Hello! New and thankful to be here

[GardenB]

Hello! I have my first consult next week and am excited and anxious. My primary care doc is not supportive of surgery in general. I meet the threshold plus have comorbidities. Some questions, any suggestions for dealing with an unsupportive doc? Does Cigna still requires a 6 mo weight loss? I can’t tell you how grateful I am to be here. I went through breast cancer with an online forum and know how amazing that can be. Here’s to community!!!

 

[Kcuster83]

Hello! I have my first consult next week and am excited and anxious. My primary care doc is not supportive of surgery in general. I meet the threshold plus have comorbidities. Some questions, any suggestions for dealing with an unsupportive doc? Does Cigna still requires a 6 mo weight loss? I can’t tell you how grateful I am to be here. I went through breast cancer with an online forum and know how amazing that can be. Here’s to community!!!

Hello and welcome. Find a new doctor is they are rude and unsupportive. If they can keep their opinion private and be professional then just move on with your decision. Ultimately it is YOUR decision.

I have cigna- easy peasy!
It is a 4-6 month process of appointments and required classes but no hold ups. The insurance woman at my surgeons office said they are the easiest to work with when she found out I had cigna. I was not "required" to loose weight but I did just by going thru the process and I wanted a jump start. I don't know if it was my surgeons requirement or the insurance company but I do know that between the final weight check and the day of surgery I could not GAIN any weight or they would cancel. I believe it was my surgeons requirement though because it was talked about in our last class rather than on a 1 to 1 basis where everyone,s insurance differs in the classes.

Good luck on your journey!

 

[3momchaos]

Welcome! Glad you found the group. If you have the type of relationship with your primary where you feel like you can tell him to shove his opinion, then do it. If you don’t, then find a new doctor. Possibly a primary recommend by your bariatric surgeon. All of my doctors were very supportive. My endocrinologist was supportive but cautious. Not because of the weight loss aspect, but because he said there isn’t adequate research on long vitamin deficiency due to WLS and it’s effects on the body. BUT in reality, vitamin deficiency is the same no matter what and as long as you do your bloodwork check ups they’ll always be keeping an eye on vitamin levels, so he ended up not being too concerned with my decision. Even more so when he got to discharge me from care because all my levels were great and he said I was too well to be seen anymore LOL

 

[GardenB]

Hello and welcome. Find a new doctor is they are rude and unsupportive. If they can keep their opinion private and be professional then just move on with your decision. Ultimately it is YOUR decision.

I have cigna- easy peasy!
It is a 4-6 month process of appointments and required classes but no hold ups. The insurance woman at my surgeons office said they are the easiest to work with when she found out I had cigna. I was not "required" to loose weight but I did just by going thru the process and I wanted a jump start. I don't know if it was my surgeons requirement or the insurance company but I do know that between the final weight check and the day of surgery I could not GAIN any weight or they would cancel. I believe it was my surgeons requirement though because it was talked about in our last class rather than on a 1 to 1 basis where everyone,s insurance differs in the classes.

Good luck on your journey!

Hooray and thank you! I’ve jumpstarted already because I’m just to sick of feeling trapped in my body. And I want to try eating smaller meals more frequently to get used to the idea. Having had chemo I do recall what’s it’s like to not want to eat (very odd) or to have eating make you ill. I’m 54 and after thinking about this for 2+ years I’m ready to get on with it. I will miss eating large volumes of vegetables though!

 

[Kcuster83]

Hooray and thank you! I’ve jumpstarted already because I’m just to sick of feeling trapped in my body. And I want to try eating smaller meals more frequently to get used to the idea. Having had chemo I do recall what’s it’s like to not want to eat (very odd) or to have eating make you ill. I’m 54 and after thinking about this for 2+ years I’m ready to get on with it. I will miss eating large volumes of vegetables though!

I am 3 months post op and I can eat about a cup of fresh greens with a few other veggies. Usually peppers, onions cherry tomato or cucumbers. Plus about 2 oz of chicken with it. I usually try to eat more meat and less veggies though so I have a salad once in a while. But I eat veggies at lunch and dinner usually. Fresh and cooked!

 

[KAT in PA]

Hello! I have my first consult next week and am excited and anxious. My primary care doc is not supportive of surgery in general. I meet the threshold plus have comorbidities. Some questions, any suggestions for dealing with an unsupportive doc? Does Cigna still requires a 6 mo weight loss? I can’t tell you how grateful I am to be here. I went through breast cancer with an online forum and know how amazing that can be. Here’s to community!!!

I'm in a similar boat. My PCP was the only one that had reservations. He recommended that I talk to a weight loss specialist in another office of their practice and focus on net fewer calories to burn fat and intermittent fasting. I had only been seeing him about a year, so he really didn't know my lifelong struggles. I mentioned this to my bariatric team and their suggestion was to find a different PCP. The PA said that they provide information and training to PCP offices on the research and benefits of WLS but there are still some that are not on board with it's benefits for some patients. As it turned out, my PCP wasn't available to do my final pre-op clearance so I saw another doctor in the practice who I felt comfortable with and seemed supportive of my decision. I think I will plan to see her moving forward.

 

[GardenB]

I am 3 months post op and I can eat about a cup of fresh greens with a few other veggies. Usually peppers, onions cherry tomato or cucumbers. Plus about 2 oz of chicken with it. I usually try to eat more meat and less veggies though so I have a salad once in a while. But I eat veggies at lunch and dinner usually. Fresh and cooked!

That’s a relief! Thank you for sharing your experience with me.

 

[GardenB]

I'm in a similar boat. My PCP was the only one that had reservations. He recommended that I talk to a weight loss specialist in another office of their practice and focus on net fewer calories to burn fat and intermittent fasting. I had only been seeing him about a year, so he really didn't know my lifelong struggles. I mentioned this to my bariatric team and their suggestion was to find a different PCP. The PA said that they provide information and training to PCP offices on the research and benefits of WLS but there are still some that are not on board with it's benefits for some patients. As it turned out, my PCP wasn't available to do my final pre-op clearance so I saw another doctor in the practice who I felt comfortable with and seemed supportive of my decision. I think I will plan to see her moving forward.

It’s strange how that can be the case with a PCP. I think mine is jaded from people who had surgery years ago and had complications or regain. This is helping me realize it’s likely time to find someone new who is supportive, not just biting their tongue. LOL. Thank you!

 

[Chris54]

Welcome to the group. I'm new here also. I haven't posted much, mostly just browsing for research purposes. I am pre op also. No date yet but expect surgury to be sometime in August.

When I mentioned to my primary care Dr that I was considering it she was very supportive. She told me about the success of some of her other patients and family members.

My insurance requires a recommendation from my primary care dr for the surgery. That may be a road block for you if your insurance requires the same. So maybe a change of primary care should be considered.

 

[dianeseattle]

your pcp's only job is to make a referral to a specialist. drop the subject with her, call a clinic or hospital that does bariatric surgery, and make an appointment. You shouldn't even need a referral. If you're obese, that's a health problem and your PCP isn't dealing with it. it's so important to share pertinent details ONLY with qualified doctors and therapists.

so i'd just stop talking about it to your PCP and make the necessary appointments with a bariatric team, which usually includes a nutritionist and a full spectrum of weight related specialists.