Gastric Bypass Surgery Is Scary!

This was a comment and reply from this blog, I am re-posting it because it is a question I get asked a lot:

"im 18 and have not had the gastric bypass surgery yet. but i do have a appointment to meet my surgeon and dietitian on tuesday. ive been thinkin about getting this surgery for about a year now. n im ready for the life change it has to come with it. but honestly ive been really thinking about it. and im scared. i mean i really want it done to live a better life but im scared. ive had surgery before but it was for a cyst on my ovary. is there any advice u could possibly give me so i wont be so scared for this procedure"


linny29 said...
Gastric Bypass is a big surgery and a life changing one at that, it should be considered fully! I was scared too but finally had become more scared of not having the surgery because of all the medical problems I had from being overweight as well as the embarrassment and general problems associated with obesity. It is a painful surgery (in my option) but I would do it again because I feel that much better!

Nothing you say to someone will ever take away being scared of the actual surgery, I mean it is still surgery, there is always a risk! The only thing that will help to calm you is researching your surgeon, search online first but when you are face to face with the surgeon, ask him/her what their mortality, infection and need for follow up surgery rates are. They are tough questions to ask but a good surgeon will set your mind at ease. Also research the heck out of every aspect of the before, during and after of Gastric Bypass Surgery so you know what you are in for.

Gastric Bypass Surgery Increases Bone Fracture Risk

New studies released show that post gastric bypass surgery patients have a lower bone density and are at a higher risk for bone fractures.

Read the full story HERE

Gastric Bypass Surgery After 3 Years!

January was my 3 year anniversary of my gastric bypass surgery! It has been so long that many people I work with never met me before losing all my weight post surgery so I think I will bring a before photo of the fat me to work to show some co-workers!

Motherhood After Gastric Bypass Surgery

When I had my Gastric Bypass Surgery 3 years ago, all the doctors would tell you not to have the surgery if you still wanted to have children because it might not be possible after. The concern was that by bypassing some of the stomach you no longer absorb nutrients and vitamins as well as before and would make being pregnant very difficult. I was happy to see this study of post bariatric surgery mothers and showing the health benefits of having children after losing weight. Read the article HERE

Robot Assisted Gastric Bypass Surgery

A just published five year study of 605 patients undergoing laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery compares surgeries that used robot assistance and surgeries that did not. The robot assisted weight loss surgery had no gastrointestinal leaks while the group not using the robot had 6 cases of gastrointestinal leaks, which is a rare but serious complication gastric bypass surgery. Read the whole article here.

Eating After Gastric Bypass Surgery

A lot of people tend to think that gastric bypass surgery is an easy way to lose weight and you can eat whatever you want following the surgery. I think gastric bypass surgery was the best thing that ever happened to me but it is a life changing event that you should be fully prepared for.

First of all, you will not be able to have your full diet back until a full year after your surgery and there is always at least one food you love that will make you sick every time you eat it….I still can not eat pork chops and creamy soups! Immediately after gastric bypass surgery, you will be on a liquid diet of water, broth and juice for two days. You then progress to pureed foods (like apple sauce, yogurt, pudding, liquid meal replacements and eggs) for about a month while your stomach heals. Then you progress onto easy-to-chew foods, cooked vegetables, soft fruits, and ground chicken and fish.

Red meat is very difficult to digest, even when ground, and should be avoided until at least a year after weight loss surgery. Other foods to temporarily avoid following surgery are spicy foods (six weeks), fruit and vegetable skins (six months), carbonated beverages (six months), and bread (one year).

After gastric bypass surgery your body will have difficulty absorbing certain nutrients so you will need blood tests to determine what vitamin and mineral supplements you need. Through this whole process you need protein-rich foods to help your body recover from the surgery, so many protein shakes and bars are consumed.

After a year you can incorporate your whole diet back into your life but that still does not mean you can eat what ever! You have to watch your combinations of foods, make sure you are getting enough protein and eat healthy foods.

New Hampshire Requires Coverage For Gastric Bypass Surgery

A new law in New Hampshire now requires insurers to cover gastric bypass surgery if it is found to be medically necessary. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Robert Clegg, wrote the legislation after paying more than $20,000 for his own gastric bypass surgery.

Read the article HERE

10 Family Members Have Gastric Bypass Surgery

Found this article about 10 members of an extended family who all underwent gastric bypass surgery! It goes to show that once someone has had gastric bypass surgery and everyone can see how much weight they lost and how much better they feel, the people around then change the way they think about weight loss surgery! Read the article HERE

Electronic Device That Replaces Gastric Bypass Surgery

Found a article claiming an electronic device could replace gastric bypass surgery so I had to take a look. It looks like a joke webpage with the photoshoped heads of famous people who have lost lots of weight from surgery or diets and the short content. I did look it up and it is for real and that scares me more than when I thought it was a joke! Check the page out HERE and please leave me a comment because I want to know if you think an electronic device that could replace gastric bypass surgery is as crazy as I think it is!

Gastric Bypass Surgery Saves You Money

I saw this article on my homepage today, it is not directly about gastric bypass surgery but it is about how much money we would save if we were not overweight. The article says that if Americans all lost the 20 pounds that we are overweight (on average) that cars and airplanes would save $5 billion in fuel due to their lighter loads! It also says that overweight people use 18 additional gallons of gas a year, that is like filling up your tank two times more just because you are overweight! I am sure glad I had Gastric bypass surgery and am no longer so overweight!!


Read the article Here.