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Bariatric Surgery

Bariatric Information

A Surgery Experience

This is from personal experience and point of view, it is no indication of what may be for others.

Having the surgery done was a long process. First involving years of personal fighting with weight and dealing with life from that perspective. Peers making you feel uncomfortable at times even though you know they don’t mean to. This made me an angry person. Family felt more comfortable hurting your feelings over this kind of thing when you decided to eat to your potential. Dieting was always there and constantly tried.

Once a point was reached in life that a change could be made and the surgery was a viable option, it was sought. It was not that simple however. Insurance was the biggest player. They did not want to fund a person who could either lose weight on their own or be helped with medication. A long gambit of testing dieting schemes and medications were imposed. The insurance company made sure that the surgery was the best option. A weight clinic became a kind of hangout for a while. Every other week or so to check and make sure the medications were taken and diet plans gone over. This all preceded the surgery for over a year. Finally after approval from the weight clinic a consultation was arranged.

Prior to consultation they send you to a seminar that is held periodically by the surgical specialists. Specialists they are. They go over every aspect of the surgery. These doctors specialized in Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass. They go over the history of the procedure and how it is performed. They go over the diet changes you will have for the rest of your life. They go over the medications you will have to take for the rest of your life. They discuss the compromises in the system that are made due to the fact just under a foot of intestine is bypassed, and how absorption of nutrients are affected by this. Less calcium is absorbed into your body so you will have to take calcium supplements the rest of your life.

Always part of the program is to exercise. Walking is what is most commonly recommended. That is what is most accepted by potential patients. Weight training for me was not anticipated. A regular effort put forth and visual changes nearly daily egged on an evolution into weight training. That probably does not occur a whole lot and perhaps is something either environmentally, personality or in some other manor dependent.

There are choices to make once you decide to have the procedure. Change your life and take advantage of the tool you are given, or make no changes and take that tool for granted. During the seminar the word tool comes up from time to time. 3 different doctors give the seminar I went to, the one that gave the seminar I attended used the term "tool" a few times. The decision to have the procedure was a choice to take a tool to use to extend both longevity and quality of life. These terms come up in the seminar as well. Life will never be the same, and personally I refuse to let things go back to the way they were before. Increasing education on diet and exercise were things that came along with my personal mission to take advantage of this tool.

Should you take your tool for granted, you will more than likely become an un-success story. You will fall into your old habits more than likely. If going to the extreme of having the procedure doesn’t force you to take up exercise, nothing probably will. You more than likely think the key or answer to all your weight problems lies merely in over eating and this surgery will fix that. There is nothing further from the truth.

Day of the surgery was both nerve racking and not at the same time. There was a general fear of placing my life in the hands of strangers. Then complications or thought of them during the surgery also made me feel uneasy. The seminar and background of my doctors was very comforting. The surgery should be done by Bariatric surgeons certified by the Bariatric Association of America. I have heard stories of plastic surgeons doing this procedure merely because there is money in it, and they can. I wouldn’t doubt if that is behind some of the sad stories of poor results and even deaths due to complications of the surgery. That’s opinion only and not based on any first hand information, merely a kind of 2+2 course of thought that comes to mind. Needless to say I had no complications whatsoever. To this day I can still say the same. Nearly 3 years now.

Diet must be changed for the rest of your life. My view on food has changed, unsure from what point of view before, to that of using it as a high power clean fuel for the body. Sugars fried foods and simple carbohydrates are now viewed as bad fuel and garbage for the body. The tendency now is to feel that food should be as close to natural as possible with high protein intake. No excessive anything. All in moderation.

Meats pose a problem for consumption now. The worst for me is beef. It is just as accurate to say that anything dry poses a problem. There is not much room in the stomach, now the size of an egg, and neither does there seem to be much moisture in the stomach to help it move down. At times a meal with beef can take hours if paced out over time in that way. It has also taken nearly 3 years to get to a point where beef can be consumed in any amount more than a bite or 2 in any short amount of time depending on moisture of the beef. Chicken thighs do well, but for me there is a fatty concern on a strict level. Though no-skin chicken thighs are ok you can be as strict as you want now since you can be so choose-y about the food you intake. Again that clean fuel concept. So, these days a can of tuna over the course of about a half an hour is such a great feeling at times. It’s filling for a couple reasons. It has a dry kind of texture. Personally I don’t drain mine and make a mush in the can, eat it straight from the can. And you don’t have much room for a whole can so it takes a long time to eat a whole can and you are FULL. After eating this you feel a sense of clean fuel in your body. Whey protein is taken 2 times a day for me. I weight train and don’t eat very much meat. Tuna and chicken and beef in small quantities. Getting enough protein is also something that is impressed upon surgery candidates. That is something I also take to an extreme in drinking whey protein 2 times daily.

Staying that strict for me means taking only whole carbohydrates as well. Breads are not easy to eat either for that dry-ness problem. So, it makes it easy not to eat very much if any at all. Most carbohydrates will pose this problem, this is a good thing really if you want a very lean healthy body.

Staying strict with complex whole carbohydrates and good sources of protein is much easier now. The clean fuel concept carries me very far. I personally seek a 40/40/20 ratio of protein/carbohydrate/fats(efa). I just keep that ratio in mind calorie-wise and make good food choices. This is getting me very far.

There is a skin issue. There is excess skin. However exercise seems to be helping it go away. From things I have heard skin type will decide how much will go away for the most part. I know personally exercise is helping it go away. Every time I start a new target area I see almost immediate differences in the skin tone in that area. I do squats, stomach and arm exercises now to address these spots of skin. It may or may not go away over time for me, but that will not keep me from seeking a healthier more fruitful life for myself.

Life will never be the same for me. I chose to do this to myself to both live longer and have a higher quality of life. I personally will not take this tool I have been given for granted. Leo

• Here's a long report on the case for bariatric surgery. You'll also find surgery information and a doctors referral page on the site.

• It won't surprise anyone to discover age as a factor in the success of bariatric surgery. This research concludes older patients are at increased risk from the surgery.