Howdy Y'all!

My name is Terrie, and I am a long time lurker/1st time poster here.  I have been thinking about having Gastric bypass surgery for quite some time now, and I met a man where I work who had it done.  I had been fighting going to the doctor for several years, Mostly due to the fact that everytime I had a health issue, I was told I only was having the problems I was having because I was fat.  I do not have regular periods, and when I do, they are absolutely horrible.  I go to the doctor, who simply says there is nothing wrong with me...other than I am over weight.  I had not been to a doctor in over 5 years.  Till a few months ago.  I have been experincing severe pain in my lower back and lower legs, making it hard for me to walk distances, so I suck it up, and I go to a doctor here in Tulsa, and  I show her my swollen left foot, tell her of my pain, ask her for help.  Mind you, I weigh 350, and I am 5foot 5.  She just looks at me , and says "of course your back and legs hurt...you are too fat! You need to exercise more.  Walking will not help you, you are lazy, and need to join a gym! " Needless to say, it hurt my feelings immensely, and made me cry.  Then she took my blood pressure, said it was too high, gave me a prescription for my blood pressure, and an anti-depressant and sent me on my way to radiology for blood tests, and x rays, and said she wanted to see me again in a month.  I never went back, not even to get my results. How could I? My friend at work heard what had happened to me, and told me to call Dr. Gorospe, that I did not need to see another dr.  So I called.  They said I had to go to the seminar.  I went.  They said they would call the next week. They didnt.  I called today, and left a message with Marie.  Im not sure what else to do. Do I sit and wait, twiddling my thumbs? Did/Is anyone else experience/experincing this?  I feel lost.   Thanks for listening.

Welcome to the gang! Tonja

Terrie welcome to the group .. my suggestion is call the dr back.. thats what i do.. i call call call, ask questions and ask more questions.. and remember we are here for you.. we have all been or are now where you are. if ya need a shoulder to cry on let us know.. we will listen.. if ya need someone to talk to that understands where your coming from email me and  I will send you my phone number

I get so heated when I hear "you're fat...all aches & pains must be related to that" I'm here to tell you that's not always the case.   I have Crohn's Disease, which causes terrible abdominal pain and diarrhea...especially during a flare-up.  Before diagnosis, I was told "you need to stop eating fatty foods and the diarrhea will stop.  Oh, and if you lose weight, you won't be in pain" I have arthritis (which only shows when my Crohn's is active).  I've been told "Lose weight, and you won't hurt" I'm anemic and have been told that because I don't eat healthy, I'm not getting in enough iron.  Again...Crohn's related problem. From what I've researched, my Crohn's has nothing to do with my weight.  However, most of my ailments do.   Doctors can be so damned short-sighted when they see an obese person.  To me, it's no different than the doctor that sees a cancer patient and says "stop smoking", when the patient has never smoked in his life. If I were you, I'd get my test results and take them to another doctor.  Find out what the source of your pain is, and then find out if your health can withstand WLS.   Either way, we're here for you.  Keep us posted! Cathy

You know, my first experience with being told that I was fat by a doctor was in Germany.  I went in for a biopsy because my yearly came up weird and because I have had cancer in my uterus (19 years ago) they double check anything....so he is doing the whole thing and then after the biopsy was done we were sitting in his office and he asked me if there was anything else he could do for me....I asked him if i could have some birth control pills....he looked me square in the face and said "No, you are too fat"  and handed me a bag of condoms....two months later I got pregnant with my son...now I have almost 16 years between my oldest and youngest...so not planned that way....but love it...lol Deni

Hi Terrie, Your story just makes me sad and angry , I think we have all felt the way you have at some time in our life.  I can say i only started this process a little over a month ago , it is such a relief to be doing something  about my weight and to have people encourage me .  I hope you will always feel free to "vent " if you need to or to ask questions here , there is alot of knowledge and compassion here . Dont give up and dont feel like you are alone !!! Luanne

Terrie, I know just how you feel.  I had strep throat once and the doctor was trying to tell me I wouldn't have gotten strep throat if I wasn't overweight. What??? Do thin people NEVER get strep??? Crazy. Don't give up.  Call again tomorrow.   I have to do a 3 month supervised program before my insurance will even tell me if I am approved or not.  From all I have read on these boards, WLS is a roller coaster ride.  I almost put a motto on my signature saying, "Hold on tight! Here we go!"  Take care of yourself!!!  Best of luck to you! And even if you don't post, read these boards, they can be full of so much great advice!! Diana

How insenstive and rude of the doctor to treat you the way they did.  They have probably never been overweight a day in their life. If you don't hear back from Dr. Gorospe, you may want to call Surgical Associates in Tulsa.  They have doctors Katsis and Fisher there who do both RNY and the band.  They are excellent and come highly recommended. :)

I cant stand when dr's do that. I had one do that to me once and he was bigger than me!

How long has it been from the time you went to the seminar to now. Dr. Gorospe called me within a week from the time of the seminar. Keep your head up. Don't let anyone own insecurities get you down. I really think that sometimes people see overweight people and the ager is really fear of knowing that it may someday be them or someone they love in the same position.