Carnie to be on Dr Phil!

I saw today that Carnie will be talking about her WLS on Dr Phil on Friday. Hope she really straightens him out about the necessity of it for some people & that it isn't easy or a bad thing, like he seems to believe. Speaking of TV shows, I won't even think about Maury because his show is just sleazy anymore & they love to exploit their guests. However, on the Larry Elder show yesterday they had two ladies whose surgeries didn't turn out the way they expected. Both had major malabsorbtion problems & blamed the surgeon. He had been on an earlier show & they recognized him & contacted the show. He agreed to come on with them. I don't know who to side with. First I believed that the women didn't do their homework at all & didn't know what to expect. That was part the doctor's fault but he did have them sign a consent form that did list all the problems they may encounter. They kept claiming that they ate all day long but couldn't get in enough protein. One said she ate as much as she did before her surgery but she sure didn't look it. Another thing the doctor said was that he didn't advertise that he did the surgery. He said he wasn't even listed in the yellow pages as doing the surgery. Obviously, he was just a general surgeon. I believe that they should have gone to a surgeon who specializes in bariatric surgery. Another doctor told one of the women that the surgery he did on her was outdated. She had a distal RNY and according to that doctor the distal is too drastic. If that is indeed the case, apparently the surgeon is not up on the new procedures. One more reason to go to a specialist. They also had a former patient of his who was very happy with his results. He had lost around 200 lbs & looked really good. However, I noticed that before the show was over he mentioned that he had recently needed a feeding tube because he had malabsortion problems also. Doesn't sound like a surgeon I would want to go to. At the end of the show he offered to fix the ladies problems for free. By the way, Larry Elder is looking for people who have "amazing weight loss stories." You can find where to go here http://www.kwwl.com/Global/link.asp?L=13273 Dixie

Hi Dixie, Thanks for sharing about Carnie, I agree someone needs to straighten him out on WLS! Personally I can't stand Dr. Phil, anyone ever poke his Pillsbury doughboy tummy? Never did like him even when he appeared on Oprah. Think it's his attitude. Anyway, enough of him. I can't understand people that don't do their homework on WLS. AND I will never be able to understand those that set out & sabatoge themselves, it just blows me away! Doctor's like you have described shouldn't even be able to practice. It's obvious he doesn't know what he is doing. Trouble is he will walk away & be ok, but those that have had surgery with him & suffer malabosortion will be suffering their life times. Makes me wonder if they were turned down by other dr's & he was gullible enough to take them on? Maybe they are all to blame? I'm probably going to get flamed for that comment! About Maury, I called just for the heck of it, he is sleezy. I qui****ching him years ago got tired of the same crap they have on. Years & years ago he use to put on a good show. Reason I called cuz they said age 20-40.... evidently those over 40 aren't able to have surgery?! Thanks for putting up that site going to look at it. I love inspiration stories & I love going to the Before & After photos on OH they have been a big inspiration for me. Hugs Carolyn

I still like Dr. Phil, just not when he gets on his weightloss tangent. And I really used to like Maury but that was when he didn't concentrate on all the paternity testsing shows & cheating on spouses, and the hidden camera and sending in somone to tempt them. How pathetic? I love to see him interact with sick children. He is very compassionate. Last year he was on when my guys were in for dinner & since they don't like soaps, we were stuck watching that crap. Fortunately he is no longer on in our market. Still a sleazy show at that time (a court one) but it's different. I don't think you'll get flamed for your remark. If so, they better flame me as I agree. Those women were asking for miracles & didn't know what they were getting into. I found them very annoying & sided with the doctor for the most part. I know that there can be problems. Heck, the scariest part of the whole procedure for me was to read & sign each page of a very long release from my doctor. It listed probably everything that could possibly happen as well as procedures that he may have to perform in an emergency. It was very scary & I had done my homework. I am sure that malabsorbtion was listed as we all have that to some extent. The surgery wouldn't work as well if we didn't. Those women also signed a long release form so should have anticipated problems. Legally, he probably didn't have to offer to fix them. I can't help but wonder what will happen after he does his repairs. They said they were eating like they normal people do. Once the malabsorbtion is fixed they will start gaining back their weight. Don't get me wrong, I still feel the doctor shouldn't be doing the surgery unless he is more up on the procedures. If the distal is indeed outdated he shouldn't be doing it but I have read many times on the main forum of people having it distal. They tend to point it out as you do lose faster that way. Dixie

Hi Dixie, AGAIN! I really have to admire the Dr for wanting to fix the problem for these ppl. I have to go back to what Dr. Harris said at his seminar, Dr. Harris is who I was going to have surgery with but he's 2 hrs away found a surgeon 1/2 hr away so went with him. Anyway, Dr. Harris had an interesting seminar that day. He stated that anyone who had WLS in the 70's or 80's were probably lucky to be alive today. You know I really have to agree with that statement. I met a gal in the 80's that had WLS, she had constant diarhea, always looked jaundiced, in other words like hell. She could hardly keep anything down & lived on liquids mostly as she couldn't tolerate "real food" as she put it. She passed away last year, a broken down young woman (54 yrs old), she was unable to walk anymore & had to be in a nursing home. I also know a gal from a nearby town that had surgery in the 80's. She is in & out of the hospital constantly, she's had internal bleeding, most of her blood work is horrible & in danger zone. She had a revision years ago to "try & fix the problem" & it hasn't worked for her. She is in her early 40's, but looks much older. At that time also for some reason ppl seemed to age about 10 yrs when they had WLS. Also, liver failure or problems were something that was dealt with constantly. She also suffers from fibromyalgia. I hate to say she looks like death warmed over most days. She has told me that when she had WLS they knew nothing of the vitamin intake you should have. Basically they were told at that time was eat til your full then quit. She wasn't told to take vitamins or get B12 checked or blood workup's. It won't be surprising to find her in a wheelchair soon. We are really the lucky ones, the research, OH, the doctor's (good one's that is) that know what they are doing & what they are talking about concerning WLS. We are also lucky to know what we are getting into ahead of time. I could go on & on about this subject! I'm not sure if this dr will be able "to fix the problem" for these people but wish him the best of luck. Personally, I researched for about a year before coming to the decision of having surgery. Any regrets? None at all. Sometimes I feel guilty about how good I feel when I'm around the gal that has had problems. And the surgeon she had is really good, he handled my son's burn surgeries & he is a fantastic well educated man who performs WLS as well as other specialized surgeries. I still stand by the fact it isn't WLS that kills a person, it's more the co-morbids that are the killers. Not always mind you but I think the majority of the problems are from co-morbids. IF you have a good surgeon he will go over the risks you are taking. Who would ever think going in for lap gallbladder surgery you would have a stroke that would take your life? That happened to a woman when my mom was in the hospital. She was getting ready to go home, feeling great & had the stroke dying 2 days later. Did that hit the media? NO! But if it had been someone with WLS it would have been a headliner. I best shut up! Take care, Carolyn

It looks like a really good show to, there is another guest going to be on that has to choose between his marriage and the surgery....looks like it will be a good one, I will be watching for sure!!! Thanks for the heads up! Take Care Jesi

The above link no longer works. Sorry, guess they did some updating. I went to the page where they indicate what subjects they will be covering in the near future & the WLS one is gone. Perhaps they have their "victums." You can e-mail them by going to this page http://www.kwwl.com/Global/link.asp?L=132735 Dixie

OOPS... that should have been "victims." Dixie