When will the medical community give us respect?

This was the 2nd doctor that had the nerve to say WLS does not count...  I have to take my husband to his doctor's appointments.  Multiple health issues mostly due from being over weight.  

When I commented I wish my husband had WLS when I did, 1 doctor gave me a dirty look and 2 others said, "well that does not count". I asked what do you mean it does not count?  Losing weight is losing weight, eating healthier, moving can prevent most health issues!  It does not matter what method you use!  

They both had the nerve to say it was cheating, does not last, weight comes back and the only way to lose weight is to eat healthy and exercise. I gave them both a nasty look and said I HAD SURGERY OVER 10 YEARS AGO, KEPT THE WEIGHT OFF, I EAT HEALTHY, EXERCISE AND WOULD BE DEAD BY NOW IF I HAD NOT HAD WLS!  

Before they could say anything I told them I would not trust them to flush my toilet and left.

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!

Good for you, Kathy!  Those doctors are showing pure ignorance and shame on them for talking about something they know nothing about. My own general internest knew nothing about wls and had never even heard of the sleeve before I told him about it, but at least he told me the truth and said he knew nothing about it.  When it came to treating me for a blood clot post surgery, he consulted with my surgeon about medication and how to best go about treating it.  So glad you taught those doctors a few things!

Hi Judy,

I am so glad you had a doctor with an open mind.  I was shocked as I was dealing with two specialist that preach weight loss and to be a snob about how it's done amazed me.  

It is scary that they are so ignorant! I hope they are not so arrogant that they just dismiss your comments. It would be nice to think they would give it some thought but I be they won't. Good for you for telling them though!

We really do have to be voices for WLS.  I remember having to be taken to an ER once for really bad midsection pain. I thought I was having a heart attack but to me it was to low. They freaked out at the high white blood count and mentioned the C word for my liver. I shared with them my history with WLS and they insisted I see a Cancer specialist. I was scared to death.

Lucky for me I had a followup with my surgeon and told him what had happened. He laughed, yes laughed and asked if I had any alcohol to drink?  I said yes, wine.  He said one of the affects it can have for us is severe ab pain and throw our white count off the charts.  He did blood work and I was fine.

That is unbelievable.  There is such a mountain of evidence of how beneficial WLS is for us, and they still want to hold these antiquated, incorrect views?  That's awesome what you said and did!

Thanks....

My husband has so many health issues and every pound he loses I feel buys him another day.  We are looking for a new Cardiologist and Neurologist.

How sad that some doctors don't see wls as an effective treatment for patients. My general practitioner has been nothing but supportive and thinks surgery will be great for me. But when I went to a gastroenterologist after I found out my liver was enlarged, he seemed to think wls was ridiculous. He just gave me a lecture about incorporating exercise into my everyday life and said that people just gain the weight back after surgery. Well, I left there pissed off and stuck to my plan to have wls, which should take care of my enlarged liver and acid reflux. I'm tired of doctors treating me like I'm lazy and eat doughnuts for breakfast everyday. I watch what I eat, but my experience has been that doctors assume I am lying because the weight doesn't come off! Well I gained all my weight before I received treatment for my hypothyroidism, which everyone in my family has.

The thing that amazes me is when we get older by that time we have tried everything 3 times. If we could do it on our own we would have.

I am glad you have a supportive PCP.  Mine was the one that said, if you don't have WLS you will be dead in 5 years.  She is the reason I am here today!

I had a similar experience to you, but with a cardiologist. He was someone my surgeon used regularly for  for cardiac clearance testing. He asked me why I wanted to go through such an extreme procedure for a result that may not be permanent. He then suggested Weigh****chers. I wanted to smack him. I told I had tried different programs over the years, none of them worked, and that I did not feel WLS was extreme for someone in my situation. He wished me well and I was cleared for surgery. I told my surgeon about my conversation with Dr. D-bag. My surgeon was NOT happy about that. Some doctors have a God complex and are so very arrogant. ( My surgeon and my PCP are both super awesome though...yay! )