Weight Loss Surgery

Recently, I have grown to resent those people who resorted to Gastric Bypass or other weight loss surgeries. I admit, for a super obese person, this may be necessary, but a lot of the people getting the surgery are nowhere near in that condition. I struggle with proper diet and exercise every day for months on end, and someone who had the surgery loses more weight faster than I ever could and doesn't have to worry as much about gaining the weight back and maintaining. I'm sorry if I offended anyone here who has had the surgery or has had a relative who had the surgery.

From the things I've heard about Gastric Bypass, you have to follow a very strict diet after wards and can never eat anything in mass quantiies or risk getting very ill.  They have hardships with the surgery, I don't believe it's all a quick fix. 

Perhaps what I've heard is incorrect though.

Well, I agree with you. It was only meant for people with SERIOUS problems, but nowdays everything is a quick fix. Everything is now available to ANYBODY who wants it. Just like the Internet -- it was originally for the military only. Just like camera phones and text messaging -- do you REALLY need all that? NO!

A lot of those people that get the surgery end up gaining the weight back anyway. Plus, some have a lot of problems with it, so really you are MUCH better off. It's a struggle on both ends but I'd rather have your struggle than the bypass struggle. At least your struggle is MUCH MORE valuable -- you are learning things about yourself and you will have the tools to KNOW how to eat properly. So, I wouldn't feel resentful about it. You know? ANYTHING in life that's worth it IS a bit of a struggle! :)

I think that you don't understand the surgery very well.  I have not had it, but I've talked to many folks who have, and it is anything but easy.  To begin with, you think that people who are not obese are having the surgery, that is not correct.  I never had it as an option, because I was "only" eighty lbs overweight.  Generally, you have to be over 100 lbs overweight to qualify for the surgery.  The liquid diet that you have to follow before the surgery is not easy, it's extremely difficult.  Many folks don't make it to the surgery because they didn't make it past that point.  The diet you follow after the surgery is also very strict.  Folks who have had the surgery have no guarentee that they won't gain the weight back, in fact, many of them do.  If they can't stick to the strick diet afterwards, if they go back to their old eating habits, they can stretch out their capacity again and they will be right back in the same boat as where they started.

The various surgeries that aid weight loss can really help some people, but it isn't a magic solution, and it is far from easy.  They have to follow a diet and get exercise just as people who are doing it "the old fashioned way" have to.  In fact, their diet is far more strict than my own.  Try concentrating on your own weight loss, however you are doing it.  There's no easy, magic solution for any of us, otherwise no one would be overweight!  No matter what way we chose to lose weight, we all have to make a commitment, and follow through on it.

Four of my close family members have had this surgery and I see your point about people who are just slightly into the "obese weight range" having the surgery but for some people, surgery is the only option. I am the youngest child in a family of five (three kids) and my parents and older siblings have all had Gastric Bypass. All of them were over 350 pounds and my father was pushing 400 pounds. Everyone had some sort of condition. And my father, who was already at a risk for a heart attack before being overweight, was now very close to dying. Now, they had all tried to lose weight previously but none could keep up with the dieting or maintain their weight loss. They all had their surgeries at about the same time (4 surgeries in about 6 months). About a year after surgery, they have, collectively, lost 450 pounds. Again, I understand your resent towards the people who have this surgery when they are only 250 pounds but I am extremely grateful that my family had this surgery. And even though you believe it is extremely easy for them. It isn't. My family had to suffer through excruciating pain from swollen stomachs, large cuts, and constantly vomiting for weeks after surgery. Even today, a year after surgery, my sister still has trouble eatting certain foods and still vomits atleast once a week from the stuggles of her food consumption. While we all know that Gastric Bypass patients lose weight very quickly in the beginning, their weight loss slows down to the rate at which normal people lose weight. They still have to watch what they eat and exercise because if they don't, they won't lose weight. I am not trying to shoot down your opinion but I just think that people need to know more about Gastric Bypass. It's not a cake walk for the patients and people need to understand that.

I figured I would cut in with my opinion, which is much like the rest of yours, even though I HAVE had the surgery.

And I'm still on here, counting away and exercising my [somewhat smaller, thank God] booty off.

People don't understand how much work it actually is, when most of society sees it as a "quick fix." It's anything but. Getting approved for the surgery took me a year and a half. I actually had to LOSE some weight to get the surgery, as far as my insurance was concerned. And I had been struggling with weight loss for so long, that losing those 15 pounds took me ages. It was indeed my last resort. No one, if they were completely informed, would choose something like that before trying everything else they possible could. The diets before and after were awful. I had it a few years ago, and many changes have been made since then, but I had to be on an all liquid diet for 8 weeks [read: 2 months] after the fact. It was horrible. When I finally could start eating solid food again, it took me a few weeks to be able to keep everything I ate down, and I wasn't overeating, I just hadn't eaten real food in so long, I don't think my body knew what to do with it!

I don't regret it for a minute, but it definitly was a lot of work, and I wish that another way had helped me as much as this had. I was 389 pounds when I had the surgery, and I lost about 190 pounds. I have since put some weight back on, which is why I work so hard at it. After awhile, you DO plateau and you CAN gain the weight back. You have to be very careful, and I took it for granted for awhile, but stopped that real quick. My weight will always be a struggle for me, and that's something that the surgery helped me accept. Now, there are some people who definitly take advantage of it. I have seen people below 200 pounds get the surgery, and their reasoning was that they were short. I'm sorry, but unless you are below 4 feet tall, you do not need weightloss surgery when you weigh 195 pounds.  So I completely understand the frustration there, as I have it too. Maybe even more so, because those are the people giving the negative image of the surgery!

Again, I just thought I would offer my insight. I'm sorry this was so long-winded!!

meh...dont like it, dont do it.  Having surg, doesnt make someone a bad person, or lazy or snobby...

Dont like ur hair, you dye it, dont like ur eye colour, ya gets contacts, you think purple looks good on you, you buy more purple clothes....all that makes u feel better about urself right!?  Who cares if some on wants to get the fat sucked out of their legs or their boobs lifted?  If someone can afford it, and wants it, All the best to them! 


As for "its a quick fix", so is buying a car so you dont have to take a bus!

To each their own I'd say!!

the kansan, I genuinely don't understand your sentiment.  I'm not being critical, just saying I don't understand.

Mostly I don't understand it because what it takes to lose weight sensibly should not be resented. 

1.  Eating within the calorie budget that Nature gave you should not be resented -- everyone has to do that.  Sure, some have more liberal calorie budgets than others, because of height and genetics, but every single person has to live by this rule -- Nature has alloted us a certain calorie budget and we must stay within it.  I'm only 4'11.  My calorie budget is only 1350-1550 calories, and yet I am able to eat very tasty meals and be completely satiated -- I am in now way deprived.

I think many dieters feel deprived because they go on diets that restricts their calories BELOW the calorie budget Nature gave them.  It's so unnecessary.

2.  Getting good nutrition certainly isn't something to be begrudged.  It's what every single person should be doing.  We don't have to eat healthy BECAUSE we are fat, we are fat because we didn't eat healthy.  sure, a lot of skinny folks don't eat healthy, either, but are they better off than us?  I don't think so. 

3.  Exercising to be fit is not restricted to overweight people -- every person alive should be exercising to be fit.  just because some people can be couch potatoes and still be skinny doesn't make that a desirable condition. 

So there is nothing that we do that should not be done by every living person -- and therefore, there's no justifiable reason to begrudge having to do it.

Well I have to give my opinion too.  I do agree that moderately overweight peoples should NOT have this surgery but if they are severly obese they should if it will help them.  My older sister had this surgery 8-10 years ago.  She is now 179 lbs and 5'2 and has been this weight for 4-5 years, she does have restricted eating habits, she eats many small meals a day (4 oz) since that is all her stomach will hold.   Before she had the surgery she was pushing 500 lbs.  She had been overweight for most of her life at least as long as I can remember.  It was either have it or she was going to die.  She has had many health related problems over the years (blockages and hemaroids mainly) though but doesn't regret it one bit since before she had it she was almost wheelchair bound.  If she were to have excess skin removed again she would probably be about 140-150 pounds but decided against it.  She would rather have the excess skin than go through any more surgeries.  I am just grateful that she is still around and wouldn't change anything for that.

I know one person who went through gastric bypass. I don't know her exact stats, but I can tell you she was fairly large and very unhealthily so. After the surgery she had to spend at least a few weeks recovering and off work, and now - a year later - she's still on a strict exercise and diet regime. The surgery is not "the easy way out" like lipo is - if anything, I know she would love to have been able to shed the weight without it. (I believe she has a thyriod related problem.)

Two of my best friends (a married couple) both had the surgery - and it was by no means an easy process. To get approved, they had to diet with a doctor's supervision for 6 months, to prove that they would be unable to lose the weight on their own in a reasonable amount of time. Then, they both had to have grueling psycological evaluations, to make sure they understood what they were doing, and were emotionally capable of handling the major life changes that the surgery creates. Also, to make sure they were able to rationally weigh the risks of the surgery, and didn't have any unreasonable expectations of the results. Then they had to pass physicals - not the typical listen to your heart, check your reflexes type. They had to take stress tests and have EKGs to make sure their hearts could handle the surgery.

After all that, they were finally approved. He had his first, she had hers 6 weeks later. He ended up in the hospital 8 weeks after than with complications, and almost died. I asked him later if he would still do it, knowing that he would have complications. He said in a second. He's lost 190 pounds, and no longer has knee pain. Before the surgery, his doctor told him that he'd have to have both knees replaced within 5 years. Now he has no more pain from taking all the extra weight off. She lost 145 pounds, and her blood pressure is no longer high. They both are more involved in their kids' lives now, and have more energy. They enjoy life more in general.

Both of them told me that the surgery isn't for everyone, and should be a last resort, and that no one should even consider it without doing LOTS of research. She researched it for a year before even begining the year and a half long approval process!

I am considering gastric bypass surgery. I learned as much as I could about it for 6 months or so, then traveled 150 miles every month for 6 months and still need to have several more visits before I am eligible. I stepped back from it in a real  attempt to lose weight, which I would prefer so much, but no matter what I do, I don't lose weight. (WW, Atkins, counting calories) I am 5 feet tall and weigh 195 pounds. I have been dieting for YEARS!! No matter what I do, it doesn't work and I have been trying so hard!! At this point I am nearly obsessed with weight and food counts and am so absorbed in trying to lose weight to help control the diabetes that I feel I am going out of my mind ! Gastric Bypass seems the answer, not because it is easy, but because it seems to work. A change usually takes place within a week or so of the operation, which cures/ controls diabetes and high blood pressure. People can regain the weight back, but usually do not regain the disease. The faster weight loss for the first year is good for disease..not because it is healtthy to lose that way, but because the weight is killing us with strokes and heart attacks. It settles down after about a year and diligent care in diet to NOT regain the weight  remains forever, I believe. Now! If someone could just tell me how to lose weight quickly (or in my case, at all) and forget about havingt the surgery!!    

The thing is that you all re only discussing gastric bypass. The most popular weight loss surgery where I live is Lap Band. It doesn't have even half of the negative side effects. I have seen a lot of people I know get this surgery. Some of them were in much better health than me. One such person is my cousin, who weighed around 300 pounds. Meanwhile I weighed nearly 500 pounds and struggled every day. I am sorry, I just feel that some of this is going too far. Where is the personal responsibility?

thekansan

I'm not sure I understand your point.  Are you saying all people should not have the weight loss surgeries?

Why?  Why do you care?  It may not be right for you, but it is an alternative approach and often a last resort.  It is not something people just do for the shits and giggles.  They go through a rigorous screening to qualify and then the surgery is just the beginning.  They still have to deal with the complications and restrictive diet and change in eating habits afterwards or they simply regain their weight.

It's not for me.  I would rather skip the surgery and learn how to change the way I eat permanently... but I'm a weenie and hate pain.

But I wouldn't dislike or envy or put other people down for trying a different approach. 

What I don't understand is how nearly everyone who undergoes gastric bypass says they just couldn't lose weight through diet and exercise.  I don't believe that is true.  Genetics gives people a predisposition to having an easy or hard time gaining or losing weight, but it's not set in stone, just the way someone with a predisposition to certain types of cancers isn't doomed to have cancer as long as he or she avoids the risk factors.

We all know that obesity is prevalent and still rising in the world, especially in the US, and subsequently weight loss surgeries are on the rise.  I wonder why all of a sudden people decided to forego the personal responsibility. 

I ate too much junk food and did little to no exercise.  I gained weight and put my health at risk.  I need to work hard, be patient, and show some willpower and I will see results.

Apparently that is just too hard to say.

heck, even the professionals don't agree on how people should lose weight and keep it off.  It might be a long time before research really shows a way for everyone to lose and keep off the weight.

Losing weight is a very complex problem for people who have a lot of weight to lose.  It is about more than just closing your mouth, eating less and exercising more. 

It means going back and changing long term patterns of eating and changing your habits, when everyone around you doesn't and when the media advertises 4 hamburgers and 2 desserts in every tv break.  when there is a fast food joint on every corner and it's nearly impossible to get a healthy meal out at a restaurant. Not to mention the sneers and dirty looks and nasty comments from jerks.  Even from the people who work in doctors offices and hospitals.  Why don't they...  yikes, sorry, I'm starting to RANT!!!

What is the problem.  There is more than 1 way to skin a cat.

If someone chooses to go a surgical route with their doctor, why do you care? 

REally comments like some of these just toast my cookies.

No one is worth less because they choose a different approach.

Why do people put other people down for making a different choice?

Are they prejudiced?  Better than? Don't understand????????

Do they post these comments just to provoke a fight???

Please...  not here.  This place should be comfortable for people who are working on losing their weight and improving their health and if they choose to do that with a doctor and prescription drugs or surgery or the help of a nutritionist or a hypnotherapist or a psychologist or by going to weight watchers or following a low carb or a low fat diet or counting calories, then more power to them. 

Let's support each other...

Ok, can you see me glaring... See the frown from where you are sitting?

I'm going to step away from the keyboard and stop ranting.

Are you serious?  You justify obesity rates in this country by saying it's the advertisers' fault and the restaurant's fault?  I don't recall companies sending representatives to peoples' homes to tie people to chairs and force their eyes open while they watch TV, or McDonald's kidnapping people off the street and forcing Big Macs down peoples' throats.

I don't mean to be catty or snippy, I just detest that nothing is anyone's fault anymore and everyone expects a quick fix. 

It is a personal decision for people, but it doesn't mean others aren't allowed to disagree with the idea.

thekansan, I'm glad that you acknowledge your feelings as resentment.  I think that's honest.  I also think it comes from comparing your situation with other people and feeling that you come out worse.  Here you are, dealing with your weight the hard, traditional, old-fashioned way, when other people have the luxury of medical intervention even though for them weight loss is more of a vanity issue than a health issue.  Congratulate yourself!  And be confident! The path you're taking is extremely difficult and it's a sign of strong character that you want to improve your health and lifestyle.  Not everybody is as strong as you, and not everybody will reap the rewards of the choices you're making.  You don't need to compare your progress with anybody else's.

Jess1100. Didn't see anyone justify obesity rates because of advertisers.  Seems the person said there is more than 1 weight loss alternative.

thekansan. Focus on how you eat and exercise.  you will learn what you need to do to keep it off when you get there!  sounds like you are making an effort to do it the healthiest way possible.  Good for you!