Gastric Bypass surgery
 

Ok this is becoming frighteningly common. I have spoken with many women that have had it.

Now someone please enlighten me, basically it makes your stomache really small right?

Which forces you to eat very little, which results in eight loss?

Ok, couldn't we skip the majorly invasive procedure and just eat very little?

Ultimately its a matter of calories isn't it?

James, this is a very sensitive topic...

One of my closest friends is going to get this done soon and my heart goes out to her.

The thing is, she eats right and excersizes everyday! However she just can't lose the weight. Seriously, this girl can run 2 miles and not even break a sweat.

This is her last resort. For most people that's what it is...

The majority of people out there don't feel like they have that kind of willpower. If you're morbidly obese (which you probably are if you're having gastric bypass), chances are that you've spent a lifetime setting up bad eating habits and it will be hard to overcome them without physical change.

By making the stomach so small, it obviously reduces the physical sensation of hunger and the urge to eat . . . not to mention the fact that, if you eat too much for the stomach to process at once, you'll throw up.

Does this get rid of deep tissue fat? I thought that only left through exercise and it was that which was the cause of health concerns and not cosmetic.

-Rudey

In order to make more people eligible for this procedure there is like a point system also that can lead to the GB surgery.

I know at least one lady who wasn't morbidly obese but had enough "points" to allow her to have the surgery.

I believe the points are based around reported symptoms, for example trouble breathing during exertion.

Its also a way that non-morbidly obese women might be able to get their insurance to pay for basically cosmetic weight loss.

Re: Gastric Bypass surgery
 

ghrelin, my friend, ghrelin.
http://springfield.news-leader.com/h...yp-137070.html

A Soror had this surgery 3 years ago and died of complications. :(

I am truly sorry.

This is kind of what i meant, this is not a joke procedure like getting your eyes lifted.

My friend who had gastric bypass surgery, she had been battling her weight since early childhood. She had tried everything, and this was a last resort as Firecracker said. She had it done almost three years ago. There was a concern that her weight problems could result in heart disease and diabetes in a few years. Her father had had a heart attack and triple bypass so there was a family history. She has since had surgery and lost the weight. It definitely worked, but there are also lifestyle changes that she needed to incorporate into her life as well. She could only eat two tablespoons of food at a time for the first few weeks.

There was a case recently in New York of a patient dying during the surgery so it isn't risk free. About 1% of patients die.

TheEpitome1920 I am very sorry about the Soror.

Thanks. And what made it worse was that she had just gotten married about 7 months prior to having the surgery. I guess if people feel its really their only option then so be it. Any surgery is risky.

I've known at LEAST 10-12 men and women who have had a gastric bypass in some form in the past few years. In the early stages, one had to be at least 100 pounds overweight, now it's a matter of BMI (body mass index). That means someone can be under 200 pounds, but if their height to weight ratio is off, they are still eligible for the surgery.

There are several different types of this surgery, and I'd be lying if I went into detail of each one, because I don't know about the style/name of each type. I do know that the bypass basically makes the stomach into a walnut-size pouch or bypasses it completely. After the surgery, the patient cannot ever drink soda pop, most sugars, and certain fats without having intense pain. In the early days, eating would cause the staples to come undone, wreaking havoc on the digestive system.

Instead of mocking someone desperate enough to have this surgery, why not work on banning soda pop, candy & snack machines at schools - when this problem starts for most people? Or campaign against the subliminal messages in the multitude of commercials that entice people to eat? Or, best yet, realize that "there but for the grace of God goes I"?

Are we mocking them dahlin'? I think we might just be pointing out that its a risky surgery that is becoming marketed much more aggressively. Its a real money maker for the docs.

And that ultimately its major resuly is enforced calorie restriction.

110.

They had to lower it. :(

Absoutely! There is no such thing as a perfect surgery; there's always a risk - and sadly, TheEpitome's Soror (may she rest in peace) proves that.

I agree that it's being marketed incorrectly, like the end-all cure-all, becoming all too similar to ambulance chasers.

I just like any chance to put down the mass use of snack or soda pop machines in schools! :D

I know someone who had it done a few years ago. He looks better than he did, but not by much. He still eats fried and fatty foods, smokes, doesn't exercise, and drinks. Why go through all that pain and suffering of surgery if you're not going to change your habits? He's still overweight by a lot.

It does seem like suddenly we are hearing a lot more about this type of surgery. My manicurist had it done, lost 183 lbs., has had plastic surgery to remove "loose skin," and is looking at about 3 more surgeries to complete the procedure. The whole procedure scares me. Even though I am not happy with my weight, I can think of a whole lot of other things I would ( and do) try before I would have the surgery.

See this is not exactly the best solution either. While sugary pops are a problem. I see nothing wrong with diet pops.
The Toronto Board of Education has banned sugary drinks in the schools and is no replacing them with juices. However, juices that would be provided by Coke (and now Pepsi as they have the contract now) are overloaded with sugar. In fact some of these juices have more sugar in them than the pops. They also wanted to have sports drinks in the pop machines...also overloaded with sugar. They really haven't solved the problem.

I totally agree that their needs to be a complete overhaul of the food services in the schools so that they offer children more healthy choices.

ETA: There is another procedure out and I can't remember what it's called, but basically what they do it place a band around your stomach to limit the intake of food and when you lose your goal weight, they remove it. But hopefully what it's also taught you is to limit your intake of food. While it does have it's risks, it's apparently less risky then gastric bypass surgery.

I'm not sure if this is true or not...can someone clarify?

I've heard that in many gastric bypass patients that after a few years, the body begins to "adjust" to its sudden reduction in food intake. I've heard rumors that the stomach can expand in size on its own or the body learns how to turn on the "hunger mechanism" all day so that you're constantly eating.

Like I said, not sure if it's true but that would seem heartbreaking to lose all that weight and then be able to gain in back after a few years.

ETA:
My friend's mother had it done and she looks and feels better than she has in 30 years. She was starting to have heart complications, breathing problems, and was beginning to develop diabetes. She can now exercise normally (without becoming too physically exhausted to work out) and eats healthy. The only problem is the excess skin from her rapid weight loss (a problem in many GB patients since the skin isn't elastic enough to adjust weight loss) so she has been consulting with plastic surgeons about skin removal options.

That's a good point. I've also heard that for some people, there are underlying psychological issues associated with the excess weight. For example, some women regard it as a security blanket or are simply used to being very, very large. In some cases those people will start gaining the weight back after several years. I think it's important that people also undergo counseling because many people both fat and skinny have an unhealthy relationship with food.

My mother in law is thinking of having this done. She does need to loose weight but I think that if she actually did some activity she could. We husband and I have convinced her to go on a diet and she has lost weight..... but not fast enough for her. One of her co-workers had the surgery done and lost weight really fast so that is the results she wants. I think that it is too risky, just because she is too lazy. Oh by the way they just sold their house and bought a new one because the distance from the bedroom to the kitchen was "too far"

As anyone ever read the book "She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb?

The girl in the books is raped as young girl and to cope with the pain of the experience she eats and eats and eats and puts on a lot of weight.

I definitly believe for some people their weight is a symptom of deeper psychological issues.

i am all for people who are at serious health risks to have gastric bypass surgery but what i am starting to see are people who are overweight using this as a tool to lose weight (just to look good).

case in point: i read an article in a magazine about this woman who was about 210 pounds. she was unhappy with her weight and after many failed attempts at fad diets she was looking for something else to help get rid of the weight. well she was informed about the surgery BUT you have to weigh at least 240lbs to be eligible for the procedure. so this woman gained 30 pounds so she could have the surgery.

this is so sad. i mean she could have lost weight by eating right and exercising but instead she decided to take the easy way out. i've been reading though that people who've had the procedures a couple of years ago can gain weight back, up to half of what they lost, especially if they dont continue to eat healthy and exercise

How many of you saw MTV True Life: "I'm Obese"? It showcased three people: a plus-size model who was relatively happy with her weight, an obese (300 pound?) teenager who wanted gastric bypass, and an obese adult (500-600 pounds) who also wanted gastric bypass. It was a really frustrating show to watch, but also really sad.

The obese women who weighed about 550 was a good candidate for gastric bypass -- she had some kind of condition where she basically couldn't move anymore because she gained so much weight and her legs were so swollen. She did get the surgery covered by her insurance. However . . . the teenage boy who was obese bothered me a lot. He kept eating junk food and instead of changing his eating habits, just kept telling people that he would change them after he got the surgery. He clearly had issues with emotional overeating, and so it seemed obvious that surgery wasn't going to address the root of his problems. Therapy would have done a lot more good.

^ yeah i saw that episode. it's so sad when people assume that surgery will fix their problems