Don't Be This Guy

Scene: Sitting in bariatric surgeons office at a major hospital

Guy: You got a band
Me: Yeah
Guy: I've lost 50 pounds so far
Me: thats great
Guy: too bad I didn't know this band didn't do it all (with a flat look on his face)
Me: what do you mean
Guy: you know it's not easy like bypass where they eat and lose 
Me: oh you mean the malabsorbtion
Guy: yeah

I sit and think...how did he not go into surgery informed....

Guy: How much bread do you eat?
Me: None.  I haven't touched it since surgery
Guy: oh man I love my biscuits
Me: uh yeah
Guy: what kind of soda do you drink
Me: none
Guy: not even diet? 
Me: no water-tea-crystal light
Guy: oh gotta have my soda
Me: uh yeah
Guy: I think I'm going to try just eating one meal a day
Me: You can't do that! How will you get all your protein in?
Guy: I'm going to do what I did last night and eat one piece of chicken (and he described with his hands how big and it's at least 5 cups of chicken) that way I get all of my protein in one sitting.
Me: You really shouldn't be able to eat that much in one sitting.  
Guy: Oh I can and more
Me: Maybe you need a fil and to see the Nut
Guy: Naw I'm doing great
Me: Did you take any classes? 
Guy: well we met once with the Nut person and then surgery.
Me: Didn't your surgeon discuss with you options and the nut go over what you should be eating? Do you have a support group?
Guy: No I went to the office met the nut and had surgery...




Thankfully...He wasn't an original patient of the office I was at.  He was transferring there from another surgeon...

Wow Just Wow...

I feel sorry for the guy.  He's clueless because he wasnt informed.    

On the other side of feeling sorry for him....   sounds like he wasnt too concerned about informing himself either.

Research Resarch Research is SO important...

Its sad.

Scary, isn't it? And we wonder why the Band doesn't always have great success stats. Helloooooooo??? 

I am so thankful that my surgeon has an excellent before AND after care program. They even referred me to this site and this board, where I have learned even more!

YAY for those of us who are "doing it right!!" 

I know, frightening!  I once had someone tell me that if they would have know about fills before surgery they would never have had the band!!!!  Yikes!

Sometimes the lack of information provided by some practices borders on malpractice.  Sometimes we just don't listen or we hear only what we want to hear. 

Hopefully, now that he's with your surgeon he'll get some education.

Lisa O.

I know.

There's another banded person that I talk to now and then.  They asked me how often I pb.  I said, very rarely and it's usually because I tried to eat something I shouldn't have.

Them: Oh, I do it every morning.  I tried to eat some of my grandbabies rice cereal and I had to pull over on the way to work.  I can't eat until late in the pm.

Me:  Sounds like you're too tight, maybe you should go and see about getting some fluid out.

Them: Oh no, I still have xx amount to lose.  I'm going in for more fill soon.

Me: You know pb'ing so much you're risking losing your band.  Do you tell your doc that you're throwing up so much?

Them: no.  I just want to be tighter.

Me:  (giving up because I don't want to be the "band police")  I hope you do well.

I had a similar conversation with a woman at my last appointment.  She said "I haven't lost much because I can eat all the food on my plate."  I said that it was okay because she only has a little on her plate.  She told me she was putting all her food like in the past and waiting for the band to tell her to stop eating.  Oh my.

My PA told me that she had a person that came in for her one month checkup and gained 9 pounds.  She also told me about the person who told her they could eat a whole cheeseburger 1 week out.  The PA said "bun and all?"  The person replied "yes".  The PA said to her "why would you?"

My personal experience with the band is the girl at my part time job who had the surgery with my surgeon 4 years ago.  I asked her how she was doing and she said "I just ate a snickers bar."  I was like, "okay".  She said, "well the funny thing is I can't eat chicken salad, it all came back up."  I mentioned that the Snickers bar was likely a slider food and she said "no, it's not."  Then she said she was going for another fill in a week.  I told her good luck.

Like Lisa said, I'm not the band police.  I'm just trying hard to do what I need to do.  Far be it from me to correct someone 4 years out -- even if they are deluding themselves!

Goodness, I have heard my fair share too. I wonder how can people do people undergo MAJOR surgery with so little information on how this whole thing works?!