I HATE my new surgeon. 1 yr appt***Long Rant***

Sorry you had such a tough appt!  She sounds like a fatty hater to me.  I just believe that there are some people who have NO clue what it isl like to struggle with weight.....to say to a formerly obese person that your goal should be underweight is ludicrus...CRAZY!!!  As Gina said, your weight will be we what YOUR weight should be......not what mine is or Price, etc.  Please do NOT let this lady take away what you have achieved.  SERIOUSLY.....think of what you would have thought a year ago....would you EVER have thought that 123 or 125 was not a GREAT weight to be at?  You are in a wonderful place health wise and getting your labs in check......do what you are doing and IGNORE her when your weight isnt what she wants....it will be what it will be......if you are 123 in Nov then so be it.......

Truly.....embrace where you are.....to me it is AMAZING!!!!



~~~Jennifer

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Hi Stacey,

Giving you a big cyber hug. I am only 4'11", 57 years old, and my pcp thought I should get down to 110 lbs. My goal was 120 and I didn't know, if I could get down to 110, but I kept doing what I was doing and the weight came off. Never in a million years would I try to get down to 95 lbs, especially at my age. I am medium boned, not fine boned, so 95 lbs would be awful. I would lose all the muscle mass that I have worked so hard to build.

The problem with BMI charts, is that they don't take into consideration age, bone structure, muscle mass, and other factors. If you are very small boned, like an Asian, perhaps 95 lbs would be appropriate, if you happened to be a teenager. As an adult, I'm not sure how realistic it is. What does your pcp say?

When I had my 6  month visit, I weighed about 118 and the bariatric internist asked me, why I wanted to lose more weight. She thought that I was "fine" and had lost 100 % of my excess weight. Personally, I don't think your new surgeon is being realistic. The bariatric internist told me that someone was considered as doing very well, if they had lost 80% of their excess weight. You are almost there. 100% is considered as gravy (no pun intended).

Let your body find its happy medium. 95 lbs isn't realistic, at least in my opinion.

Gail

Tell her to pucker up and kiss mine too while she is at it. I have been balancing between 110 and 113 for a while now. I have gotten as low as 109 that was too low scared me. I cannot imagine 95lbs. When I was at 109 I got comments all the time...Danielle are you ok?? Are you sure?? I want to be healthy weight is just a number your health should be the most important thing to your doctor...not being able to eat is a problem.

95lbs puts you nearly at underweight!  Is she on drugs?  It sounds like she has a bedside problem.  Is she a bariatric surgeon?  I agree with the person that said she sounds like she has a problem with obese people.  Perhaps she became a bariatric surgeon so she could eliminate the world of that problem.
You are fine just the way you are.  Believe me, being healthy is much more important then being thin.
I am so glad my surgeon never gave me a goal weight.  Heck, he didn't even expect me to lose weight.  I think he was as surprised as I was that I actually lost weight after a revision to increase malabsorption.
Just eat right and do what you are doing and your body will do what it wants to do.  Boy, do I know that one well.

Your surgeon has fallen into the scale trap. She thinks the number on the scale is *everything*. But, once you get to a certain point, that number means *nothing*.

What really matters is your body fat composition. Have you seen this article:

Attention Scale Addicts! part 2 | Primitive Stimulus

Scroll down to the last side-by-side pictures. See what I mean?

Let's put it this way, I am the heaviest I have ever been since I got down to my lowest weight. But my skinniest jeans fit fine and my slightly bigger than that jeans are falling off my butt. It's because my extra weight is all muscle! (There was an extra 2 pounds of fat in there for a while but that seems to be gone now.)

And, I'm not losing my lovely muscles to make some random doctor who hasn't got a clue happy.

In Jr High, I got down to 95 pounds. I was about 4'10", I believe. (It's hard to remember.) I did look good. BUT since then I have grown 2.5 inches, gotten boobs, and had two kids. Not only that, I'm pretty close to the same size I was back then (my measurements are *very close*). But I weigh 120, not 95. So I weigh 25 pounds MORE yet I fit into the same size clothes.

Stacey, I know you feel you have no other option as to surgeon but isn't there a way to appeal an "assignment" of doctor like that if it's detrimental to your health, especially your emotional health? Either that or just not go to a surgeon at this point...see if your primary will take care of your labs and such.

Like the others mentioned, the BMI chart is not infallible. And a healthy range is 18.5-25, not UNDER 18.5!!!! She needs a clue.

Liz

Sorry you've had a bad experience!  I'm 5'0 and my surgeon told me I was totally  fine at 130.  He said because of loose skin and my age I probably wouldn't go under 120 unless I was an exercise fanatic or sick . (I'm neither!)

 Personally, I wanted to get to 127 so I wouldn't be considered OBESE on the BMI chart.   Carry on as you were, you are doing GREAT!!!  Hopefully you'll only have to see her once a year now and maybe SHE'LL be deployed by next year!

Many surgeons just have unrealistic expectations.  The norm is just for us to lose approx. 75% of our excess body weight, so why would a surgeon tell you that you must get to 95pounds.  That isnt' realistic.  Yes, that is the very bottom of the range for a 4'11" person with a small body frame - not all of us have small body frames and why would she expect you to get to the very bottom of the range anyway?

I was 5'6 when  I saw my surgeon for the first time and weighed 260pounds. A normal weight for me would be 130-150 (I personally feel that I am either medium or possibly large boned), so he gave me a goal of 150-160.  He knew with all my medical problems and orthopedic problems, that exercise would be tough for me and he was right, so getting to a really low weight wasn't that realistic.  But at 14months I hit my goal of 160.  I was very happy there.

I Only lost more when I got sick and am now trying to gain some back. I am now up to 134 and striving to get to 140-145.

You go for what makes you happy.  No one can tell you what weight you need to be.  It is up to you.  She can do your labs and tell you what you are deficient in and hopefully give you better advise in that area.  Just in case, please get copies of all labs and post them here for us to go over with you.

I am so glad you are so well versed in wls and have us here for support!

Hopefully your surgeon wont be deployed too long, I hope and will only have to put with Doc Anorexia for a short while.

Meanwhile stand firm in what you know is right and do what you need to, to remain healthy.