[Kenyar]

Big Medicine:

Jimmy: has a family history of diabetes and obesity, weighs almost 500lbs (loses about 70 to qualify for surgery) brother had RNY.

Robert: 525 lbs type 2 diabetic, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.


Kim: in crisis. she has a lap band and is having complications. she is unable to get the medical care that she needs where she is. they were able to clear her clog so to speak, by removing some of the fluids. but this story brings up the question about aftercare and whether or not as a WLS patient, you can manage to stay in an area where you can find suitable aftercare.

[Kenyar]

I must say that while Brookhaevn is somewhat interesting, i thnk i am going to stop watching it. They paint the obese in such a negative light on this show. and its just the type of thing that most of us have been fighting against most of our lives. tell me how the director can come down on a patient for requesting double portions?? obviously if the patient isnt supposed ot have them why allow it? its not rocket science.

if you offer crack to a crack head, are they gonna smoke it?? UH YEAH. so what the hell? i dont know. this show frustrates me....

[fr1endly2]

I dont like the 2nd show...

but i think BIG MEDCINE makes a big point that not all
hospitol ER's are staffed to help gastric banding and
bypass patients. I know for me the two trips i made
to the ER i was lucky enough to have my surgeon there
to care for me. ITS scary when a person has a problem
and the medical staff is not geared to help. HONESTLY
she was fortunate to have family in the field but
most family members dont.

ONLY thing that concerned me about the family member
having gastric banding was she wasnt morbidly obesite....
weighing in at 187 before her banding.....she seemed
on TV to be a tall gall too. WHO KNOWS

but always try to make trips to ER's to hospitols that have
either your surgeon on board or other bariatric doctors
to be sure you can get the right attention needed in
an emergency.

as for the rest of the show was pretty typical stuff.

[Kenyar]

yeah lisa i agree but didnt want to be the first to say it lol! i think she took advantage of the procedure because it was something that the family practiced (father and brother are both bariatric surgeons) which is WRONG. 187 at size 14 IS NOT morbidly obese by any stretch....but hey....

it also made me think. having WLS has made me want better for myself and a fresh start. I think when i hit goal i will probably move out of the northeast. now to add to the list of things i need to look for when i move, i need to figure out if there will be a bariatric "center of excellence" in whatever city i move to. this is VERY important to me for my aftercare...

[MsVickie]

I will be back to post about this a little later. I TIVOed it. Good morining ladies.

[A new me]

Hey ladies.......Yeah i gave up on Brookhaven a few weeks ago. i felt the same way as you ladies. Something abut the whole show and like you said they paint a negative attitude.
And yes i was thinking the same thing last night about the sister/daughter. Size 14 isnt that bad. She was slightly overweight but I think the same thing. She took advantage of having it since her father and brother are in that field. But now that i think about it they didnt do the surgery did they? Im actually surprised her insurance company paid for it. Then again, if they have money maybe she paid out of pocket. Who knows. But I agree with you ladies on that.
Hey a girl I work with just told me yesterday about this other show. Its on Discovery Health and its called "I lost it." I taped it. Its on at 6:30am here in my area. So I taped it. She told me that they usually run a story about two different people. One usually has the surgery and another lost the weight but by a different means. So Im gonna try to watch it and see how it is. has anyone else seen this show?

[celadon]

Kenya, I love your updates. It makes me actually think about the shows and not just watch and forget.

The issue with Kim, the doc's daughter/sister. I don't think she needed the surgery either but when you have family in the biz so to speak, why not take advantage? I am sure she felt the same way. For her, it was a case of preventive medicine and if all parties were willing, wouldn't you do the same? This segment also brought to mind that I need to find a local hospital that is well versed in WLS. I am two hours from the surgeon and hospital where I am having my surgery. There are plenty of bariatric surgeons in my area, but after the extensive research that I did, I wanted this surgeon above all others. So, I only have a few days left to check this out and find a local 'center of excellence' in case I need them.

I loved the comment at the end of the show that the one guy made. Sorry, I forgot his name but he was the 59 year old who was well over 500 pounds pre-surgery. He told the doc that he was trying to talk his wife into coming and getting her 'five little cuts' too.

As for Brookhaven, it continues to bother me. I don't know why I keep watching it. I disagree with the clinic policy and with the way they look the other way as patients continue to indulge in the bad behavior that got them there. They are nothing more than enablers.

[fr1endly2]

Well honestly i dont think the "FAMILY members" did her surgery.
BEING they by noe means were going to operate
if they couldnt fix her problem.
REMEMBER there reactions if she had a complication that
needed surgery they couldnt do it on the family member.
I dunno they were clear on that if the dad and bro did
her banding or not.
BUT i guess hey why wait till ur too big anyway and
then have the issues we deal with the skin.

but i had to bring this topic up on the thread!

[akosak]

I too finally turned Brookhaven off last night! I just could not watch it anymore. I keep thinking I will see something of value out of the program, but all is see is hopelessness. I hate the man that runs the place and I don't like the way the people are treated like cattle being just housed.

As for Big Med. I Like seeing the men go through the surgery because I don't think we see enough men doing this and it is important to get some good role models out there to show them that is not just a vain female thing. the two men on last nights show were good role models because they both had to lose weight before surgery and they were very comitted to the program. Both have had good out comes. Unlike the prior men that were so overweight that they were bed bound ext.

[rozzy345]

I have lost track of both of the shows. I enjoy Big Medicine and Brookehaven is a bit depressing. I do want to right to the director and give him a piece of my mind.

Roz