Poll about following your doctor's guidelines

I’m curious about how often people follow their doctor’s guidelines after RNY and about the reasons why people sometimes don’t follow their doc’s guidelines.

1.  Would you say that you follow your doctor’s guidelines at least 75% of the time, between 50 and 75 % of the time, about 50% of the time, or less than 50% of the time?
2. When you decided not to follow the guidelines, are you honest with your doctor about it?
3. What are the reasons you don’t follow your doctor’s guidelines:

A.     Just don’t like the guidelines

B.     They are too hard to follow

C.     They don’t make sense

D.    You think following them may actually be harmful to your health

E.     Other people get different guidelines from their doctors and you like their guidelines better

F.      You just want to see what will happen if you do something different

G.    Other reasons – please explain

 

I would say that I follow my doctor’s guidelines between 50 and 75% of the time. When I don’t follow my doctor’s guidelines, I am honest about it (even though sometimes I don’t want to be).

The main reasons I don’t follow my doctor’s guidelines are when they don’t make sense or when I think following them will actually be harmful to my health.

For instance, my surgeon said drinking soda would stretch my pouch.  Since a basic understanding of anatomy and physiology tells me that is impossible, I drink soda if I want to.  My surgeon also instructed me to take calcium carbonate, but when I learned that we can’t absorb that after RNY, I decided to take calcium citrate instead because I thought following his advice would likely cause me to end up with osteoporosis.

I absolutely follow my doctors guidelines as close as I understand them. I question what he wants me to do, but after he explains why I do my best. So far on WLS I think I am close to 100 percent.  

I ask a lot of questions, too.  I definitely think it helps if you understand why your doc wants you to do something.

I follow most of my doctor's recommendations. However, I do take more vitamins (based on your recommendations Kelly). My NUT says it's not necessary but I ignore her.

I do follow the calories/protein guideline very closely. I don't drink alcohol or smoke anyway so I can say I follow that guideline. Before my surgery, I gave up soda completely for several months, then I had a root beer and was up all night miserable - so I gave up soda completely which again follows my doctors recommendation.

So while it sounds like I'm following the guidelines closely, it's mostly due to personal preferences.

I follow the guidelines about 75% of the time. Ialways tell them about it, and my reasoning is that with 2oz of food 3 times a day, I still can't get in m y *00 calories that they want me to have, so I may have another 2 ounce snack in there somewhere to help get to that calorie goal...

I wasn't given a lot of guidelines but what ones I was given I follow.

It is really important to follow doctors instructions for four or five months after surgery. If you don't understand why, you should ask because they probably have a good reason just didn't fully communicate why.

At 8 months out I see my progress and have a better sense of what I need to change from my past. I have lab results and I have internalized the new rules for better health. I can say no to fast food choices, I can eat very small portions, and I am eating regularly or at least I am better about that.

I am eating to live, not living to eat. It takes time to incorporate all of the good reasons that you are instructed to do. If you strike out on your own and fail, it is your fault not your doctors. Not everyone is a scholar on nutrition and if you aren't then listen to your doctor or nutritionist.

For the most part, I agree.  Occasionally, docs give bad advice, though, like when my surgeon told me to take calcium carbonate.  I did ask him the reason, and he did not have one.  Listening to him would have been potentially harmful to my bones.  Blaming him for my bone loss would not really have made me feel any better about it.

You need to educate him and supply him with the facts so that it will help future patients.  Somewhere along the line he didn't get the facts.

 I follow my doctor's guidelines- more than 75% of the time ( I don' t want to say 100% because although I cannot think of anything I do that is against my guidelines....I might just be forgetting right now) 

I have never questioned doing so and am very comfortable with the team of doctor's and my surgeon.  I also did a lot of research prior to having surgery and always have a list of questions for my appointments.  I am also lucky in that I am able to email my nutritionist and doctor when I do have questions and they always get back to me within the day.  Perhaps if I didn't have the confidence in the information I have been provided and my team of doctors I might not follow their guidelines.  But then again- I would have never chosen a surgeon that I did not trust.