I’ve not had weight loss surgery myself, but I did spend a couple of months working with a bariatric surgeon and talking to patients who’d had some form of bariatric surgery.

IME, weight loss surgery does not treat the underlying psychological reasons for over-eating. It’s not what you eat, but what’s eating you, as they say. So people have the surgery, but can still gain back all of the weight sometimes, and then some, if they are ‘determined’ enough. I’ve heard of patients blending McDonald’s food, and chocolate bars etc to be able to eat them! So it’s really not a guaranteed form of weight loss.

The surgery does also have some massive adjustments at first. Some people get really distressed by only being able to eat liquid food, and then only a couple of bites of a meal for the rest of their lives. Food is a big part of our culture, and so people can feel that they miss out at family events where food is the main focus, like at Thanksgiving & Christmas etc. You would also have to take vitamin supplements because you won’t be able to meet your nutritional requirements purely through diet anymore.

All that being said, weight loss surgery can have a hugely positive effect on people’s lives. Often, by the time patients are leaving hospital after the surgery, they are no longer classed as having type 2 diabetes, or high blood pressure, and the meds to treat those have been stopped, which is fantastic! We don’t understand how/why that is the case because the patient hasn’t even really lost any more weight by that point, so there’s obviously a lot about gut hormones and bacteria that we have yet to understand.

Most patients lose weight and then gain a little back once stabilised. Most patients don’t maintain a ‘normal/healthy’ BMI, but usually stabilise in the overweight range. The morbidly obese patients often stabilise in the obese BMI range. So most people don’t end up slim after this kind of surgery. That would be an unrealistic expectation. But the benefits on health conditions and increased mobility of going from morbidly obese to obese, or obese to overweight is really important, both on an individual health and quality of life level, and at the level of overall cost effectiveness to the NHS and social care (as I’m in the UK).

Anyway, it is a really big decision that you would need to discuss with your doctors. There is usually a requirement for weight loss prior to being accepted as a way to demonstrate your commitment to the process. Right before the surgery, there is a very strict diet to follow that is really important because that gives the surgeon more room to work during the surgery, and minimises the risk of complications. Surgery is really not the ‘easy’ option that some people think it is! And for some people it is their only option to be able to lose enough weight to make a difference to their health.

I wish you all the best with whatever you decide.

*Willow*