Why Weight Loss Surgery is Not the Easy Way Out…
Many people who have never struggled with morbid obesity cannot know the every-day battle of someone who has lived with this problem their entire life. This decision is not to be made lightly, and is generally the LAST resort after a lifetime of failed dieting attempts. When a person commits to undergoing Gastric Bypass surgery, here is what they are also committing to:
- The possibility of blood clots, following surgery
- The possibility of a stricture, or narrowing of the esophagus, where the smaller stomach pouch is newly attached to it. This would mean that food or water would not go down, causing a number of problems, including severe vomiting and dehydration. The patient would have to be readmitted to the hospital for a procedure to widen the esophagus with a balloon.
- Rapid weight loss often leads to gall stones, which means the gallbladder would likely need to be removed in the future, if it hadn’t been already.
- Extreme hair loss (I lost more than half of my hair within a 3 month period)
- Mal-absorption of food and vitamins. The gastric bypass surgery patient must take extra vitamins and supplements every day for the rest of their life. (They would no longer be able to absorb enough nutrients simply from the foods they eat.) Not doing so would cause osteoporosis and a multitude of other potential long term health risks.
- Portion sizes of 6 – 8 oz. at every meal (maximum) for life. (Right after surgery, this amount is only 2 oz. (4 tablespoons), because the stomach pouch is reduced to the size of an egg.)
- The very food they love the most will literally make them sick. (This includes sugar, fatty/fried foods, or anything with a higher concentration of carbohydrates, like pasta, rice, bread, etc.) "Dumping syndrome" does not occur in every person, but for those it does, this involves about 4 hours of being violently ill, severe stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, dehydration, etc. This can also happen if a person overeats. (Not a pleasant experience!)
- Certain foods may never agree with you again. Dryer meats (usually chicken, turkey or fish) may get “stuck” in the stomach pouch, causing extreme pain or vomiting.
- Chewing every single bite of food until it’s mushy before swallowing. Failure to do so would likely cause food to get “stuck”, causing extreme pain or vomiting.
- NEVER drinking soda or carbonated beverages again. Doing so would stretch out the new stomach pouch and cause increased capacity to overeat again.
- Never again drinking liquid of any kind with meals. To do so would cause dumping syndrome or fill up the stomach pouch too quickly, leaving no room for food. Food and water must always be timed approximately 30 minutes apart.
For a person to get to the point of considering weight loss surgery, here are some of the things they might painfully struggle with (sometimes every day):
- Severe health complications, sometimes including Diabetes, Heart Disease, Sleep Apnea, High Blood Pressure, poor circulation, painful swelling in the feet, legs and ankles, etc.
- Infertility for many women
- Constant joint and back pain
- No energy or strength to move, let alone exercise…
- Always feeling like they’re out of breath
- Not being able to climb stairs without hyperventilating
- Not being able to fit in an airplane seat
- If they could fit in an airplane seat, they would still have to ask for an “extender belt”, hoping nobody would notice
- Not being able to fit in a booth at a restaurant, or being afraid that any chair they sit on might snap under their extreme weight.
- Not being able to fit in a regular bathroom stall, so they have to use the handicapped stall.
- Being kicked off rides at amusement parks, because they don’t fit
- Having to pay more for larger sized clothing because they can’t shop in a regular clothing store
- Facing constant discrimination from society
- Having difficulty finding employment
- Severe depression, anxiety and low self-esteem, after failure upon failure with dieting
- Feeling less accepted than a “normal” person
- Waking up every day, feeling ugly, worthless, and disgusted with what is staring back at them in the mirror
I challenge anyone who has never lived with these struggles and feelings to ask themselves if they would CHOOSE to live or feel this way…
Food addictions are just as powerful, if not more so, than addictions to drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. Someone who battles with a substance abuse problem can walk away from their drug of choice forever, and never need that substance again to physically survive. Food, on the other hand, is something you cannot live without. How does someone with an addiction of this nature learn to come to terms with it, while still needing the thing that challenges them the most, to survive?
Here are a few thoughts to consider…
- Very few health insurance companies in the state of Utah cover bariatric surgery, yet the rate of obesity continues to climb. I’m encouraged that SelectHealth is now covering a portion of this cost, for those who meet certain criteria.
- Individuals who choose to smoke their entire life may eventually suffer from lung cancer. When this happens, will their health insurance company refuse to treat them because of the choices they made that led them to that point?
- Individuals who choose to abuse alcohol their entire life may eventually need a liver transplant. When this happens, will their health insurance company refuse to consider them for a transplant because of the choices they made that led them to that point?
- Gastric bypass surgery is almost an instant cure for Diabetes, and drastically reduces the devastating effects of so many other co-morbidities in a very short period of time. By covering the cost of this one procedure, the lifetime savings for treating Diabetes, Heart Disease, Stroke, and many others, including several forms of cancer, would seem very minimal in comparison. (The total cost out-of-pocket for my surgery was $18,475.) Why, then, should someone who struggles with Obesity, who has tried and failed time and time again to lose weight, be denied this medically necessary treatment?
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