Why do people go to Under Qualified Surgeons?

Well for me the ONLY way I was having surgery was if it was payed for by my insurance. Since hubby is a Marine, that means VSG is only done at military hospitals.. So I went on blind faith that she knew her **** I love my results, and I never questioned her skills. I did ask her a million questions preop, and was satisfied with the answers.

Going through same thing now with my tummy tuck- it's not like military plastic surgeons have before and after galleries, kwim? But I trust my surgeon, and know it's the only way it was gonna happen anyway..

It may not be the perfect situation, but it's reality..

Although I don't have nearly the history or weight loss (yet) that you do with this operation, I am also constantly amazed by the questions on this board about "what should I be eating" and "why am I not losing weight".  While some of it may be due to underqualified surgeons, I think that even more is due to underqualified support people (Nuts, Nurses, etc.) and crappy bariatric programs that focus only on surgery as opposed to the whole process of weight loss.

I actually had two surgeons in the operating room with me.  One has done weight loss surgery for ten or more years, but whose history is heavily in bands, and my primary, who has only a couple of years practice, but great VSG educational background.  She shows only sixty or seventy VSGs on her profile, but has probably done more than that since I've known her (and her profile number has never changed). 

As I recall, you had one of the more well-known surgeons do your work.  But though mine undoubtedly has less experience, I was totally comfortable with her and would recommend her to anyone.

It's my opinion that while the surgeons' experience level is important, it's only one piece of the puzzle.  Almost of the education I got came from my own research AND A GREAT HANDBOOK PUT TOGETHER BY THE BARIATRIC CENTER SUPPORT STAFF.  I've never had any question about what to eat or when I could eat it because everything was down for me on paper.  I also had the six monthly Nut visits and two longer nutritional education seminars just before surgery, but I've always had the handbook to go back to.  It sounds to me like some people don't get any of that.  I find that to be more disturbing than someone using an "inexperienced" surgeon.  Its as though the surgeon doesn't understand that the work done in the operating room is only part of the equation, and though certainly critical, his/her work may not be the deciding factor that spells success or failure for his/her patients.  Call it arrogance on the part of the surgeon.  Call it failings by the support staff.  Call it charging so little that there is no money to provide patient support.  Whatever you call it, I think that's the crime, not inexperience. 

In my opinion, there is absolutely no excuse for not knowing what to do after having surgery. Vast amounts of information are at everyone fingertips. It's not the late 1990s. Everyone knows what the internet is.

On the other side of that, people ask what to eat because they don't want to hold themselves accountable for failure. In thier minds, it's not them. It was bad advice.

 I went to an excellent surgeon - very good at the cutting out your stomach part and in a clean hospital that was ready to take care of any problem that came up. I cringe when people go to a "clinic" for surgery.

no real "program" however, I was on my own for that part. it's worked out very well - I could not have asked for better results!

Hey Sub,
You just touched on a subject I was planning to ask you about in a PM someday.. so sorry for the hijack Frisco..

I was wondering how you handled being taught the misinformation that is part of much mainstream nut info, vs what you knew from your own studies.. I look at the plans and some of the info being sold to WLS patients and almost have to rub my eyes to keep them from rolling back in their sockets.

I have not taken any courses on nutrition, but it appears we have the same info knocking around in our brains.. I just wish certain things would be required reading for all people, or at least anyone attempting to control obesity. There is so much false info repeated so many times that it becomes truth in it's own way, calories in/calories out, lo-fat.. sat fats.. etc. People don't even know HOW their own bodies work, then are expected to make changes to lose the weight.. but they don't know the basics to start with, so that's when the a little of this and a little of that can't hurt happens so frequently.

We all could do better regardless of surgery or no surgery if we got the truth of how our bodies actually work, the hormonal and metabolic processes involved in digestion and energy usage/storage.. and how what we eat (the macronutrients- prot/carb/fat) directly effects the process.. but it seems to come down to two things- the dumbing down of info to the masses (unless you actively search it out on your own) and $$$.

 

Yes, when I read my nutrition textbooks it was very hard, but by that time I had spent many years studying on my own.  I only went to school to get the credentials and credibility.  I didn't really feel I needed them but felt that if I didn't have them it would interfere with others trust in my information.

I did learn some new things like Anatomy and Physiology which were very hard subjects for me and was able to read a few alternative theory books, but for the most part it was USDA food pyramid drivel. One of the best books on nutrition I have read was a book called Neanderthin by Ray Audette (http://www.neanderthin.com/site/what.htm).  

This is the foundational stuff that sort of encompasses my views on nutrition.  It's all about how we evolved as a species for millions of years as hunter gatherers and what we would have eaten and how our lifestyles would have been and how our DNA is still wired that way and why.

It's pretty easy reading too and goes into why our bodies have not adapted to a modern diet and what those foods do to us when we eat them (and how even small amounts can have detrimental effects on our bodies). And while fruit is technically something we can gather,the fruits we have nowadays have been bio-engineered to be WAY sweeter than what we would have eaten naturally, and also many people who lived in cold northern climates (read most Caucasians who evolved paler skin over thousands of years living in cold climates) would probably not have had access to as much fruit.

My second favorite book is not purely on nutrition but instead about evolution and why we have certain adaptations.  It is called "Survival of the Sickest" and talks about how diabetes (and sensitivity to sugars) is actually a genetic adaptation to people who lived in climates with very little access to carb foods.  People developed a sensitivity so that they could maximize the little carb intake they DID get.

Thank you, my library has both these titles- so they are now on the reading list. 

Well said frisco! I could not agree more. Not sure why more people don't do what ever they have to not just to get any VSG but to get the best of the best. You only have one life...and one stomach!

And as far as cost goes... I have seen people on here say they are going to people with not much experience and that cost a ton. My doc was "only" $12,500 so even including airfare and hotel it still cost me less to fly to San Francisco than going to see a less experienced doc where I am.

Boggles my mind!