General Question ...Sort of

Well, in good news you don't really need a bariatric surgeon to keep up with lab work and everything else in your future.

I recommend ensuring you have a PCP who is knowledgable about post-WLS life and then other specialists for any other health concerns - like your thyroid.

You don't say - but how is your weight loss going now? If you need positive reinforcement - where are you getting that from? Are you seeing a therapist? Attending a WLS support group?

There's on old saying that goes:

You don't go to the hardware store to buy milk.

Basically, if you aren't getting what you need/want from that doctor, then find one that does. With that said, I want to add the caveat that as someone who has lost 220 pounds after surgery, and who has been a peer mentor for multitudes of super-morbidly obese people in the Cleveland Clinic's program, sometimes what we need to hear isn't the same as what we want to hear.

Positive reinforcement is one of the most misunderstood terms in that people tend to assume that it means a pleasant stimulus to reinforce behavior -- but truly, it's any stimulus that reinforces behavior. You received positive reinforcement of negative behavior -- which ironically and unfortunately, likely reinforced that negative behavior. You see, positive reinforcement is only effective when reinforcing good behavior. In the same way, if a bariatric surgeon praises or comforts (pleasant stimulus) a patient who is not succeeding, he/she is still reinforcing negative behavior.

What the surgeon would be really saying is, "Keep gaining because I want you to!"

To put this in perspective, just imagine how our kids would turn out if we rewarded bad choices:

"You skipped school, so we're getting you a new PlayStation!!"

Actually, there are some parents who unwittingly do that very thing, and then wonder why their kid is a spoilt brat. That kind of parenting makes no sense, and yet we expect our doctors to do that reference our obesity and food addictions all the time.

I guess my take on it is to buckle down, follow your plan to the letter, and prove to him that he was wrong at your next appointment. Then you will likely earn the positive reinforcement for the positive behavior that you truly desire.

Otherwise, stop going to the hardware store to buy milk, and go find a doctor that will tell you what you want to hear.

Your PCP can take it from here. Just get a list of the labs you need and they can order the blood draw and get you back on your thyroid meds. Nobody needs that crap.