Important:Before you consider WLS, ask yourself the following

1 . Am I at least 100 pounds overweight?

2.  Am I doing it for vanity or for health reasons?

3  Are the benefits of surgey worth it even if I have the serious post-op problems some people have?

4   Have I honestly given 100% to diet and exercise?

5   Am I willing to put my family through this ordeal if I have problems post-op?

6   Do I understand that not everyone had the same results, good or bad?

7   Do I understand that my very life will depend on me having the self-dicipline to take my vitamins           and  protein everyday for the rest of my life?

8   Am I willing to live with hair loss?Even cut my hair? It will evetually come back

9.. Am I willing to live with excessive wrinkly and sagging skin? This is worse on people who refuse  to take their       protein daily and exercise. sags occur in the underarm area, sags occur greatly on   thighs and results in skin       hanging over the knees, the butt becomes flat and the bust drops

10  If not willing to live with wrinkles and sagging skin, can I afford the 10's of thoughsands of dollars                                 for plastic surgery? If you've got the money and the time off of work, I've seen wonders done.

11  Do I realize that every probelm I have now might not go away with WLS? Some people honestly                             think that their problems will disappear with their weight loss. Thats not always the case.  Some                             patients end up on Prozac and seeing a psychologist weekly

12   Do I realize that I may be overeating as a comfort to aid me in dealing with issues in my life?                                    After you have surgery, that comfort will be gone and you'll have to deal with issues head on.                                        Counseling may be required because your comfort has been taken away.

This is a life altering surgery and must be given serious condsideration

What Is a Gastric Bypass?

The gastric bypass procedure creates a samll gastric pouch high on the right side of the stomach.There are four types of gastric bypass, roux-en-y, extended, duodenal switch and Fobi pouch. The  roux-en-y is a combination of a restrictive and malabsorption operation.

A staple line is placed so that a small pouch is created. Then a section of intestine is attached to the pouch for food to pass into the small intestine. As it leaves the pouch, the food travels about 120 inches and enters the colon.  Digestive juices from the gall bladder and pancreas mix with the food in the last 40 inches of ithe small intestine, and digestion occurs.

The gastric bypass requires 3-7 days of hosptialization. Most patients are back to work in a matter of weeks.

Gastric bypass patients tolerate sugars poorly. If you eat anything with signifcant amounts of sugar, you may feel light-headed and experience some heart flutters or cold sweats. These symptoms, called dumping, last a few minutes but are not pleasant. Dumping causes most people to avoid eating sweets and for this reason the operation is usually more successful than the vertical banded gastroplasy or the adjustable gastric band if you are a sweet eater.

The results are very impressive. At 5 years the average weight loss is 89% of the excess, which is at normal or near normal weight

Ask Yourself