Free Expression

[Guest guest]

First, let me say that excessive profanity is not something that I

support. Slander, too, is inappropriate.

That being said, it is my opinion that these lists serve us well when

they provide complete information. That includes cold hard facts as

well as someone's opinions that are based upon anger, hurt, or bad

experience.

On the different lists, I have read posts that complain about front

office staff, how people felt in dealing with a given surgeon and

their office, lab people, the doctor's bedside manner, how they help

(or don't help) with insurance, whether or not they make you leave

the hospital with a feeding tube, etc., etc. Much of this is

recounted in the most negative of tones. It is, however, valuable

information to help us know what to expect or, at least, what we

should be watching out for.

These things are important to me, as a preop, as they help me decide

which doctor I will ultimately choose. Some have vigorously defended

the doctors as great benefactors of humanity. Others have complained

that we, as consumers, have not always recieved good treatment. I

believe that we are customers and that the surgeons are highly

skilled individuals who provide us with a miraculous cure of a

disease that many of us have suffered from for a lifetime.

Well, folks, we are consumers (read customers). We are the ones with

the ability to cast our " dollar votes " in the marketplace of

bariatric surgery. I believe that each of us has the right and the

obligation to ourselves to conduct as much research as we can before

we select a surgeon. In carrying this out, it is helpful to me, at

least, to hear what everyone wants to share about their experience.

I am an adult and a thinking person. I am well able to sift through

the silly emotions and find the reality which I will use in making my

choice.

Free and complete expression of everyone's experiences and opinions

is the only way that we will become fully informed. I hope that a

hearty and free exchange of informtion will continue on this and all

lists. The fact that someone has intense feelings, warranted or not,

should not bar them from stating them, even if their tone is negative

and their words are unpopular. Allowing them to do so not only helps

me by showing me the ugly side of someone's experience, it helps me

them work something through themselves. If only the posts written

with the view through rose colored glasses is allowed, we are setting

ourselves up for a decision that is not based upon reality.

Again, I am sure that we all can sift through the content of each

post and seperate what is meritorious from the venom. I hope that

censorship will not occur merely because we find a given post, or

series of posts, unpopular, offensive, or contrary to our own scheme

of life.

Best to all -

Nick in Sage