OK, this isn't that Christmasy of a topic either. A close friend of ours is going through the process to get either a gastric bypass or lap-band surgery for weight loss. I'm sure some people here have had people close to them that have had these procedures and I'd like to hear what opinions there are about the pros and cons.
We have another friend that had the gastric bypass, the most severe of the procedures. She immediately went from morbidly obese to dinky. She had all kinds of plastic surgery to tighten up her skin on her face, arms, etc. She has now substituted alcohol and cigarettes for food and constantly snacks on little things throughout the day and has gained 70 pounds back.
I saw a video of the actual surgery and unless the obesity was life-threatening, there's no way I would submit myself to that. There was some serious cutting and flipping stuff around in there. No thank you.
A good friend and coworker had the gastric bypass surgery nine years ago, was at over 500 lbs when he had it done. His goal was double knee replacement, due to both old injuries (football, professional wrestling, and two motorcycle accidents) and gross obesity. He was supposed to have lyfosuction 6 months after the bypass, but was not necessary as he had lost over a hundred pounds by then. He was able to delay the knee surgery by an additional two years, and was at 220 lbs. when it was done.
He is in excellent health today, although when I saw him yesterday he is walking with two canes due to the cold. The problem is his ankles and hips, too much bone to bone wear when he was obese.
Isn't lap-band surgery the preferred method today?
I would highly recommend the bypass surgery if the person has diabetes, that was the deciding factor for my choice. I am 62 and about two years I began checking into the surgery at the recommendation of my doctor. I am 5’10” and weighed 300 lbs and had diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, basically all the bad stuff with a bad economy looming ahead, so I knew I needed to do something to alloy me to be able to work solo in order to survive. I am one year post surgery and weigh 193 lbs and don’t have to take blood pressure or diabetes medicine and have a total cholesterol level of 123 as of this month’s check up. The doctor asked how I felt? I told him that I felt like a 20 year old. There is something about the bypass surgery that controls the diabetes that the lap-band does not do. The overall weight lost is about the same with either surgery.
There is something about the bypass surgery that controls the diabetes that the lap-band does not do. The overall weight lost is about the same with either surgery.
I am just curious, but is that conjecture or a scientific fact? I know there is a strong correlation between type II diabetes and being overweight so I would assume that it is the weight loss that controls the diabetes level not the type of surgery, but I am no expert. Just asking.........
"There is something about the bypass surgery that controls the diabetes that the lap-band does not do. The overall weight lost is about the same with either surgery."
From the information that I got, the doctors don’t know exactly why but the bypass surgery helps to control diabetes before the weight even comes off. Some patients are able to stop their diabetes medication before they leave the hospital. There have been studies with lab rats that have had the surgery and then it was reversed and their diabetes comes back. I understand that it is believed that the location of the reconnection of the bypass is what helps to control the diabetes thus making it different from the lap-band procedure. You are correct in that weight loss from the lap-band surgery does help diabetes. One benefit of the lap-band procedure is that it can be easily reversed. Generally the patients that are considering the surgery are counseled as to what is best for them and are thoroughly screened as to whether they are healthy enough for surgery.
I don't think the M.D.s really know very much about how we work. I think it's mostly emperical and conventional wisdom, well sort of like Land Surveying and Engineering and most things.
Sounds that they are on the cusp of a breakthrough on ending diabetes.
