What to say to doctor?

sjthompson
on 4/26/12 11:46 am - howe, IN
 I have recently been deeply considering WLS. I was planning on calling my family doctor and making an appointment to sit down and see if she could reccommend me in he direction of a surgeon for WLS.  My dilemma is I hve never discussed dieting or weight loss with her. I have two children, one turns 4 in October and the other turns 2 in August, needess to say I packed on the pounds rather fast in those ~5 years. I have never been the skinny girl and have always carried some extra pounds, just now I find myself carrying a lot of them. I wast to be able to keep up with my kids an play side by side with them. I don't want my kids to be teased because their mommy is heavy. I want to be healthy and I'll admit it, I want to like what I see when I stand naked in front of a mirror. Any advise anyone could give me as far as steps I take to talk to the doctor would be greatly appreciated. I want to strt living live and not just viewing it from the side lines.
RosieSweetie21
on 4/26/12 12:01 pm
My PCP was useless. I think you are much better off looking into the free seminars that are given by WLS Drs. In this area, WLS is big business. Many Dr have free seminars where you listen to them, get the chance to ask questions and sometimes meet patients. Also check on line- google your local hospitals and bariatrics. Some Dr have presentations on the internet as well. Also many have free support groups. Be aware that many PCPs have negative views on wls.  Also call your ins co to find out if they cover it and what types. Good luck- just realize wls is not a magic bullet- you can not eat anything you want and expect to lose wt and keep it off. It is more like a re-start , a chance to relearn how to use food for nourishment only- not as a friend or emotional crutch.
poet_kelly
on 4/26/12 12:17 pm - OH
Just say something like, "I have been wondering if weight loss surgery might be a good option for me.  Could you recommend a good bariatric surgeon?"

You may also want to call your insurance company to make sure your plan covers WLS and ask what you need to do.  Some insurance plans require you to get a referral to a surgeon from your PCP.  Some don't.  Some require you to do a six month supervised diet before they will pay for surgery, which most people do with their PCP.

You may not need a referral from your PCP and if not, you can just contact a surgeon that is on your insurance plan.  Most surgeons offer free seminars where you go and they tell you about surgery, and you won't need a referral to go to one of these.

If your PCP is discouraging, that doesn't mean WLS is not a good idea for you.  Some PCP's just aren't very informed about WLS.  Someone posted just a little while ago that a PCP tried to tell her that they bypass your stomach (not true) and then you can't get any protein and it's very dangerous.  Um, not true at all!

Your PCP might ask if you've tried dieting, which is a reasonable question.  I'm guessing you have.  So you may find it helpful to be able to tell her what diets you've tried and how much you lost and how much you gained back.  Actually, a surgeon will ask you that too.  They usually want all that info to submit to your insurance company.

But if your PCP is not supportive, you can always find a new PCP that will be supportive.  But I would just start out assuming she will be supportive.  You're not asking her permission to have WLS.  You're telling her that it's something you're considering and want to talk to a surgeon about.

View more of my photos at ObesityHelp.com          Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR.  If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor.  Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me.  If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her.    Check out my blog.

 

ashley J.
on 4/26/12 1:43 pm - CA
VSG on 06/25/12
Just from my experience with my insurance, here is what I had to do:

I spoke to my PCP about it.... I was required to do 6 months monitoring weight loss and discussing nutrition/exercise with him.  After 6 months, he sent report to insurance and request for referral to bariatric surgeon.  Insurance approved, set up consultation.  After consultation back to PCP to get EKG, xray, blood work, dr. release etc... then referral to psych...  got psych eval done.  all paperwork back to surgeons office.  They are submitting it to insurance for final approval to set up surgery date (which i was informed will be in June)... I began everything in February again (I already did 6 mo. tracking, but then got pregnant and had a son in october...  so I was able to use previous 6 mo but had to re-do the xray ekg, approval etc...)

So for me, I had to go thru PCP.  I would def. bring it up to them :)  GOOD LUCK!
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