Seeking Opinion on PCP - would you switch?

I already know the answer to this, but gah, I hate looking for a new doctor.

Anyone else with a PCP VERY opposed to WLS? When I first mentioned it to her a year ago, she was very against it in general. Says that she doesn't know anyone that doesn't have problems with it, etc etc. She said I met the critieria, so she would fill out any paperwork needed and do anything else, but she wasn't thrilled. She put me on a crazy diet (cuz, ya know, that's worked so well in the past).

When I went back a week ago (she had all the testing done through her office), she signed the paperwork, but I could tell she was less than thrilled with my decision. I asked her flat out if she was comfortable still being my doctor and she said yes.

Sigh. I dunno. As a rule, I like her. My weight comes up every visit (of course) and I did something about it, but she's really kind of icky about the whole thing.

To be honest, I don't even go to her that often. She handles my high blood pressure meds (which I hopefully won't need eventually). If I'm sick, I don't bother to go to the office, it takes over an hour usually. I usually just go to the CVS Minute Clinic, it takes 15 minutes and my insurance pays it.

Having said that, it makes me kind of annoyed that she didn't take my diabetes concern more serious. I have a mom and a grandfather with diabetes so wanted some guidance on what my risk factors were and to talk about testing more often and what I can do to avoid it, but she poo'ed it away.

Today, I find out that my bloodwork came back (I had pre op with surgeon today) and I'm borderline diabetic. Well, freaking DUH!

I'm torn on trying to find someone new and just sticking with her for my occasional need and just making sure to advocate for myself more.

If your doctor was opposed, have they changed their mind since your surgery? Hmmm... I dunno. I'm just... yeah.

Hey, sorry you are going through this.  But I changed PCP's from the start.  My orginal PCP was against WLS  and baiscally told me if I could loose weight during the six months of visits then I did not need it and could do it myself and if I did NOT loose weight she could not recommend me.  With that said and her not being in favor, i switched to someone else.  Personally, if my PCP pooed my concerns about things that I know could happen to me due to my family history I would look for someone else.  You need someone who is concerned about you and concerned about the things that concern you. Just my thoughts.   Best wishes

Thanks... I kinda already knew the answer, but I'm just annoyed. Everytime I get a primary, they move, we move or something. I think what I need to do is find a single office. Right now, I'm with a conglomerate (ARC for those in Austin, have several offices all over town, etc etc). I just hate dealing with big offces in general. It's why I left corporate american and opened my own business. *laughing*

 My doctor I was with for 12 years. I told him i wanted weight loss surgery he told no way will i even sign a paper for you to have that. it is not right jus****ch what you eat and push your plate away when full.

So I went and switched to another doctor who loved the idea of weight loss and was thrilled I asked him for the referral. He is very happy for me now to see how i have changed and how I feel. But I have switched doctors again because when I call to see him he can never take me other doctors in his office can but not him so i asked my weight loss surgeon who would be a good PCP and he told me and I switched.

Now i find out the doc he told me about is a friend of his and now my weight loss doctor can have his friend send him my records if he wants them any time and they talk all the time lol. But i love my new doctor so I will stay with him.

I'm always surprised by what a small community the medical community is! I should have thought to ask my surgeon for a recommendation. That's a great idea! I've added it to my follow up appointment list of questions. I'm sure he'll have a few ideas of who is supportive and I don't DREAD going to see. It's sad really, I like her, she just doesn't listen and it's ticking me off. Like I said, I kinda knew the answer, but was venting and wondering if I was being oversensitive. 

any doctor who knows you have a weight issue and a fam hx who istn't checking your sugar you should never see again,  mho.   and having someone encouraging you to be successful with wls is a wonderful thing,  my pcp is a really nice lady   i really feel that she cares about me   find someone you are compatible with i would say  good luck  :o) jeani

Yeah, I know... I know. Just such a pain. But, yeah, I thought that maybe my numbers were so low she wasn't worried. And maybe this was a surprise to her too, I dunno, but I even ASKED about it earlier this year. Oh well... life is too short, right?

For me, a doctor that does not support my efforts or good will in improving my health is NOT worthy to get my money, or the agreed fees paid to them by my insurance company.

Ignorance and arrogance is a huge problem among PCP/PCM's that attempt to persuade patients away from WLS. That's my opinion, and my experience.

Finding a new doctor is a difficult task, but a more difficult task will be trying to convince your current provider to support you and follow you medically post-op. Don't fight an uphill battle with someone that won't fight along your side on your path to better health.

My PCM is very pro-WLS so I have not had this experience with my current provider.

Ya know... you're right. It would be an uphill battle and as much as I want to "show her" that this can be successful for me, it's probably not worth it. I think it was the ignorance thing. She kept talking about malapsortion at my last appointment and I kept trying to explain that that really isn't a key issue with VSG, but nooo... I'm the dumb paitient. LOL. I should stop banging my head against the wall and find a new PCP... sigh. Grrrr... it's like the rabbit hole though... down I go. 

I switched PCP at the beginning of my wls journey.  I had a lot of medical issues (reoccurant pancreatitis, diabetes, high bp, pcos).  She did not believe in wls surgery and basically told me she was not comfortable referring me on to have surgery.  I found another doctor an internist at the same clinic and have been seeing her ever since.  It was the best decision I could have made for myself.  She is a much better doctor!!   Some clinics (depending upon size of clinic) you can probably call and speak with a scheduler and they may know which doctors are in favor of/support wls.  I'm sorry you had to go through this.