All Ailments Related to WLS?
Hi!
I was wondering if any one else has this problem, I am 4 years post-op, no major problems with the surgery itself, have had some problems with lab work (keeping hemoglobin levels up) but really very happy with decision to have WLS-I believe it saved my life. Here is the thing though, everytime I do have another health problem, my pcp immediately blames it on the Gastric Bypass, and tells me the again the problems with re-routing our systems!
I am fully aware that my body will be forever different than it was before, and am willing to deal with that. But for once I wish that he would get past the bypass, and just look at my arthritis as just arthritis!
Now I live in the middle of no-where and have to drive an hour just to get to this dr. who is the only one in town, to get to a real city it is about 3 hours, so I can't just run down to the clinic, so changing pcp's is unlikely. The surgeon that did my surgery is in a whole different state, but has closed his practice, for personal, not professional reasons, so I can't even contact him for advice.
I am just venting I guess, this is more like an observation post than a question. Thanks for listening!
Barb
It's not just physicians who do this. There are many WLS post-ops who are very quick to blame a hang nail on their WLS. I have not had your problem, but I did discover that there are physicians that will not accept WLS post-ops as patients. We are judged to be too 'high maintenance".
Nowhere Man/PH/Jay
~~Sherry 
This Grasshopper learns quickly! 
Sorry you don't have more choices. Isn't it interesting, though . . . so many problems pre-op are either blamed on obesity, or are hidden by it, and then once the obesity's more or less in remission, WLS becomes the boogieman. Always sumpin'!
I have found online patient support groups (like this one!) and "Dr. Google" to be very helpful in getting me better prepared in dealing with docs, at least I can ask better questions. Still, I'm not a doctor of course and it's unsettling sometimes to realize how much is not really known or accepted as fact (or even questioned) in medicine, and when you add to that the fact that so much info is disseminated by drug companies looking to selling something, plus the fact that docs can't/don't always "keep up," well . . . I'm amazed I'm still here to whine about it all, lol!
On this same subject, did you hear about the study that was released last week that showed that 40% of all WLS patients end up having surgery at least once in the next 3 years? Of course that included all plastic surgery & all the ortho surgeries that had to be postponed until the patient lost weight. It made it sound really bad though to the casual reader. Hey, Sherry, it probably also included C sections.
Barb, I feel for you. I am fortunate in that my PCP is very understanding & exclaims about my change everytime I see him. He credits the improvement in my health to my surgery and so far has not blamed any problem on it...yet (see below.)
We do have some challenges though. Right now I am in the midst of trying to find out the source of some strange but very scary belly pain I had about a month ago & several times since that weren't anywhere near as bad. Of course the first person I called was my surgeon's PA. We don't know the source yet & I have had blood tests (liver working OK), an ultrasound (no gallstones), an endoscopy (no ulcer or stricure), a CT scan today to look for who knows what, and Monday I have a test that will stimulate my gall bladder to see if it is even working at all. Right now the guess is either adhesions or a non functioning gall bladder. If it's adhesions I'll probably have to live with the pain as they just grow back again anyway. I had some removed when I had my WLS & they grew from a surgery I had only 3 months earlier. If the gall bladder isn't working, I guess it will go. I have had gall bladder symptoms for many years but always the tests come back that there are no stones. My WLS surgeon didn't remove it because the ultrasound didn't show stones. Hopefully this test will show something.
Dixie
hey, I have had 3 major rounds of surgeries since my wls 3 years ago. and another scheduled for January. and all of them were realted to wls. Hernia on my incision line,
and god knows I never would have had a belt lipectomy,with muscle repair, thigh lift, breast augmentation, arm lift and liposuction with out having had WLS. I mean hey, my skin would still be filled out with fat if I didn't have WLS.
Not much help.. but after reading your post I thought "I'd need to move"
LOL... Sorry, couldn't help ya.. my pcp is generally awesome, and doesn't blame things on the RNY.. even though I've battled with anemia, and know its due to the RNY, we just keep plugging along to find things that work.. Hope you can get yours to do the same.
Wendy
Hi Barb,
I was fascinated to see another South Dakotan. Most towns here are in the middle of nowhere. I am lucky to be in Rapid City where my surgeon is and have not had my PCP blame anything on my wls. I am not sure what I would do if i were you. There isn't another doc in another smaller town nearby? I did not look you up on the map but I understand the distance in our fair state. Or just tell him what you are thinking and see if his position can be changed. Am glad you have been successful even with the arthur! Take Care-- Lucy
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