Question, PCP and Labs
I went over the lab question with my PCP before I ever had surgery. Told him what surgery I was having and gave him a few websites where he could get more info. Also told him I'd bring in the list of labs I'd need and asked if that would be a problem. I wanted to know before surgery if I was going to need a new doc. Luckily he is a great guy and was happy I was trying to make myself more healthy and had no issues with doing whatever he could to help me.
My PCP, endocrinologist and surgeon are all part of the same group .. (UT medical associates), so all my care is under the same umbrella, it's nice because they are all networked together and one can pull up the results of the other .. etc. Does your surgeons office work with a PCP like that? maybe they can refer you if they do. To echo everyone else, I wouldn't remain with a PCP who wasn't willing to work with me, at the very least run labs to make sure I remained healthy.
I still see my surgeon and his nutritionist once a year and their clinic orders my lab work. I like keeping in touch with them. They attend national conventions and conferences and keep me up to date on things that they have learned.
My PCP did have a lot of patients who gained back their weight after surgery. He warned me about that and I am glad that he did. My surgeon also warned about the possibility of regain and is happy that I am still at my goal weight. My PCP would order labs if I asked, and does take care of my labs for thyroid.
Interrupting the lab work is pretty simple. They have a website where test results are posted and look at that before I have my appointment. They have my numbers and the normal ranges and it does not have a degree in advanced math to see if a number is out of normal range. The site also has the older results and you can look at each value on a graph to see any trends.
Real life begins where your comfort zone ends
