the outside without even trying to fix the inside.

Fixing the inside and outside are not mutually exclusive, and outside fixes are not always about vanity or superficial/exterior motives. And even when they are, I'd say it's as common with band recipients as with any other procedure. It doesn't much longevity here to clearly see a lot more driving "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" than "nothing tastes as good as healthy feels"... and a lot more "what size for what weight" questions than "what weight for what health improvement" ones. And don't forget the internal-external relationship... many times an inside fix (diabetes, HBP, cholesterol, etc.) comes from an outside fix (losing body fat).

I don't know that I agree it's a matter of priorities being out of whack. Not everyone's priority is (or should be) behavioral change, relearning eating patterns, etc. Especially not up front. If my doctor told me, "You need to lose weight now or you will die" -- quick weightloss period, regardless of my in/ability to make behavioral changes, becomes my priority and an AGB becomes a very poor choice for me. If I don't have the cognitive/behavioral strength to commit to owning my choices, then something that ignores my choices is a much better option with the priority of staying alive.

We may see it as abusing their tool because they are behaviors we can't do, and as such seem foreign or "wrong" to us. But when your chosen procedure allows those behaviors, then I don't see where there's even an issue. There are a handful of options out there, and the ebst we can do is pick the one that's right for us at a given time, and hope it stays right, or do something to make it different. If the option to eat at a buffet and still lose weight is right (and come on... let's be real for a moment... at one time or another mostof us would have given a lot for a "cure" that let us eat what we wanted while still losing weight) for someone, and it's the basis of the surgery they chose, what's wrong with that?

Edited April 3, 2008 by Wheetsin

[plain 12]

Oh, I didn't mean to compare the issue of health vs. vanity with WLS. Heck, I'm enough of a libertarian to not care why somebody chooses WLS. My point was (and now that I read over my OP, I see the clarity was lacking) that if somebody chooses a particular WLS because they can still eat as much as they want, they may still have some significant "inside fixing" to do.

As flawed an analogy as it is........suppose one is an alcoholic. The alcohol itself isn't the problem, but rather the over-consuption of it. To constantly battle this addiction, the individual has to come to terms with Portion Control (which in this case, I realize, would be zero). To constantly drink alcohol-free beer, although meeting the same goal in a different way, seems to be an incomplete treatment. Ok, it was a shitty analogy, but it was all I could think of off the top of my head.

If a person opts for the DS because they have x amount of weight to lose, or their trusted doctor prefers that procedure, or because they want to look really good really fast.....I have no problem with anything like that. But to choose the DS because it's "easy, and I can still eat as much as I want" sounds like denial to me.