Question:
comments

I just have a comment. I think we obese need to make some major waves for those that have Doctors that still have a mindset like they are in the 20's. I was lucky that I had a Doctor in NY that when I asked for a referral, gave me one no questions asked. I was lucky that I found Dr. Mitchell Roslin whose office worked hard on my approval with insurance. I was approved the first time around no questions asked. I have a sister and a best friend that are obese. Their Doctors keep saying, "well starve yourself and exercise." In my opinion that is very bad advise to starve yourself. They are so obese that it hurts to exercise. They are emotionally at a point where they just don't care. I am sure that there has to be a way to get their doctors out of the dark ages. I am not saying that a gastric bypass is an excuse. It is something I did to help my situation. I went from 310 to now 170. I do exercise everyday. Now, I am just wondering if there is a website or someone we can notify when doctors don't refer their patients and give advice as above? Like maybe the board of medicine. In essence, we are a doctors customer. We pay the doctor, insurance pays the doctor and our employer if insurance is through them pays the doctor. This really is not different than taking your vehicle in for servicing. The service personnel have to fix only what you tell them to. So, tell me what makes it ok for a doctor to prescribed Xenical or Meridia and not refer a patient who is obese to a gastric bypass surgeon? I think we who have had the surgery need to get on the band wagon and make our voices heard regarding these types of situations. This surgery since 2001 has been performed 62,400 time in this nation according to the article I found in people with Carnie Wilson. Right now it does seem to be the one and only procedure that can help the obese. Any comments more than welcome?    — tina C. (posted on June 13, 2002)

June 13, 2002
Hi Tina--You're absolutely right. Sometimes, I just hate doctors, at least the stupid, uninformed ones. I have a couple of suggestions that I hope will help somewhat. You might try contacting Walter Lindstrom at www.obesitylaw.com. He might be able to do something or fight somehow for your sister and friend. Or he might have some suggestions. Also, do you belong to a local support group in your area? If so, ask around. Ask who has supportive primary care physicians who were willing to refer patients to a gastric bypass surgeon. Maybe your sister and friend could try one of those doctors. They definitely should find different doctors anyway--I would not trust any doctor who told me to starve myself with any aspect of my health. Their doctors obviously don't care about them and may even think they are weak, worthless people because they are obese. Society often thinks that about obese people, and doctors are part of our society--they have many of the same misconceptions. Anyway, I belong to a local Yahoo Group, and I just asked them for the names of some supportive PCPs (I had already had my surgery, but I was asking for my mother). Several of them gave me the name of the same doctor, and my mother has her first appointment with that doctor today. There are ways around this--you just need to ask around. If you don't belong to a local support group, maybe your gastric bypass surgeon would be willing to put you in touch with some of his/her other patients so you could talk to them. I definitely would fight this. And I do think that opinions about the effectiveness of WLS will change as more and more of us have it and prove that it is the most successful way for obese people to lose weight and keep it off. Good luck!
   — Kristie B.

June 14, 2002
You hit the nail right on the head. I have been going to doctor after doctor for 15 years. I have been telling them that there was something wrong with me and they kept telling me that "there is nothing wrong with you that a little diet and exercise wouldn't cure". I got myself a blood suger testing kit and proved them wrong. I am glucose intolerant and borderline diabetic. I just wish that the doctors would see past the "fat" for once and listen to what we say. I am not going in looking for excuses, I know my body and I know something is wrong.
   — blank first name B.