Weight Regain After Bariatric Surgery

Weight Regain After Bariatric Surgery - Dr. John Dixon of Monash University and the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute of Melbourne, Australia gave a new presentation on Weight Regain After Bariatric Surgery.

Prof John Dixon, MBBS, PhD, FRACGP, FRCP Edin.

Email: [email protected]

Related articles

• Review - Before & After, Second Revised Edition: Living and Eating Well After Weight-Loss Surgery

Neurologic complications of bariatric surgery

"My doctor said my blood work looks great.  I'm going to stop taking my vitamins."  

-Said someone in my group today

Neurologic complications of bariatric surgery have an estimated incidence of up to 16% per year and need to be discussed with patients who are considering surgery. Neurological deficits are most commonly associated with nutritional deficiencies that develop following surgery. The most commonly described nutritional deficiencies include thiamine (B₁), B₁₂, folate, vitamin D, vitamin E, and copper deficiencies.Risk factors for nutritional complications include vitamin noncompliance, protracted vomiting, and excessive alcohol consumption.

Download study

• Danielle A. Becker, Laura J. Balcer, and Steven L. Galetta, “The Neurological Complications of Nutritional Deficiency following Bariatric Surgery,” Journal of Obesity, vol. 2012, Article ID 608534, 8 pages, 2012. doi:10.1155/2012/608534

Signed,

Nine year RNY post op with permanent cognitive neurological disorders.

Review - Before & After, Second Revised Edition: Living and Eating Well After Weight-Loss Surgery

Before & After, Second Revised Edition: Living and Eating Well After Weight-Loss Surgery

Regurgitated Self-Importance Now With More Hate! 

• Amazon Review

Time is running out! #OACYWMconvention #WLS

Registration for the Your Weight Matters National Convention closes this Friday, October 12 - so this is your last week to get registered for what is shaping-up to be a historical and ground-breaking event that you won't want to miss!

• One-day registration, which only includes the educational sessions, is available for just $35/day (price goes up to $50/day on-site).
• Full Convention Registration for OAC members is $125 and includes all educational sessions, tickets to all social events, as well as the official Convention T-shirt, souvenir tote bag and Convention Program Book.
• Nurses and Health Professionals can earn CE credits by attending the educational sessions of our Convention starting at just $60/day.

We are excited to host the crowd of the more than 200 attendees already fully registered to attend - will you be there? Time is running out, so if you have been thinking about attending the OAC's Inaugural Convention, now is the time to register!

         

 

 

 

 

• Convention Dates: October 25 - 28, 2012
• Location: Hilton Anatole - Dallas, TX
• For all the details on the OAC's Inaugural Convention, please visit www.YWMConvention.com.

#OHATLANTA2012 Wrap-up! #WLS

   

Some of the bestest BBGC girls and a very Slim Sister-boy.

Thanks once again to Obesity Help for putting on a terrific conference in Atlanta, Georgia this past weekend!

 

John from Building Blocks Vitamins

 Even with a few miniature traumas  (Toni Lee + a curb = broken toes, although that's the story we are making up...) all-in-all it was another great event and lots of lifelong memories were made.

 

 

Bariatric Advantage

 

 â€œWe don't heal in isolation, but in community.” â€• S. Kelley Harrell

http://snd.sc/WJlgHF

I had a fantastic time speaking on the grads and pros panel, although I was a bit more than terrified and I might have cried.  (You'll have to ask the BBGC.)

Pretending I knew what was going on on the grads and pros panel.

And of COURSE I adored helping out my pals at Building Blocks Vitamins and CLICK Espresso Protein.  Did you get you some?  Buzz, buzz, buzz!

Getting the CLICK on the OH Event!  Watch for a GIVEAWAY tomorrow!

The BBGC <3's CLICK.

 Thank you all for making the trip to Atlanta to see us -- and thank YOU for being there.  A good time was had by all and absolutely worth it.

Yes, I am that small. Sorry.

Sam, the man! Throwing some glitter, making it rain!

Absolutely innocent.

Photobeth.

At the fashion-show + masquerade party. I heart my BBGC.

5150 - BBGC Style. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeylHwHWemE

Thanks again to Obesity Help, to the good people of Atlanta, to the ATL POPO (no, really...) the Waffle House and various caffeine reloading location, also Target Pharmacy! 

See y'all in Dallas, Texas in two weeks!  BBGC Road-trip 2012!

 

Are you coming to the Obesity Action Coalition Your Weight Matters National Convention in Dallas, Texas?

Are you coming to the Obesity Action Coalition Your Weight Matters National Convention in Dallas, Texas?

Yes, yes you are?  Did I convince you prior to this blog post, to attend said event?  Did I?  

Please shoot an email to Kristy and let her know that, "Yes, Beth Sheldon-Badore aka Melting Mama.net sent me!"  [email protected]

Were you considering attendance at the OAC event?

"The OAC is so excited to embark on this endeavor, because this is our chance to let you experience the OAC for yourself and show you what we are about – solid and unbiased education, useful and hands-on tools, and empowerment that goes beyond what you’ve experienced before."

Join us!

Oh. Yes. She. Did.

Hold the Press Releases, Suz!  

How do you go from not paying your taxes, failure to ship orders since 2011, closing your store, foreclosure, shutting down all communication to... THIS?

Diabetes can return after gastric bypass

21% of patients in a study had recurrence of their diabetes a few years after roux en y gastric bypass.  This suggests that those with diabetes might benefit from having weight loss surgery EARLIER in the course of their obesity and disease?  

It could be -

LA Times via Mayo Clinic -

A new study by researchers at the Mayo Clinic Arizona in Scottsdale, however, suggests that more than a fifth of those who are cured suffer a recurrence of their diabetes within five years, even without a weight gain. The results indicate that patients who had suffered from diabetes the longest were most likely to have a recurrence, suggesting that surgical intervention should be undertaken early in the course of the disease.

Dr. Yessica Ramos and her colleagues at Mayo studied the records of 72 obese patients who underwent a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass operation between 2000 and 2007 and who had at least three years of follow-up. They reported at a Houston meeting of the Endocrine Society that 66 of the patients (92%) had a reversal of their diabetes at some point. Within three to five years after their surgery, however, 14 of those patients (21%) had a recurrence of their diabetes. The patients who did not have a recurrence lost more weight initially and maintained a lower average weight during the study period, but they did not regain less weight than those who had a recurrence.

But the longer the patients had suffered from diabetes before the surgery, the more likely they were to have a recurrence. Patients who had had diabetes for more than five years were 3.8 times more likely to have a recurrence than those with less than a five-year history.

 

First, do no harm to our community. Thank you.

Messages can harm.  Do not give advice if you are not a professional.  Thank you, Nanette!

The importance of belonging - THIS is why I do what I do.

I read a blog post yesterday regarding storytelling as a means of keeping a person "sick," stuck in the past, or marinating in their overall... bad place.  The blogger went so far as to suggest that the telling and retelling of ones stories might be an addiction.  *gets the crack pipe ready to share a story*

Bariatric After Life -

"I think we do it because it feeds a need for validation and justification (or even vindication) really. We need people to tell us we look good. We need people to tell us we “didn’t cheat” with surgery. We need people to tell us we are successful. We need people to forgive us (?!) for regaining 4.7 pounds. Mostly…we need to believe these things about ourselves, but since we don’t believe it ourselves, we seek the approval and agreement of others.

Here’s my next theory: I think this behavior is an addiction. I say this because I am an addict, and I know how easy it is to become addicted to the feeling you get when people praise you, or when people condemn others who dare to disagree with you. I believe it’s an addiction because, I am never content to stop telling the story to just ONE PERSON. Oh, sure…I might start with my best friend, but once I curry her agreement (and know she’s on my team, of course), I have to go collect OTHERS, or I might stop believing my story. Of course, I’ll have to embellish my story a little to get others to agree with me. I might have to make it sound more dire, or harrowing, or riveting. And, with each telling, the story will become more powerful, more believable, and more tellable.

Given that, how can I NOT share a riveting, powerful, extraordinary, unbelievable story with EVERYBODY. EVERYWHERE???

It’s a regular feeling-feeding frenzy. And it sounds like Addiction to me."

As I get the visual of myself lowering a chum bucket (blog post) into the sharky waters (The Interwebz) Yeah.  Because I'm trolling to Find Others to Agree With Everything I Say, right?  I ... guess?

Am I feeding you with my stories?  Am I feeding myself?

I apologize?  *takes a hit*

What is addiction?

The seven criteria for substance dependence are:

(1)  Tolerance is defined by either of the following:

(a) A need for markedly increased amounts of the substance to achieve intoxication or desired effect.

(b) Markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of the substance.

(2) Withdrawal, as manifested by either of the following: (a) The characteristic withdrawal syndrome for the substance (refer to Criteria A or B of the criteria sets for Withdrawal from specific substances). (b) The same (or a closely related) substance is taken to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.

(3) The substance is often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended.

(4) There is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control substance use.

(5) A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain the substance (such as visiting multiple doctors or driving long distances), use the substance (such as chain smoking) or recover from its effects.

(6) Important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of substance use.

(7) The substance use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the substance.

-Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Text Revision, Fourth Edition, (Copyright 2000). American Psychiatric Association.

Or behavioral addiction -

The term addiction is also sometimes applied to compulsions that are not substance-related, such as compulsive shopping, sex addiction/compulsive sex, overeating, problem gambling, exercise/sport and computer addiction. In these kinds of common usages, the term addiction is used to describe a recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences, as deemed by the user themselves to their individual health, mental state, or social life. There may be biological and psychological factors contributing to these addictions.

The blog post struck a nerve with me.  And here I am, indulging my "addiction" with likely 2000 words in response.  *twitch* 

I am a storyteller.  I may not be much good at it, because I lack attention to detail (sometimes I have the opposite -- complete detail with photographic memory) I have poor short term recall, and I lose parts of my stories.  Or not, but mostly I suck at storytelling.  

That blog post just told me not to Say Things Like That, like "I suck at storytelling," because then I will marinate in that Feeling, and then You Will Feel Compelled To Give Me Sympathy Or Give Me Compliments.

Uh, please don't.  #1 - I can read through bullshit.  #2 - I don't need sympathy over writing crappy blog posts.  If you did not want to read this, you'd just click away, right?

Thing is:  I can't tell if I Suck.  I might just be in the moment -- and writing out my feelings -- or sharing an experience because it's fresh on my mind.  When I bring up past issues, I try to share them with as much detail as I can recall, but that's where I fail.  (Don't Say That You Fail, Beth!)  

I just come to the computer and type, as I am doing right now.  I never plan to tell a story, whatever I share is whatever comes out of my fingers.  Because, uh, my fingers are magic.  I Am The Best Blogger Ever, And Everything I Type Is Pure Gold I Win At Blogging And Storytelling. 

But mostly not.  I know I suck.  I blog because I can, not because I'm any good at it.  And most of you quit reading about 200 words ago anyway.

I would suggest that most individuals who find cause to make blog entries (for example) are, indeed, storytellers.  I agree with the original blogger's suggestion that some people do rehash bad things from their past in order to garner more sympathy, attention or otherwise, but only sometimes.  Some people tell stories to garner lots of things, attention might be the least of things they want.  Ever heard of someone faking a debilitating disease for money?  It happens.  People do bad things sometimes.

However.

There are thousands of situations that people Do Not Share On Purpose because they might rather have No Attention.  And in our weight loss surgery community - in particular, People Do Not Share Lots Of Things Because -

They do not want to expose personal history, it HURTS.  

They don't want to appear less than ... anyone else.  

They may find that it's better to hide lots of things about themselves because they feel judged.  

Here is a comment from someone else in the community, who has dealt with some serious shit, in regards to this topic -

"Revisiting the past is a necessary evil for many of us that need to deal with the original reason of why they became obese in the first place. People need to tell their story to help them heal in order to get to that next step of recovery and happiness.  The events that happen in a person’s life that causes them to become obese are countless… some are abused, molested, lose a role model, bullied, eating disorders, and alcoholism… and on and on we can go.  These are real issues and HAVE to be spoken about. 

Once a person loses the weight their life will NEVER immediately be a flip of a coin and have a “HALLELUJAH I AM HEALED” scenario, the truth of the matter is the internal, physiological and mental causes and issue will take years of talking, therapy and talking, and more therapy to be resolved or repressed to a manageable level.  So, to answer the questions below:

 What would happen if you stopped telling your story?  If people stop telling their story they could regress, gain weight, have a transfer of addictions, or simply become depressed and have a feeling of being unwanted. People have to tell their story, because for most that is the ONLY therapy they can get / afford.  Lets face it when we lose all the weight we become a “different” person.

• What would happen if you stopped saying where you’ve been and focused on where you ARE? Again refer to the above. Simply put, where you have been (the past) is what got you to where you are today (it is a part of you).  You CAN NOT forget about the past, because for most of us, the past is who and what you are it is where you spent most of your life.  The new you is honestly a small fraction of who you are and learning the new you will take years. 

• What would happen if you lived in the now, rather than in the past? Living in the now and not in the past has to be a balance.  You have to talk about the past in order to make the now a better place.  You have to talk about the past in order to improve quality life for the now.  You have to talk about the past to deal with the emotional issues that all of us have to make today better.

 THE BARIATRIC AFTER LIFE (TM) IS NOT ALL ROSES AND BUTTERFLIES LIKE SOME IN THE COMMUNITY MAKE IT OUT TO BE.  You can’t shy away from the bad, or it will never go away."

I agree, to much of that.

In order to heal remember you have to tell your story, seek professional help, join a support group that is right for you and if you fall down or regress, remember you are not alone, and continue to fight and tell that story. 

The blogger says -

Each time you speak the negative — each time you retell your story — you give it renewed energy. Each time you replay that tape about how disappointed you are in this or that (person, behavior, event), you give it new life, new purpose, new meaning. But, you know what? If you just leave it unsaid and move forward, the story fades away in significance, power and meaning. Amazing.

And MM says -- Then You Find Yourself In Therapy at Age 35, Crying Because You Have No Fucking Clue Why You Are So SAD.  Or, why you are binge eating again, or why you are ____________.

Some story-tellers make up (better than the reality...) stories about themselves to avoid having to deal with (or answer questions about) who they really are and where they came from.  I have seen people create personas for themselves to shield their real selves.  Lots of this is about protection, fear and not DEALING WITH THE PAST, and sometimes people are truly stuck in their past, or dealing with severe narcissism.  

(I know, I know, I've got a ridiculous cartoonish banner up top and a blog called, Melting Mama.  I did not know that I would be blogging long-term, nor that anyone would ever see the stupidity that is my name.  That said, it's really me.  I am cartoonish.  It's not fake.)  

Their motive might be as simple as making themselves appear shiny and special, because their reality sort of blows.  We sell, of ourselves, what we want Others To See.  

Right? 

"I believe that the more we focus on the past…our unhappiness, discontentment, rage, disappointments, hurt, pain – even successes – the less we  live in the present. "

We NEED to clean out ours pasts in order to move on!

I would suggest that storytellers choose to share what we do in some type of self-preservation. Some of us share many facets of our lives, including things that aren't so shiny.  Many story-tellers (bloggers, mostly professional-types) try to maintain a mostly positive storyline, and that can be helpful to those who need to see those kind of messages.  

But, often, positive-only storytellers have something to sell us.  It's just the truth.  If I want to sell you something, I do it with a positive spin.  (I know how to sell something, go find a review post for a product I really LIKE.  It's mostly positive.)  I wouldn't dare give you the reality of post op weight loss surgery life if I wanted to sell you... weight loss surgery.  But I am not in the business of selling weight loss surgery, nor the happy that comes post operatively.

And the truth of the life after WLS, for many, sucks.  Not all the time, and not forever.  And for some it's super-awesomely-wicked-great, and that's super!  Go YOU!  But, for many it's not.  Would yo ulike to discuss how many people I've been in contact with in the last three months that were suicidal? 

It's a problem.  Stuffing our issues back in our pasts?  Does Not Help In the Least.

I am in the business of sharing.  Here, there, everywhere.  If this makes me a story-teller, so be it.  Your sharing HELPS others, to realize...

CNN - 

You are not alone.

You belong.

And it gets better.

These are a few of a handful of powerful messages that an elegantly designed "belonging intervention" by social psychologist and Stanford assistant professor Gregory Walton conveys to study participants who are going through a difficult period.

In a series of ongoing studies, first published in 2007 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the belonging intervention uses a technique known as "attributional retraining" to help people shift blame for negative events from "It's just me" to "I'm not alone, and there are others going through it."

The goal is to convey to the subjects that when bad things happen, it doesn't mean they don't belong in general.

Why is this important?

"We don't have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I could say that's what I want in life." So began a stunning meditation by Marina Keegan, a 22-year-old Yale graduate who died in a tragic car accident May 26.

What is the opposite of loneliness? Is it belonging?

Because as humans, we need to belong. To one another, to our friends and families, to our culture and country, to our world.

Belonging is primal, fundamental to our sense of happiness and well-being.

Belonging is a psychological lever that has broad consequences, writes Walton. Our interests, motivation, health and happiness are inextricably tied to the feeling that we belong to a greater community that may share common interests and aspirations.

Isolation, loneliness and low social status can harm a person's subjective sense of well-being, as well as his or her intellectual achievement, immune function and health. Research shows that even a single instance of exclusion can undermine well-being, IQ test performance and self-control.

Walton's earlier studies demonstrated that a sense of social belonging can affect motivation and continued persistence, even on impossible tasks. That is, if you don't feel like you belong, you are both less motivated and less likely to hang in there in the face of obstacles.

Even outside a research setting, these are valuable lessons we can all draw from as we navigate life's difficult circumstances. Though Walton's research has involved only students, his work has powerful implications for the workplace and other contexts.

According to Rajita Sinha, the head of Yale's Stress Center, stress itself is not necessarily a bad thing. But stress that is sustained, uncontrollable and overwhelming, in which people can't figure out options to solve their problems, wreaks havoc on us.

Walton's belonging intervention has the potential to downgrade uncontrollable stress by allowing people to put a narrative around their traumatic experiences.

It places those experiences in a box, he says, "with a beginning, a middle and an end. As a consequence, the meaning of the negative experience is constrained, and people understand that when bad things happen, it's not just them, they are not alone, and that it's something that passes."

So what exactly does the belonging intervention involve?

In a broad sense, storytelling.

Walton and his colleagues enlist the study subjects as experts to help "others" who may be similarly situated and going through a difficult time.

The researchers provide subjects with statistics, quotations and stories from upperclassmen about their experiences -- how they struggled at first but eventually got through it -- and ask participants to use that information to write about getting through their own difficulties and how it gets better.

The participants, who believe they are writing for the next generation of incoming freshmen -- an audience many of them relate to and care about -- begin to engage with the material and use it to reflect on their own experiences, ultimately coming to the conclusion that no matter how bad they feel, they are not alone.

This is particularly powerful in settings where people have a looming alternative explanation, as in the case of minorities, women and gay youth.

Please read the whole article at

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/01/health/enayati-importance-of-belonging/index.html#

ABC 20/20 Losing It: The Big Fat Trap - Full Episode - The Greatest Scams Goin'!

Pamela R Davis Bariatric Program Director of the Centennial Center for the Treatment of Obesity writes 

"I am completely disappointed, irritated and flat out disgusted at the so called "journalism" that went into this ABC 20/20 episode. They completely and totally missed the opportunity to focus on legitimate, successful medically [and surgically] appropriate treatment for obesity and severe obesity. Instead I felt like I was watching a rogue episode of Entertainment Tonight.

When I first heard they were pulling the segment with Dr. Robin Blackstone and Melting Mama, I thought it was so they could dedicate an entire episode to bariatric and metabolic surgery and how it is a life saving treatment for so many. Instead we got a 60 minute long sensationalistic expose on practices those of us who are healthcare professionals working diligently to help those with obesity and severe obesity would never support!

Not good ABC, not good-shame on you."

the full episode '20/20 5/11: Losing It: The Big Fat Trap' from ABC's 20/20
abc.go.com

Thank-you Pamela, you echo my feelings that I was not able to accurately share last night, and surely not before I saw the episode.

I watched it, I did.

This is what I got out of it... and I am full of the snark right now.  (I just started a new anti-seizure medication with a big fat black box warning, so hey!)

I learned a few things from the 20/20 episode!  

• It's important to have cute boobs.  NUMBER ONE.
• And Charles Barkley's Vegabuls! 
• If you want to make some fast cash, get famous, really really famous?  Gain weight on purpose to get sponsored by a diet or supplement company.  Celebrity, Inc.: How Famous People Make Money
• This works better if you are Jessica Simpson and have a beautiful frame to start with, because selling diet plans is about selling the IDEA THAT A DESPERATE DIETER MIGHT BE ABLE TO LOOK LIKE JESSICA SIMPSON *WILL LOOK LIKE IN ABOUT 9-12 MONTHS FROM THIS PHOTO-

• It does not work if you are a short balding man celebrity.  *See cute boobs.
• If you want to crash diet for $150 a day, get a NG tube and look super-sexy at work.  Then you can plan to regain and rebuy the diet.
• Diet pills are wicked awesome!  Take them!  Except they don't help you lose weight.  You are buying the idea.  You hope for a Kardashian badonkandonk, but there's about 0.0% chance you can actually do it.
• And, for the quickest weight loss, try the death method a la 1-800-Get-Thin, but they don't care, cause they be RICHER THAN YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE.

And, when you are finished messing around with all of these weight loss methods and you are more desperate than you've ever been AND morbidly obese?

Come talk to me, talk to all of us, because then?  

...You will have a safe and effective weight loss procedure with a Reputable Bariatric Surgeon.

Don't say I didn't tell you so.

20/20 Interview Confessions

I am aware that I did not share the details of the interview with 20/20 this week in my previous post about the show.  I wasn't purposely keeping anything from you, in fact I wished I had documented the process as it happened, but I only had a phone and it happened so. very. fast.

MM Interview for 20/20 today

This is all I have right now. Will blog more later. OMG!

• ABC 20/20

That time MM was on 20/20.

American Broadcasting Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I'm going to be on TV.

I'm going to New York City next week to film an interview with ABC's 20/20.    

Then, because of the way things go:  I am going to the neurology inpatient unit for 7-10 days for video EEG monitoring, coming home, and flying to Vegas for the WLSFA Event.  Because.  It's all or nothing for me. 

PS.  Send clothes.  OMG.  I have nothing to wear.  And I need a haircut.  Save me. 

What?!

Yes.  I agreed to go.  You know I am terrified of Such Things as Being On Camera, and I have said no a couple times before to things like this.  There are people in my life who feel that I can't possibly have stage fright because "REALLY, YOU!?  Attention WHORE!"  But I am typically scared shitless, you just don't know that.

But this opportunity feels different.  It's 20/20.

I WATCH THIS SHOW.  OMG.  I'm going to speak with Deborah Roberts.  OMG. 

I spent one and a half hours on the phone today with a ABC producer, and I taped it.

Why did you TAPE yourself, Beth?  For one thing, I have had more than one seizure during Important Phone Calls that I do not remember HAVING.  (Sorry, Chike Protein, and whomever else I've done it to.)  Knowing the call would be long, I figured it was a possibility and I wanted to remember what I said.  It didn't happen, but now I have this record of my half of the conversation, I figured I would share it.

This is completely unscripted, random and much of my off the cuff thoughts.  Please do not judge too harshly.  I did not prepare anything because I had no idea what she was going to ask and what the topic was.  As for the actual show topic, I figure it will be loosely connected to the things she asked in this interview:

 

Related articles

• Inpatient EEG Testing and a little brain surgery, perhaps? (meltingmama.net)
• Free $10 for Vitamins and free shipping? Yes MM will. (meltingmama.net)

Bariatric Surgery maintains --- and slows.

The rates of weight loss surgery procedures have slowed.  

While it doesn't feel that way in the patient community -- I suppose it's because we don't track the numbers.  It seems surprising because we are surrounded by peers, but apparently the economy has made potential bariatric patients put off the decision to have surgery for ... now, at least.

Jillian Michaels WLS is FLAT-OUT DANGEROUS.

“This is a really tricky question because there are a lot of people who feel that they couldn't have done it without these surgeries,” Jillian says.

“But I couldn’t disagree more. I don’t want to take away from the fact that there are people who have lost a good amount of weight from these surgeries, but that said, if you’re somebody who’s on the fence about it, it’s dangerous. Flat-out dangerous. Completely, 100-percent dangerous.”

Shit.  I'm on that fence.  WHAT DO I DO NOW?!

Jillian.  Must you say things like this?

Related articles

• Carnie Wilson on her 2nd WLS - and being a PAID endorser for Allergan - Gastric Band Surgery on Today Show (meltingmama.net)
• Shift the Focus - Weight Discrimination (meltingmama.net)
• Nasogastric Tube Feeding Crash Diet for Brides and More! Get one! O-o (meltingmama.net)
• Intervention - Terry - Gastric Bypass - And a realization... (meltingmama.net)

NPR - Bariatric Surgery: The Risks And Benefits

NPR -

Two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine show that bariatric surgery may treat, or even reverse, the effects of type 2 diabetes in overweight and obese patients with high blood sugar levels. Some fear that the risks of the operation overshadow the rewards.

Eight Years Post Op - And I may NEVER QUIT.

 

Eight years post op

Eight years ago today I had roux en y gastric bypass surgery.   Do not say it.  I already made that clear in my previous post.

Since then it's been a whirlwind of ups and downs -- but mostly -- it's been good.  I often refer to my life as a country song.  Because it is.  

But you know what?  Regardless of the roller coaster of life --

Today - Should teens have weight loss surgery?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Today/NBC -

This is a bit controversial, because while a third of the population is overweight or obese, the attitude until now has been kids need to cut the junk food and exercise more. but some doctors now say weight loss surgery is the best way to save obese kids from a life of potentially deadly diseases. early morning at nationwide children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and 17-year-old Megan Huffman is preparing for surgery.

Teenagers having weight loss surgery.  It's becoming more and more mainstream.  

While I am always a little very torn about children having bariatric surgery, I am also the parent of an overweight 14, 13, 10 and 5 year old.  I am married to a man who was 375 lbs before gastric bypass surgery.  I was 320 lbs pre-operatively.  His mom was pushing 400 lbs also before gastric bypass surgery, my dad 350 lbs, his sisters well over 300 lbs, one also post op.  

It is what it is.

I know it's in our future for someone -- at some point.  

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Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Better Than Gastric Banding For Rapid And Safe Weight Loss

Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Better Than Gastric Banding For Rapid And Safe Weight Loss.

Results taken after the six years showed that the percentage of failures (BMI above 35 or reversal of the procedure/conversion) in the GB group was 48.3 percent, compared to only 12.3 percent in the RYGBP group. Those in the GB group were also more likely to face reoperations (26.7 percent compared to 12.7 percent) and long-term complications (41.6 percent compared to 19 percent). 

Joseph Nordqvist. "Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Better Than Gastric Banding For Rapid And Safe Weight Loss." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 16 Jan. 2012. Web.
16 Jan. 2012.