SO I saw my surgeon today.  I haven't been in in almost a year.  I haven't needed fluid in or out, no problems and last time I saw him he said prednisone has no bearing on my weightloss. (Mind you, I was on 30mg when he claimed this).  He made me feel as if it was MY FAULT I wasn't losing.

So anyways, I went there today for a basic check, get some fluid OUT (hoping to eat more protein than just ground meat) and possibly discuss a revision in the future since I have over 100 more pounds to lose.  His wift/nurse was awesome (as usual).  She was so happy to see I've lost weight since I was there.  She knows I've been talking with their nutritionist who not only understands the band but know my medications including chemo and prednisone. So she was very happy I am losing and knows how comitted I've been.

Then walks in Mr. Personality of a Rock...he's a nice enough guy, but no real bed side manner.  In his own way he's blaming me for not losing.  Saying I could eat solid proteins if I did it properly.  He must have a picture of me eating well done chicken breast, 8inches in diameter with only one chew going down.  He told me all WLS have their problems and you have to adhere to the rules.

I finally said, "Perhaps you're not familiar with all the problems associated with the lap band?"  That was it!  I've been pushed arouand and made to feel a fool for so long in my life due to vasculitis.  I know I have been 100% comitted to band rules for 14 weeks now...no if ands or butts.  I'm losing weight due to me shutting my freakin' mouth.  Not because the band satisfies me and I'm not hungry.  I eat ground meat most of the time since I never know when this fickle **** will allow solid protein down.

I don't even care that I may not get a revision....I'd just assume use the band since I have it,  BUT DON'T YOU ******G DARE IMPLY THAT IT'S MY FAULT, BUDDY.  You have no idea what prednisone is yet you're a doctor, you make the patient feelt like food getting stuck is a very odd occurance, and you then fini**** off with, 'you need to move more.'  I looked at him and said, 'see this tan???  It's from swimming laps no less than 5 days a week.  I've also had a trainer I paid a large amount of money to for 2 months...she saw the work I did up close." 

WHAT A ******G MORon.   I'm sorry to swear so much, if you know me it's not my character to swear in a public forum, but I'm just over it.  All I can say is, "WOW"  I will not recommend this guy and I know MANY doctors in Naples that would refer their patients to him.  Oooops, your bad, doc...

blah...so many doctors suck.  I would love to cut and paste all the problems I see in here on any given day and forward an email to him and say something like, Gee, must all be in my head, huh??????????? 

It sounds like this doctor went to the same rotten school that mine did. They see the information about the lapband and not the person. It's all black and white to them.

I got pretty damned sick of taking the blame, too. That's when I found a different surgeon... and thank God I did or I'd be dead. Never settle for subpar care when it comes to your health. That's what I learned from my experience. There are bad doctors and there are REALLY BAD doctors... the trick is to suss them out and avoid them! Easier said than done, of course.  I know there are lots of good and great doctors, too, and boy, when you find one, stick with them!

Every time I've been on prednisone, I've gained enormous amounts of weight. It's ridiculous to think that one doesn't affect the other.

 Girl, you are preaching to the choir.  It took over 15 years and about 12 different doctors (including HUGE specialists) to diagnosis vasculitis. I nearly died 2 times from it, but it was still, "in my head" most of the time.  LOL  

See, I think this doctor is an excellent surgeon.  I'm not having band problems per se, but never has there been a check via fluro or a swallow test...and I'm 2.5 years out. I see him end of August and I'm going to insist on xrays or something just to be proactive.  He seems to think Im THE ONLY ONE that can't eat dense protein.  Isn't that funny?  IT'S ME??????????????  No the band????????  LOL  he has no idea who he is dealing with...after you've been left for dead a couple of times (and I know you can relate to this) you get pretty ballsy with doctors.  He is THE ONLY Wls in my area.  And I think he's excellent, but has THE WORST bed side manner.   And to tell me vasculitis (HELLO!?  INFLAMMATORY DISEASE) wouldn't affect my band and restriction through out the day?  Oh and that when on 100mg of pred you won't gain weight nor will it prevent you from losing/??  HA HA HA...asshat.  

I think I"ll bring in pred literature from LEADING MAYO CLINIC doctors on the contrary.  Maybe then he'll understand it.  I know more people are on that stuff than I like to think and he needs to know about it.  Thankfully, his nut. knows all about my chemo and pred and has me cleaning out my liver.  She's a God send.  

Thanks for listening, Nic.  I went to him today and left wanting to ***** slap someone (him).  LOL  instead, I wrote about it...I'd like to keep out of jail if possible :)

Well, you can certainly vent here!  It's tough... going through what you're already going through and then having someone with little understanding or sympathy kind of compounds the bad feelings.

I spent the afternoon in my attorney's office, trying to figure out how to get my house out of foreclosure. I walked out of the office into 101* heat and felt like I wanted to ***** slap someone, too, so I'm there with ya!!! And, like you, I'd very much like to NOT go to jail!  It's strange... when I get stressed out, I must breathe differently and it affects my diaphragm, because I get the left shoulder pain often when I get all worked up! 

Take some time for yourself to decompress. Tomorrow's a new day! (Yay for Captain Obvious and her platitudes and cliche'd saying!)    Sorry!  It's true, though, dammit!  

 You're so right...tomorrow is a new day!  You take your own advice as well.  And I hope you can get your house where the payments are reasonable.  It's not right that middle America went to **** over the past 6 years.  We all need to rebuild our way back up.  Enjoy your day tomorrow!  I'm going to try my best :)

 There is another surgeon, a friend of mine had her surgery with Dr Shieh ...http://surgicalhealingarts.com/ and has done wonderfully well. She lives over in Naples. She is a couple years out and looks great. Actually was going to pay for an adjustment for me as a wedding gift, I did turn her down, I get anything in my band and I can't eat anything.He does see other surgeon's patients, maybe give them a call.

 wow, thank you :)

Good grief, that doctor would tilt the rant meter on a saint. Good venting and rightly so. I don't know how you get the will to go back, I'm glad you do since its required. Does he have other doctors in the practice you can see? I've seen the "Fellow" in our office twice and he's been terrific (as well is my surgeon). Hang tough girl!

 I wish, Minnie...I'm hoping I can just bypass him and go to his nurse (his wife...she's a saint).  HOW she puts up with that ego is beyond me that's for sure.

 Tiffany is AMAZING... Dr. Bass not so much. I had originally gone to his meeting about doing my surgery, and he was so dry that I could not imagine having to deal with him. 
So sorry that he treated you like this. 

Heck I  have too take just mall doses of prednisone for my lungs 10-20 MG a day for 7-10 days and I've gained on just that little bit! What a moron! I can't even imagine what your doses must do!

First of all............your Dr. is a JERK! :-( Can you switch to another one? If so, I would.

~ I'm losing weight due to me shutting my freakin' mouth.  Not because the band satisfies me and I'm not hungry.~

How well I know this part! Don't you just love how some ppl want to give the band credit for YOUR diet and exercise?! I don't know how many times I have heard "how come you say your band doesn't work? Look at how much weight you've lost!". Never mind that restriction/sweet spot/green zone/full sooner/full longer thing never existed! lol

 SO TRUE, MARIA

the problem I'm having is if I keep fluid in there that would actually give me restriction then I am unable to eat solid proteins....so I keep it pretty empty.  I really became sick of puking and let's face it...that's not good and the band will slip.

soooooooo, here I am...

There is such a fine line between "restriction" and stuck/too tight/vomiting. For many of us that point just does NOT exist, or for some it does, but it's just temporary. And I can honestly understand how some bandsters keep it too tight since that is the only way it "works" so they can lose weight. :-(

I remember reading before I got the band about how common it was for the band to be tight in the morning. By that though............I just assumed that meant that it was tight in the morning and appropriate restriction the rest of the day. Never thought it meant too tight in the morning and then you could eat anything and everything the rest of the day! lol Oh well. Live and learn :-)

Ok, take a deep breath, let it out and start venting all over again. This jerk just doesn't know what he is talking about. I can attest to the fact that prednisone does cause weight gain (and excess hunger). Whenever I, my daughter, or my granddaughter take it for our asthma or what ever it causes us to be stark raving starving and we blow up like toads even before the eating gets ahold. It is maddening. This is a well know side effect, as is greatly increased blood sugar. Yeah, take him the articles. Better yet, mail them to him with a note stating how you feel. By the time you go back in I will bet you get better treatment.

You have been doing extremely well but it has been your hard work. You deserve to be heard. If you can't get that from this surgeon then definitely go to someone else, at least for a consult if not more.

You go girl! Give 'em what for!

 THANKS, Sue,
I think I did write his wife (nurse) last time this happened and of course she was as kind as can be but made excuses for him.  That's when she had the nutrit call me... and SHE ROCKED.  I will see the nutritionist in 2 weeks and I'm going to let it out to her.  She needs to educate him on the trials of medications.  This guy needs to have some warm and fuzzy even if he has to fake it.  I guess there is a new surgeon in town, so he better shape up a bit.  Like I said, he's a good surgeon, but after that...well, blah.

My mom warned me he'd be like this (from the first meeting).  But I never dreamed he had no clue about vasculitis and medications. 

 Wow....just wow.   Hugs to you!  I hope the NUT and the wife can straighten him out!  So sorry!

When  I was a little kid I loved to get the little toys inside Cracker Jack boxes. Usually it was a little car or whistle, never got a medical license in there like your doctor did.

Send him a link to my group.

Is there any way at all you can consult another doctor? This guy sounds like an IDIOT. I don't care how good he is at being a surgeon, when he has the idea that steroids don't affect your weight, he's clearly not a good doctor.