Guest guest Posted September 28, 2003 Report Share Posted September 28, 2003 I thought I would post to the group about an article in the paper here in Denmark. I have mentioned that they have begun to do WLS in Denmark after about 20 years of banning it. I responded to the writer of the article because I felt it needed the opinion of someone who actually has had success. I would send the article word for word but to difficult to translate! This all came about because of a show on one of the local channels about obese people in DK. It is basically a fat camp and follows the progress of certain individuals. I watched it once and wasn't impressed. To me, it seemed to make fun of those failures and deep sadness of some. It may not have all been like that but I didn't care to watch more. Anyway, one of the main people that they followed recently died from heart failure and was only 40. So now the paper interviewed the leading doctor in the country for WLS and a woman who has had it done and says it doesn't work. We all know that there is two or more sides of the story. My opinion may not be that of another but these people cannot be mislead. Let me explain a bit of the healthcare system here. Healthcare is " free " . Well, you pay 52% of your income to taxes. No choice. This pays for your healthcare and you are not given much choice of options. All of you have heard my complaints about not being able to find my own doctor to help monitor my after RYN health. I only recently got lucky with the new doctor at our local hospital. Every family has a family practice doctor...which I might add, mine has been wonderful. Then if you need anything out of the ordinary, you have to be referred out. You receive a letter telling you when and where to go. End of story. Now to tell you what the doctor in the article said. He said that overweight people cannot lose weight and keep it off. He said they can lose but WILL regain it. His words were that no one can remain be successful without having WLS. He said that obesity is not a psychiatric problem and that none of that is really needed to be successful. He insisted the Danish Healthcare System would save so much money because people would not have so many problems related to obesity. He insisted that people should have what I understand to be the Vertical Banded Gastroplasty or the newer version of that surgery. He said they are now doing about 200 a year and need to be doing about 1000 a year. He said that Sweden is doing that many and have about the same population numbers. He said they cannot force people to have the surgery but can make it difficult to get healthcare if they don't. As for the woman in the article, she said she has had this surgery and it has ruined her life. She did not lose but gained. I have many thoughts about the article which I wrote to them. I disagreed with much of what the doctor said and gave my explanation of why the woman was not successful. I had a lot to say about educating people more on their options. Information for post ops as well as doctors who deal with these patients. It was quite long. I gave the writer all my information to contact me. I would love to give my personal experience to those who need to know. I know it's not always rosy but these people need information. If they do wish to interview me, I would love some feedback from you all. I would like you to write letters that I can give to the cause. Good or bad, it needs to be told. English is fine. Almost everyone in DK can speak English. This is new here and I think many are clueless. My own sister-in-law was offered the surgery. It is quite heavy. She told them no way after seeing some horror story about WLS in the US. I don't push her at all but am open to any questions. I told her I'm here. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 28, 2003 Report Share Posted September 28, 2003 I really think it's important to emphasize that the success of the surgery depends as much (or more) on the type of surgery done as on the patient. We all know that there are many types of WLS. The vertical band is probably one of the less successful ones. It also depends on how big the pouch is. Barbara Jean Surgery in the media-long > I thought I would post to the group about an article in the paper here in Denmark. I have mentioned that they have begun to do WLS in Denmark after about 20 years of banning it. I responded to the writer of the article because I felt it needed the opinion of someone who actually has had success. I would send the article word for word but to difficult to translate! > > This all came about because of a show on one of the local channels about obese people in DK. It is basically a fat camp and follows the progress of certain individuals. I watched it once and wasn't impressed. To me, it seemed to make fun of those failures and deep sadness of some. It may not have all been like that but I didn't care to watch more. Anyway, one of the main people that they followed recently died from heart failure and was only 40. So now the paper interviewed the leading doctor in the country for WLS and a woman who has had it done and says it doesn't work. We all know that there is two or more sides of the story. My opinion may not be that of another but these people cannot be mislead. > > Let me explain a bit of the healthcare system here. Healthcare is " free " . Well, you pay 52% of your income to taxes. No choice. This pays for your healthcare and you are not given much choice of options. All of you have heard my complaints about not being able to find my own doctor to help monitor my after RYN health. I only recently got lucky with the new doctor at our local hospital. Every family has a family practice doctor...which I might add, mine has been wonderful. Then if you need anything out of the ordinary, you have to be referred out. You receive a letter telling you when and where to go. End of story. > > Now to tell you what the doctor in the article said. He said that overweight people cannot lose weight and keep it off. He said they can lose but WILL regain it. His words were that no one can remain be successful without having WLS. He said that obesity is not a psychiatric problem and that none of that is really needed to be successful. He insisted the Danish Healthcare System would save so much money because people would not have so many problems related to obesity. He insisted that people should have what I understand to be the Vertical Banded Gastroplasty or the newer version of that surgery. He said they are now doing about 200 a year and need to be doing about 1000 a year. He said that Sweden is doing that many and have about the same population numbers. He said they cannot force people to have the surgery but can make it difficult to get healthcare if they don't. > > As for the woman in the article, she said she has had this surgery and it has ruined her life. She did not lose but gained. > > I have many thoughts about the article which I wrote to them. I disagreed with much of what the doctor said and gave my explanation of why the woman was not successful. I had a lot to say about educating people more on their options. Information for post ops as well as doctors who deal with these patients. It was quite long. I gave the writer all my information to contact me. I would love to give my personal experience to those who need to know. I know it's not always rosy but these people need information. If they do wish to interview me, I would love some feedback from you all. I would like you to write letters that I can give to the cause. Good or bad, it needs to be told. English is fine. Almost everyone in DK can speak English. This is new here and I think many are clueless. My own sister-in-law was offered the surgery. It is quite heavy. She told them no way after seeing some horror story about WLS in the US. I don't push her at all but am open to any questions. I told her I'm here. > > Dawn > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 Barbara Jean, Of course I am telling them about the success. I myself had open RYN and am very happy about it. There are two sides of every coin. My request is to have people to tell their stories so that people here will know they have choices rather than one type of surgery as you stated. I left most of my personal opinions out of it only to let yall make your own opinions. I have not heard back from the newspaper so maybe they aren't even interested in the positive. Thank you for responding. I'll let the list know if they do respond. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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