"Big Medicine" Discovery TV show...

Hey all.... watched the Big Medicine show last nite and I was a bit surprised at the "tone" of the show. It seemed to me that the whole tone was one of acutal sympathy and understanding....and not as I thought it would be based on the trailers that Discovery has been showing (at least up here in Canada) for the past few weeks. both of the dr's - father and son - were sympathetic to their patients, and both agreed that being obese was a disease, which made me think that the show WILL be a good one to watch. I truly did think that it would be a "look at these losers" type show....harping on the fact that fat people have only themselves to blame etc. etc. But I was happily surprised... that said, the teenager with the new body looked swell when the plastic surgeon had done his work. The girl who went from 360 to around 260 was a happy camper and looked forward to losing more too, and I felt good for her too! The big fellow who was 650+ had to lose more before they'd do the surgery, and his story is ongoing...but I do hope that he too gets the surgery and begins to take back his life. anyone else see same and your comments here guys? Jim

Jim I too watched it and thought it was a pretty good show.  I liked how the show was balanced on the positive benefits while still covering the dangers of the surgery.  Most importantly they did as you described talked about abesity as a disease. I am looking forward to seeing the next few episodes.   Here is a link to the show web page.   http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/big-medicine/big-medicine.html Chris 326/195/175

I watched, I was a bit disappointed on they they just glossed over what it takes to makes this happen. They made it look like once you decide to have WLS surgery it happen fast with little "red tape". They didn't touch on the  pre-op requiremnts or post-op care at all. The fact that Penelope was drinking at 6 months out and they didn't mention what a bad idea it was or talk about why her and BF broke up, also far to common after WLS. They made it look like a "quick fix".  I hope in future shows they get more into the process and what it takes to be successful post op and 5-10 years out. I would like to see them cover all the different procedures also. Last night was All RNY. We will see.  It was nice to see a positive show about obesity for a change and great to see the Dr go to that guys house to get him the care he needed. 

hey jim,

i have to agree with going mobile on this one. you can't take a complex surgery with all the baggage that goes with it and cram it into 4 or 5 vinettes for an hour show. if i see something about wls i would trust a frontline report or something like that. that show was reality tv once again at its worst. well, not the worst, the brookhaven obesity clinic is the worst i've seen on obesity shows. my point is that every single edit was made for drama and effect.

so what was that chick doing drinking? and yeah, look how fast they all got their surgery. and how about the cost to the parents of the teenager for all that surgery. they made it seem like you get wls and then, for free, go straight to the p surgeon.

the only real moment was the head shrinker. she had some serious doubts as i did but i try not to judge. i mean really now! i'm in no position to do that.....lol. that being said the shrink really hit the nail on allen the big guy. it's the family that is enabeling him to keep eating. that mother wants him fat. anyway, i just hate to see our surgery now become a reality tv show. the whole show is going to be based on the before and after pics. the "wow" factor.

like some of the other guys, i went through hell with my surgery and it was a tough road for me. this is one serious subject matter and a serious choice we all made. i just hate to see it reduced to a dumb ass show........carbonblob

I watched the show also and  feel pretty much as you do.  Something seemed to be missing, but I don't know what it was.  I'm still waiting for my surgery date sometime in July.  Maybe that's why I can't put my hands on what was missing. . .    I guess I would have liked to see a few more patients around 350# - 400#(males).  Plus I would have liked to seen a few patients about 1 year or two out.  All in all, I'm still confused after reading the above comments, sounds like the show left alot out. Mike Ray