disability after DS? Just curious

I have many complications most from other surgical procedures I had to have done this last year. I have received tons of great info from you guys still hoping some of my problems can be fixed. I have been off work over 6 months due to all kinds of complications. Just wandering if anyone for any reason became disabled after the weight loss. Doctors are treating me like just because I had a DS all my problems must be related even though I've had major abdominal surgery in January and almost died. They use my weight loss surgery and they move me from specialist to specialist. Also my primary care doctor that is usually pretty nice is getting tired of dealing with me. 2 days ago out of the blue he told me that all WLS is bad and four of his patients have died from complications. My response was " I hope I don't die" and he said me to and walked out. Just another reminder that post surgery at least in my case we are treated as damaged goods. Just wandering if others with complications related or not are being treated like crap like me, and very curious about disability. I hate to say it but unless I find some miracle team that really want or care to help me I will be filing soon. Thanks for all the advice - Mike 

Hi Mike,

Well,  I can't say I'm a big fan of your PCP but he might be the guiy to help you with a disability claim. When I was battling my foot ulcer my podiatrist brought it up a couple of times when it looked like I would never get out of the house. She seemed pretty confident that with a good recommendation from a Doctor it might not be too bad a process.  
That kind of goes against the grain of stories I've heard but I guess it would be a good place to start.

Best wishes for finding some good help to fix the issues but whatever makes your life a little better at this point is worth pursuing.

Pete

Thanks Pete! I always appreciate your help and advice. I'm going to go to 2 or 3 new Gastro doctors in September and if they blow me off or see no solution I guess I will apply. It's just frustrating I've lost 260 pounds and now to unhealthy to do much.  I tell everyone I don't blame it the surgery. I wouldn't have lived long without it. I guess I'm just baffled that there's no hospital type setting or clinic where doctors can work together to solve tricky problems like mine. They each get a small piece of info and don't know how to connect the dots. We will see what happens next. Thanks for the support Pete!

Keep looking for a bariatric team that will figure out how to help you. I know several people who went to the Cleveland Clinic when their own teams could not help them.

Thank you, the Cleveland clinic may be my last option but I'm not giving up.  Tomorrow I will try again to find doctors who care! Thanks Laura 

Mike, I'm so sorry you're having such a hard time. It sounds like it may be time to find a new and improved pcp. It does make you wonder, though, why so many of his patients are dying from complications of bariatric surgery - and probably not all with the same bariatric surgery, the way things are these days. Could it be poor medical care rather than bariatric surgery being a bad thing? Is he unaware that studies have shown that gastric bypass, the most well studied bariatric surgery, adds on average 8 years to a person's life? Of course with about 200,000 people in the USA having some form of bariatric surgery every year there are going to be some with serious complications, but he clearly is not looking at the big picture.

But none of that helps you. Have you had recent labs done, and if so, were they complete? Are you having any nutritional deficiencies that might be causing or contributing to your problems? Have you lost too much weight, and if so might you benefit from taking digestive enzymes for awhile? These are all things your oocs should be considering. Your surgery wasn't all that long ago - have you been in touch with your surgeon at all, and is he helpful? Some are, some aren't.

I don't know what to say about disability, but I think even if you do apply for this, you could still keep on working on sorting out what the problem is and fixing it. Not every disability is permanent.

Larra

Larra thanks I will never give up! U gave me some great tips as always. I appreciate u guys so much. Had all my labs done Thursday at PCP and today again at Baylor hospital actually got the copy of those and they look fairly good. I will post them tomorrow to see if u guys see anything I only had 2 categories out of 30 or so that were low overall pretty good. I'm looking into SIBO this week seems like I have a lot of symptoms of that. 

When a friend of mine was sick and felt dismissed and pushed around by his doctors, he found a patient advocate who helped him find better care with doctors who treated him with respect and dignity. He found his advocate through advoconnection.com. 

Just another idea. :)