Is Weight Loss Surgery for You?

Five bites of chicken. A tablespoon of mashed potatoes. A bit of broccoli. And a nibble or two of salad. That’s your typical meal after weight loss surgery.

People who undergo weight loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, underestimate the dietary changes they will have to make. Last year over 103,000 bariatric procedures were performed. And many surgeons are booked a year in advance. A typical surgery averages about $25,000 and in some cases is covered by insurance.

In the most popular procedure, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, the surgeon staples the stomach leaving a pouch the size of a golf ball. The first section of the small intestine is removed. The surgeon then attaches the middle portion of the intestine to the upper pouch. The body’s ability to absorb calories is limited by bypassing the lower part of the stomach and small intestine. Most patients lose about 75 pounds in the first year.

But what are the dangers of weigh loss surgery? Here’s vital information you should know, and important tips to consider before contemplating weight loss surgery:
1. A patient must eat slowly. The average meal weighs about two ounces, yet it takes 30 minutes to eat. Eating too fast can cause cramping and nausea.
2. Eating refined sugar can cause too much glucose into the blood, triggering nausea, diarrhea, hypoglycemia and a sudden plunge in blood sugar.
3. Fatal leakage can occur at the area where the small intestine has been joined to the stomach.
4. Less than 1 percent of patients have died from pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs). Smokers and the heaviest patients are at the greatest risk.
5. Some patients required daily B-12 supplements.

So before you, or someone you love, decide to have weight loss surgery, consider all options and do your homework.