Gastric Bypass is No Quick Fix

Gastric bypass is no quick fix

By Heather L. Connors
Times Herald-Record
hconnors@th-record.com

Weight-loss surgery is not a magic pill.
That's a point doctors try to drive home to those who are looking
for a surgical fix to their obesity problem.
"It's crucial they change their lifestyle, their eating habits,"
says Dr. Edward Yatco, a clinical instructor at Westchester Medical
Center in Valhalla and a bariatric surgeon at Obesity Surgery
Associates in Hawthorne.
"This is not the easy way out. It's a major surgery that comes
with significant risks and possible complications."
Unfortunately, this message can get lost in the glow of success
stories and miraculous "after" pictures.
In reality, a surgical procedure like gastric bypass (which
retools the digestive system to allow for less calorie absorption) or
the newer Lap-Band (which involves using an adjustable band to limit
the amount of food the stomach can hold) is just the first step in a
process that includes many lifelong adjustments.
And not just concerning food.
Prior to surgery, physicians like Yatco and fellow bariatric
surgeon Dr. Dominick Artuso make sure – via seminars, nutritional
counseling, one-on-one meetings and psychiatric evaluations – that
their patients are prepared to handle all aspects of life post-
surgery. Teens, which Artuso has been seeing a little more lately,
will go to counseling for six months to ensure they understand what
bariatric surgery means in the long term.
Social events, which are often centered around food, might become
a bit awkward.
For gastric bypass patients, a lack of vitamin and mineral
absorption might result in temporary hair loss.
Taking comfort in food will no longer be an option.
"Emotional eaters have to find other ways to deal with stress,"
Yatco notes.
And that's where another part of the weight-loss schematic can
play a key role.
Support groups – many of which are offered through a bariatric
surgeon – are really important, both doctors say. At these meetings,
issues are addressed that go way beyond the loss of food as a friend.
"These people can experience stress in their personal
relationships" as a result of the weight loss, Yatco says. "The
patient's spouse may feel threatened by their newfound confidence. A
spouse might also be jealous that the patient is now getting more
attention from the opposite sex."
He's even had patients tell him that they've had friendships end
because they were no longer the "fat friend," and thinner friends
were resentful of having to share the limelight.
"All these other issues that popped up – we didn't predict them
when we first started doing this," Yatco says. "Now they're becoming
more and more prevalent in patients."
In the end, most patients adjust and are happy to watch the pounds
melt off. And many of them are sorry for only one thing, Yatco says.
"Their only regret is that they didn't do it sooner."

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/10/12/cover12.htm

This information while educational, is not meant to replace the advice
of a health care provider.

Also as in all weight loss programs, "results not typical"