Would You Consider Surgery For Weight Loss?
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More and more people get surgery for weight loss and now that even includes teens. Do you see surgery as a good way for managing weight problems?
A Family Affair
Diabetes, kidney failure, spinal problems and respiratory failure – that sounds like the diagnosis of an 80 year old woman, but belongs to a 19-year-old girl from Wales. Georgia weighs 784 lbs (356 kg) and recently the whole front of her family’s house had to be taken out to get her into a hospital.
At the same time that I heard about that girl’s sad tale, I also read that more and more teens receive bariatric surgery: a 250 lbs girl from Nebraska, one at 300 lbs from Massachusetts, a 340 lbs boy in Toronto – the list could go on and on. As recently as five years ago, weight loss surgery for teens wasn’t even on the table and now centers to perform it spring up left and right.
One thing stands out: obesity and performing surgery on it is a family issue. In two of the three articles I linked above, first one or two adult members of the family had it, then the child.
Is that the right way of action? Shouldn’t obese parents who had this costly procedure done think a bit about what led them into their misery? I would try to find a way to not let things get out of hand this far, especially where it concerns my child.
Weight problems often start early and build up
According to the article, it took the girl from Wales 18 months to increase her weight by 280 lbs (127 kg), which means she already weighed 500 lbs (227 kg) when she was around 17. I guess that as early as age 12, it was apparent that she had an eating problem. Did her family look on? Did they try to find help?
Barrel For Barrel
In this, we haven’t even talked about operations that are done purely for aesthetic reasons: cosmetic surgery. Sucking off a bit of the love handles here, “modeling” the thigh a bit there, it’s a billion dollar industry and the most money is made from liposuction. If there was a way to recycle the annually “lipoed” fat of the western population, we could probably solve our energy problems.
And what do you pay for? The possibility that due to the liposuction, you may gain fat that is even more unhealthy.
Would You Have This Done?
To me, the prospect of someone reducing me to helpless unconsciousness and then cutting into me is not very alluring, especially if there is a way around it. I break my leg, I better get a cast. I have an aneurysm, yes, please, cut me open and fix it. But if I have a weight problem, would I wait until my life is threatened? No. Would I have fat sucked off my tummy instead of trying to lose weight? A double-no. Any surgery carries a risk with it and for me personally it seems preposterous that I’d actually pay to enjoy that risk in an operation I could avoid.
Pictures courtesy of “Cliff” and Sandra and Colin Rose.
Tags: bariatric bypass, bariatric surgery, children, diet, health, liposuction, obesity, teens, weight loss, weight loss surgery
10 Comments
Hi EC1 This is a thought-provoking post indeed. My fiancee shared the story about Georgia after reading it in the Daily Mail, Apparently, she did attend a weight loss camp in the U.S. to get down to the 500 pound mark but when she returned home to her mom, the weight came back and then some. It’s definitely a family affair that’s helped more by looking inward with therapy, not just a surgeon’s knife!
Yes, indeed. After writing above article, I did a bit more research on the girl. I found out that her stepfather is suffering from cancer and that she is the registered carer of her mother, who apparently suffers from a heart condition and arthritis.
I’m not quite sure how exactly these things work in the UK, but I wager that to be registered as the carer, she had to talk to a health official and be at least 18 years of age. As at that time she herself was already in rather dire condition, someone at the city council should have noticed it, especially considering that previously they had sent her to that camp.
I did not have surgery and would not have it now. When I lost weight surgery wasn’t as common as it is now though. I’m always wary of anything surgical that is purely elective. There are always risks and we do not always know all the side effects or damage that may show up years later.
Yes, that pretty much sums it up for me, too. Maybe I’m a chicken, but as long as I can avoid it, I prefer to not have sharp things stuck into me
no , surgery is not the best way for losing weight there are many risks in surgery or have side effects that are not shown now but after sometime you can see side effects of surgery so , it is better not to consider surgery as weight loss solution but try to lose weight by other ways like walking , exercises etc.
Great post! I agree with the point you made about how it seems as if more people are leaning towards weight loss surgery, especially with the increasing number of overweight/obese people in the US. One thing I’ve found to be extremely helpful and useful as a supplement to my current diet/exercise plan is Fullbar (www.fullbar.com). Their gummies and bars help curve my hunger, help me with portion control and keep me from consuming more calories than I really need.
Interesting to hear about your experiences with the Full Bar, as Tat had a different experience with it.
Being a surgeon, even though I do not do this type of surgery, I find the discussions interesting.
My opinion is that by the time most people need this surgery it is not an “elective” procedure. From what I’ve seen, it is better than being morbidly obese and gives the majority of people who have it a quality of life they would never have otherwise. Talk to Janell at
http://janell-sufferingsuccotash.blogspot.com/ if you are curious.
Of course, if a person’s life is threatened, then surgery has its place. There are, however, cases where it was apparently a choice.
What’s wrong with people. Success comes from hard work. There are no shortcuts. The shortcuts cause problems long term.