The Doctor's decision!!:(

Hi Everyone!! I went to the Dr yesterday to see what he had to say about my referral. He said NO! He said he wants me to go on the Atkins Diet FIRST He said it works for a lot of people... He said ALOT of Doctors are on it and it works for them. He said he didn't think i should go through surgery so, I dotn have to deal with the complications from it afterwards. He said in his experience the complications are not worth the surgery. HE said that if the Atkins Diet didnt help then WE woudl start the surgery process. I am soo bummed out right now. HE also gave me a pedometer to see how many calories I burn a day..He wants me to get more excercise. I don't know where to go from here..I guess I'll just be the good little patient and do what he says...

Erika, At first my Dr told me to try one more diet pill. Tried it, and I even lost a few (very few) pounds, and she still set me up for surgery. The Atkins diet, like any, only work for a short time. What I am hoping is, he sticks to his word and starts the process after this. I am still waiting on insurance. I have been so bummed out. HEY did you know any of the kids that were killed in the car accident over the weekend? I knew two of them. The brother and sister. The sister had a 5 month old baby at home.. Sooo sad..

No i didn't know any of them and yes it is VERY sad

Erika, Can't doctors be such party poopers! The Atkin's diet does work, you may lose about 60lbs if you do it right and stick with it FOREVER, once you stop the weight comes back. I don't know what you're thinking about doing but if you can switch to a different Dr to get the refferal I'd go for it. Are you planning to come down to have Dr Clough in Bangor? That's who did mine, I haven't had a single complication. Maybe you could print a bunch of info from the internet saying the statistics for complications so your doc can see that they are really low. Search on words like Bariatric Surgery etc. I brought info in a huge binder when I went to ask my doc for the refferal and she gave it to me in a minute. I don't think your doc really knows enough about the surgery/need for you to have it to make a decision like that. Dr Clough told me when I saw him for my initial consult that being 100lbs or more overweight makes it impossible to lose weight by regular diets and exercise thus having the RNY is the only choice. Once you get that refferal to the program it's smooth sailing through the process, sometimes there are bumps along the way but from the time I saw my doc till I had surgery was only 7 1/2 months, would have been sooner but we had to wait till my hubby was done with college classes for that semester. Be aggressive! Good luck, Casey

Thank you Casey for the advice..I have a hard time being aggressive..especially to my DR.. I have always been taught to respect your elders..LOL!!! I almost cried when he told me no..I felt lieka little kid being punished..I was able to hold backl the tears...although now i think about it i should have let the dam go...LOL!!! Maybe then he would have said ok. I did bring in info for himt o look over and he thanked me for that. I will do my part in tryign this atkins thing..but, i wont like it..grrr!

FACT: Once a person is 100 pounds or more overweight the chance of losing it through exercise and diet alone AND keep it off for 2 or more years is 5 to 8 %. That means that most of us fail. 95% of us! That is a very sad rate, but once we become MO, it is just about impossible. Your doctor would be correct in what he is saying if you had 50 pounds to lose. How long is he going to make you try this diet? I agree with what Casey said, look for another PCP. After surgery you will need someone that knows how to care for you or is at least willing to educate themselves on wls. ObesityHelp is full of information to print off, I took so much into my PCP she laughed. I even had a letter, mostly taken from one here on site, changed it to apply to me. Go prepared!! For those of you that do not know, I work for ObesityHelp.com. If there is anything I can every do for anyone, please let me know. I have the best job in the world!! Good luck!

Thansk for that fact and the advice..VERY interesting!!! Im not sure how long he wants me to try it..but i figure ill give it a month or 2 to see what i cant do..LOL!!! Hey how do you all get those faces..i have tried to fidn them but have been unsuccessful..HELP!!!

Hi Erika, I had a doctor like that, very wishy washy about the whole thing. I was lucky enough to just be able to switch docs. within my practice and my new doc. has been 100% supportive. It is true the diets and excersise don't really work. I went to a dr. at Mt. Sinia (however you spell it) in NY to prove to my family that the surgery was my last hope. He said that at this point, I could maybe lose 50-100 but no where near what I what need to be healthy again. Good luck, be persistant...IT IS YOUR BODY, YOUR HEALTH and only YOU know what is best for YOU!!! If you ever need someone to talk to, I am always here. [email protected] Sam