Isn’t ASMBS for doctors? Yes. Sorta.

If you’ve been following my Facebook status, you know that I was on the road again. THIS time, it was to attend the 28th Annual ASMBS (American Society of Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery) Meeeting which was held at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, Florida. A few of you are probably wondering, “Why, in heaven’s name, did Cari go to the ASMBS Meeting? Isn’t that for doctors, bariatric professionals and vendors?” And others of you are asking, “What in the world is the ASMBS?” Let me go ahead and answer both in one post!

As a post-op, I am passionate about educating others. It’s true that most of my readers are post-ops or pre-ops, but I do have a few doctors, bariatric medical professionals and vendors dropping by to see what I have to say. I think it’s because they care about those of us working hard to live a healthy Bariatric After Life™, but I also think they want to know what we need. They want to hear what makes us tick…where we are frustrated…what we can’t fix…what would make our lives BETTER.

True: The Annual ASMBS Meeting, despite its focus on bariatric and metabolic surgery as a treatment for obesity, is not geared to post-ops. It’s really targeted at surgeons who want to learn more about the present and future of the various procedures. It’s targeted at medical professionals who want to learn more about risks, complications and treatments. It’s targeted at healthcare professionals who want to better understand the subject of obesity. And, it’s targeted at vendors who sell nutritional products and support services to the bariatric patient community.

Basically, in addition to all of the educational sessions, there is an exhibitor floor featuring lots of booths with medical instruments and videos of laparoscopic weight loss surgery, and lots of booths selling vitamins, protein shakes, snacks and bars. There are also lots of booths that feature aftercare programs and educational books. BUT — the big kahunas at the ASMBS meetings are Allergan, Endo-Ethicon, Covidien, Bariatric Advantage, and the OAC.

Now, in the past, folks like Allergan and Endo-Ethicon who make gastric bands (LAP® and Realize®) and surgical instruments chiefly focused on the technical aspect of the bariatric world. Their message was about before and during surgery — but not reallyafter surgery…a fact which really amazes me, considering surgery happens once, but the After Life happens FOREVER.

Why HAVEN’T these big boys paid any attention to us post-ops?

Even last year, at the 27th Annual Conference in Las Vegas, the tone seemed to emphasize technology and procedure, and my presence at the event was a curiosity (to say the least). If you could have seen the looks on the faces of the surgeons when they learned I was a post-op, you’d have wondered if they’d even ever SEEN one (more than a year out, anyway.) In reality, most of these surgeons only see patients for about a year or two after surgery, and they very rarely — if ever — see them when they are struggling. If they do, they have already regained a great deal of weight, so they are…broken. Very broken.

I won’t put words in their mouths, but the feeling I got was it was shocking for them to see a NORMAL, HEALTHY, HAPPY post-op.

In their defense, I think bariatric surgeons are unusual. Think about it: They are supposed to maintain a longterm relationship with their patients, yet only the patients (and the insurance companies) can actually make that happen. Typically, it’s the PCP who sees the patient longterm, (and I seriously doubt they send pictures to the bariatric surgeon!)

Think about it, general surgeons take out your gall bladder, fix your hernia, or remove your tonsils, and that’s the end of it. You don’t go back 2 years later and say, “Hey doc! Great news! My hernia is still fixed, my tonsils have not grown back, and I don’t miss my gall bladder! I am maintaining everything you did for me!”

So, that’s why I go to ASMBS.

I want the doctors, vendors and medical professionals to KNOW what we look like.

I want them to KNOW what we need.

What exactly IS that, you ask?

QUALITY AFTERCARE: Which brings me to this year’s meeting. Guess what? The subject on the lips of the Allergans and Endo-Ethicons of the world was: AFTERCARE! That, and ADVOCACY (something else I’m extremely passionate about!)

I’m excited to share that for, perhaps the first time ever, the topic of REGAIN was actually mentioned in the same breath as FOOD ADDICTION, and was even described as RELAPSE! Can you believe it? Relapse? Addiction? This was virtually unheard of a few years ago, but thanks to people like Tenny McCarty (Shades of Hope) , Ruby, and Dr. Connie Stapleton (author of Eat It Up!) the subject of Food Addiction is legitimate and out of the closet. Wow! I cannot tell you how excited I am by this news.

Having said that, much of what Allergan emphasized in terms of AFTERCARE revolved around the first 1-2 years post-op, and involved actually in-office visits (7 or 11 the first year, and at least 3 in year two.) Their research shows that staying more closely in touch with post-ops creates more successful post-ops.

Of course, I can never sit still, or shut up, so I was very quick to boldly — and politely — share that, though I agree the physical aftercare is critical, I really would like to hear more about psychogical aftercare. Trust me, my comments went over like lead balloons sometimes, but that didn’t stop me from preaching the gospel.

And that’s why I was there. I wanted these amazing Bariatric Centers of Excellence to know that, while I’m ecstatic to learn how much energy and compassion they are putting into post-ops on the physical front, I would encourage them to also explore the psychological arena.

My HELP (Healthy Everyday Life Products) Teammates, along with the good folks from WLSFA (Toni, Wendy, Jeff and Cynthia), and the guys at Obesity Help (Eric, Bo and Jason) were all there, representing the same message of hope through physical AND psychological support. It was completely inspiring, and I’m pretty sure we made a few waves while we were making a difference.

Let me close with a few highlights:

Allergan NOW Event: This truly was the “event of the year” and we were fortunate to obtain an exclusive invitation. Believe me when I say, no one was allowed beyond the velvet ropes without a name on the iPad list of invited guests! Thank you sincerely to Troy & Jim at Allergan for thinking highly enough of the HELP team (Frank, Maryellen, Yvonne, Laura, Connie, and I) to offer us some coveted seats.

The keynote speaker was Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas. If you have not had the pleasure of hearing him speak, he is absolutely incredible. He is down-to-earth, funny, and makes so much sense. I don’t know if you ever heard this rumor, but during his presidential bid, the subject of his 100 lb. weight loss came up frequently, and despite his explanation that he’d gone through a medically supervised program to lose the weight, it was widely (and incorrectly) reported that he’d had bariatric surgery — at the taxpayers’ expense.

They were wrong, but guess what? His son DID have bariatric surgery — a LAP® band, to be precise – and he has lost 130 lbs. Oh, and he had to pay for it himself because his insurance would not cover it. Mike Huckabee understands the gift of health that we are given when we lose massive amounts of weight.

That’s why he continues to fight the good fight in the halls of government whenever possible, and encourages others to do the same. he really did give us hope for a future that understands obesity as a disease and treats those who suffer, rather than condemning them to certain death.

Doctors Robert & Garth Davis: It’s never an event without these two gems, and I always light up when I see them. Of course, Dr. Garth is as handsome, fit and “fierce about fiber” (LOL) as ever, but I have a crush on Dr. Robert (and he knows it). His kind and compassionate heart has generously given so many of us the gift of life, and I truly admire both of them for their work. To say I adore them would be an understatement and I love their commitment to people like us.

Eric Klein, Bo McCoy, Jason Riddle and the team from Obesity Help. Let’s get serious for a minute — I don’t know what you’ve heard about this organization (but I can guess), and I’m here to tell you that it is probably inaccurate, mostly insignificant, and largely overblown. I will admit that I did not understand what they were all about when I was a newbie, and I was actually even WARNED not to go to their site (for various and sundry reasons). So, I didn’t.

Guess what? I missed out. On a lot.

Eric is so devoted to the membership and works very, very hard to support us as a community, while Jason and Bo travel the nation to ensure that Obesity Help is well-represented at these types of events. I would encourage you that if you have stayed away, please come back. There is so much great (free) information available for you, and — for a pittance — you can receive a super-great magazine four times per year. And let’s not ignore the events. Duh. Of course you KNOW I’m the keynote speaker next month in Seattle, and my dear friend, Laura Preston is the keynote speaker in New York (in October), but if you haven’t been to one of these weekends, you simply must make it a priority. I promise you, it will change your life.

So. those are my highlights — but I still need to give shout outs:

To my good friends, Nick & Vic Giaconia from Celebrate Vitamins (Yes, we really did play Bariatric Twister with the big, colorful dots on the floor of the booth — film at eleven). Thanks for a great time!

To the guys at the Calcet Booth (who gave me two boxes of creamy, dreamy, addictive chews, which I promptly gave to my friend because I would have eaten the entire thing before I got home).

I also need to wave to Pam Davis, Joe Nadglowski and Stephanie (she’s in charge of membership) over at OAC. Hey guys! Thanks for doing what you do for us!!!

And high-five the folks at the big and beautiful Bariatric Advantage (Metagenix) booth (whoops! You don’t hear “big and beautiful” mentioned to frequently at these conferences!) Yes, I had some Calcium Citrate Caramel Chewy Bites – but I stopped at, like…5…and yes, I got to sample a super-secret future product — but I WILL NOT TELL YOU WHAT IT IS. I was sworn to secrecy by Dr. Jaqueline Jacques, and my word is gold. I’ll tell you this, though, it’s cool and fabulously yummy. PS — I won’t tell you what NEW PRODUCT I came home to find in my mailbox, but I will tell you that I LOVED the taste of it, and WILL be reviewing it. Soon…

How can I forget my new friend, Erin Akey, aka THE BARIATRIC GURU? We finally got to meet face-to-face, and I was completely surprised by how TALL SHE IS. Isn’t that funny? I had this mental image of her being this petite little thing, but she is taller than I am. It seems like EVERYBODY is taller than I am these days…what’s up with that? Since when did 5’8″ become short? LOL. Anyway, if you haven’t heard of her — or more importantly HEARD HER, you really must check out her weekly radio program, friend her on Facebook, and check out her webpage She really is a ton (can I say that? She doesn’t weigh a ton…she just has a lot of energy – LOL) — anyway, a TON OF FUN!

And finally, the folks at CHIKE! I (do) like Chike (.com) — it freaking rocks, and so does this team of people who hung in there — way in the back of the exhibit hall — trying to get their message of quality protein out there to the bariatric community. This is NO easy feat, but trust me, we’ve got a few tricks up our collective sleeves, and if you HAVEN’T heard of them yet, you WILL.

So that’s it. That’s my week in Orlando. Me and my HELP crew will be posting videos and pictures of our big adventure in the coming weeks, and I might think of a few things I forgot to mention (I’m not sure) — but I’ll leave you with this:

The conversation is changing in our world. Psychological after care will soon be mandatory, instead of an after thought. I promise.

Talk to you soon!!!