The Top Ten Reasons Why Weight Loss Surgery Is NOT "The Easy Way Out"

[MamaMichelle]

The Top Ten Reasons Why Weight Loss Surgery Is NOT "The Easy Way Out"

by Glenn Goldberg

Another post from a gastric bypass site, but I think that so many people have this notion that we did take the easy way out so here are some good responses!!

10. It's very expensive. Many health insurance companies don't pay for the surgery, and even when they do, co-payments and other costs add up quickly. Also, it can become very costly to constantly replenish wardrobes as the weight comes off.

9. Recovery can be very painful. Besides the pain from the surgery wound, patients may experience nausea or severe gastric distress. Patients with sleep apnea may become sleep-deprived, with all of the associated adverse affects, when they must discontinue use of their CPAP machines to avoid disturbing the staples creating their tiny new stomach pouch. (MM note- so glad I got the band and had minimal pain and no side effects from surgery)

8. Recuperation can take a long time. Patients may be “out of commission” and absent from work for a prolonged period of recovery time. In some cases, patients may not be able to return to work or normal pursuits for up to 10 – 12 weeks. (another MM note- so glad I got the band and was out and about shopping 24hrs after surgery)

7. It's hard work and a major time commitment. For optimal results, patients should engage in aerobic exercise for up to an hour daily. For bodies unaccustomed to vigorous exercise, this can be very hard. It's also a real challenge for WLS patients to learn all they must about nutrition so they can assure that their food and vitamins are sustaining their body. Finally, it can be exhausting to consciously, carefully and painstakingly chew every bit of food that enters your mouth.

6. Vomiting isn't fun. Nor is diarrhea. It may take patients many months (and frequent episodes of vomiting or diarrhea) to identify incompatible foods and to learn the practical limits of their newly reduced stomachs or digestive systems.

5. It takes extraordinary courage to consciously limit food choices for the rest of your life (and potentially limit social opportunities built around meals). For many patients, life after WLS means treating food as a fuel, not as a source of drama, excitement, comfort or a central life focus: i.e. eating to live rather than living to eat. While some procedures may be reversible, for most patients WLS is a lifetime commitment, requiring a lifetime of major lifestyle changes.

4. Weight loss surgery can be dangerous. As many as .5% of surgery patients may die from the procedure, and up to 5% may experience debilitating medical complications (especially if they listen to their peers' advice more carefully than their doctor's.)

3. It takes great bravery and strength to deflect other people's judgments and society's myths about obesity. Fat people are often blamed and shamed by family and friends with simplistic advice, unrealistic solutions, and uninformed prejudices. Whether it's for genetic or metabolic reasons, diet and exercise, willpower and discipline have never, by themselves, been enough. Our appetite regulators simply don't work. Without WLS, we don't know when we're full!

2. What gives anyone the right to judge which path is right for another? Is a person who runs a 10K taking a “better” or “tougher” route to wellness than the person who walks vigorously every day? Is working with weights better than water aerobics? Different strokes for different folks. Each of us finds our own right way, and how dare others judge our path to health and longevity! By their reckoning, the most courageous thing would be for us to suck it up and die young.

1. For many morbidly obese people, WLS may be the ONLY realistic alternative for achieving a long, healthy life. The newest research provides irrefutable evidence that body weight is largely a function of genes — just like height or a family propensity for cancer. These genes help regulate appetite and metabolism. People prone to obesity seem to gain excessive weight easily, while finding it difficult or impossible to lose it. That's why diets almost always fail and why WLS is currently the only viable weight loss option for many morbidly obese people, according to endocrinologist David Cummings of the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System. Most people can lose no more than 5-10% off their "natural" body weight by exercising and eating wisely. Decades of diet studies show that more than 90% of people who lose weight by dieting gain it all back within 5 years. "There are exceptions, but when you are speaking of general rules, the only people who are able to lose more than 10 percent of their body weight and keep it off are people who have had gastric-bypass or other bariatric surgery," Cummings notes.

[MamaMichelle]

On a side note, my inlaws are in town who I hadn't seen since last Sept and of course this is the thinnest they have ever seen me... When they or anyone else I know asks what I have been doing to lose weight I totally down play it and say oh I've been eating less and working out more (both totally true) and then when they ask how much I've lost I always say oh maybe 25-30lbs since Christmas" like I'm not really tracking it.. lol

Maybe I don't want them to do the math and figure out that I was almost 250lbs, or maybe I still feel somewhat ashamed that I had to turn to WLS to get my eating under control, I guess that is why I haven't told anyone but my husband ... I knew the risks and that it was the right choice and I am so glad I did but what the heck is wrong with me that I can't be as free with the people I know and love as I am with all of you (who I also feel like I know and love) it's a mystery!!

I guess that's why I'm so open and happy to share my progress with you all, I am not an exhibitionist or desperate for attention I promise... lol I share my story because it's my only outlet (other than DH) where I can say, look at me I made a tough/drastic choice to improve my health and it's working for me!! I also know how hard it was to make the choice to get banded and that others are in my same shoes everyday and I hope that I can help those who are considering this major life change or who have already done it that it will work for you too!!

[Blazn]

Great posts Michelle. We love you too and wish you well in the visit to come with your in-laws!

[Mizzoupoodle]

Thanks for posting this Michelle!!

[Guest CaraMBA09]

MamaMichelle

dont we all LOVE our inlaws...

you look fantastic and should be very proud of your accomplishments

c

[Donna34]

And we are SO glad you do share your progress!! What a motivator for the rest of us! Keep up the good work! I wish I hadn't told anyone about my surgery now! I always feel like they are looking at me, and thinking "well, WLS isn't even working for her!!" But, I've had more trouble than most, and I'm sure all that is going to change now!

Donna

[LCW]

On a side note, my inlaws are in town who I hadn't seen since last Sept and of course this is the thinnest they have ever seen me... When they or anyone else I know asks what I have been doing to lose weight I totally down play it and say oh I've been eating less and working out more (both totally true) and then when they ask how much I've lost I always say oh maybe 25-30lbs since Christmas" like I'm not really tracking it.. lol

Maybe I don't want them to do the math and figure out that I was almost 250lbs, or maybe I still feel somewhat ashamed that I had to turn to WLS to get my eating under control, I guess that is why I haven't told anyone but my husband ... I knew the risks and that it was the right choice and I am so glad I did but what the heck is wrong with me that I can't be as free with the people I know and love as I am with all of you (who I also feel like I know and love) it's a mystery!!

I guess that's why I'm so open and happy to share my progress with you all, I am not an exhibitionist or desperate for attention I promise... lol I share my story because it's my only outlet (other than DH) where I can say, look at me I made a tough/drastic choice to improve my health and it's working for me!! I also know how hard it was to make the choice to get banded and that others are in my same shoes everyday and I hope that I can help those who are considering this major life change or who have already done it that it will work for you too!!

Forget about what the rellies might think! This is your journey and only needs to be shared with whom ever you choose. I know i would probably be just as evasive to anyone asking me. When I finally get the surgery.

[DaGreen]

Great post Michelle. In no way have you came across as an exhibitionist. For me, you have gone out of your way to post pictures and other great information that we might not have otherwise received. You are a great motivator and it's also nice to know that you are human and that you show your pictures of your weight loss, yet you still mention that it's in no way easy. =D> THANK YOU for all that you post!

[Kittycat]

BRAVO!!!!