Do your research! (rant)

I attended a weight loss surgery seminar last week. I won’t name where the seminar was or who gave the presentation because I would like to keep this as productive as possible.

I believe you do patients a disservice when you only discuss two forms of surgery, as if they are the only two available. This may be the only two you perform, or the two most likely to be approved by an insurance company, but they are not the only two surgeries available. Worse still is to badmouth the other surgeries when you are questioned about their existence.

Example:
"Oh, DS gives you smelly gas and loose stools."

“VSG is investigational and no insurance company will pay for it. It isn’t recognized by X, Y or Z to be effective."

I was appalled because this is a renowned hospital & the surgeon was purposely not making all the information available to potential patients, despite advertising the seminar as a “weight loss surgery seminar". 

Even more surprising is that no one in the audience bothered to ask any more details about the existence of the other surgeries. They took the doctor’s testimony and left it at that.

I was thankful to have been armed with information prior to attending. I was very thankful for having been a part of OH for the last 4 years.

Do your research!

Well, some surgeons are only qualified to do certain surgeries so therefore they only talk about the surgeries that they perform. I cannot say what was said at the seminar that you went to. You really cannot lump all seminars and surgeons into what you are posting about. Take for example my surgeon says from the get go during his seminar that he is only talking about 2 types of surgery that he does. He will speak with you during the Q & A about other forms of WLS. I also will step up and defend the other people in the audience and say that they might not have been qualified to say anything about the other surgeries or were knowledgeable, they might not have the Internet to research it. So, please lay off others on this, maybe they aren't as ". . .  thankful to have been armed with information prior to attending" . . .  These people might not have had any other information to compare to what was being brought forth to you and the rest. Please lighten up on them and the surgeons that presented the seminar.

I agree with what was said about VSG - I am covered by one of the largest covered insurance providers in the Chgo area - BCBS (minimum of 80% of the insurance coverage in the Chgo area) and it is not covered. RNY is considered the  - "Gold Standard" for WLS and BCBS only covered the Lap Band in 2004. I have also heard many things about the D'S but am not qualified to answer it but am open to the fact that it is a good form of WLS for some.

What transpired at your seminar is not the norm with all surgeons. Please do not lump all the great surgeons in the rest of the Chgo area with what you heard.

Keep in touch with the rest of the board as to your journey.

While I understand that not all surgeons are qualified to talk about certain types of surgery (that was not the case here - they actually perform VSG) it was painfully obvious that the surgeon was trying to steer people away from anything other than Lap-band & RNY. In fact, the PowerPoint presentation was "Lap-band vs. RNY."

In addition to that, his staff would not answer questions before hand. They made you go to this seminar prior to making an appointment. How difficult is it to answer whether the doctor performs VSG? I didn't have a list of questions, just one. Does he perform this particular surgery. If not, fine. No problem. I won't waste my time at the seminar.

Instead I go to a seminar, marketed towards pitching only two types of surgeries (despite the all-inclusive name) and am told to only ask general questions geered towards anyone. I asked my questions anyway and received the answers I listed in my message above.

I don't believe I lumped all IL surgeons into this category -- in fact, I didn't even name the hospital, so that others could make their own choices about the service they receive there.

I stated that, "I believe you do patients a disservice when you only discuss two forms of surgery, as if they are the only two available."

It is a huge disservice. If I have cancer, and my doctor tells me there is one cure, and fails to tell me that there are 5 other treatments, because he does not believe in them or because he does not have the qualifications to administer them, then he is withholding vital information and therefore is affecting my ability to make an informed decision.

It also makes me question his motives.

The statements he made were to discourage people from thinking about the other surgeries available. His tone, his choice of words...

While my rant may be difficult to handle, it is still a valid point.

Do your research!


PS - This is my third seminar. I have no complaints about the other two, considering they presented all the information.

Clearly it sounds like this is not the surgeon for you.  Move on and find a surgeon that makes you happy and comfortable.

Good Luck w/ your journey.
Christina