News, Another patient dies after Lap-Band surgery. (vegetables, BMI, overweight)
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Paula Rojeski, 55, of Orange County died shortly after undergoing Lap-Band surgery at a clinic affiliated with the 1-800-GET-THIN ad campaign, according to records. The coroner has not determined the cause of death.
hmmm, where to begin with this one? First off, greed will get you and it obviously got her. If she was only a little overweight, this was a very stupid idea on her part and should've never been supported by a legitimate doctor. So greed was definitely present on both sides. The next issue is researching where you get this done. Seeing an ad on TV or hearing one on the radio doesn't really constitute research, but was probably all that was done in this case. I flat-out asked the doctors how many patients they had lost prior to my surgery and I liked the number I heard, which was one and this person underwent the surgery as a last ditch effort to save their life. They were most likely going to die in the very near future and the only real chance of survival was to have the surgery. This guy was hundreds of pounds overweight and had multiple health issues including a heart that was barely functioning any more.
I personally don't care for stories like this because it freaks people out about a life saving procedure. I literally spent over a year debating this surgery and the biggest negative was I didn't want to die. I even told that to the surgeon, which he found funny.. Most of what you read is negative and focuses on death, but the reality is that the surgery is much more common than most people think and the vast majority of us patients survive and thrive with our new life. Jiust for some reason most people won't talk about it, like there's something wrong with having it done or something. I still wouldn't change a thing and getting the surgery was still the best decision I ever made.
What does this surgery do that diet and exercise won't? I'm not trying to be facetious, I really want to know. I see this as the "easy way out". I'm sorry, but I do. I'm not some skinny chick who doesn't know what it's like. I do know what it's lke to be so heavy and feel like you're never going to lose it, and be willing to do anything to lose it. But I never considered surgery. I guess it was a pride thing. I wanted to do it myself.
This woman was 180 pounds, it didn't sound like she needed life saving surgery. I weighed more than that at my heaviest, and I managed to lose the weight.
What does this surgery do that diet and exercise won't? I'm not trying to be facetious, I really want to know. I see this as the "easy way out". I'm sorry, but I do. I'm not some skinny chick who doesn't know what it's like. I do know what it's lke to be so heavy and feel like you're never going to lose it, and be willing to do anything to lose it. But I never considered surgery. I guess it was a pride thing. I wanted to do it myself.
This woman was 180 pounds, it didn't sound like she needed life saving surgery. I weighed more than that at my heaviest, and I managed to lose the weight.
You basically answered your own question. It does what diet and exercise didn't do. People who undergo gastric bypass or lap-band surgery, are *supposed* to have tried, and failed, the traditional methods of losing weight. Endless cycles of dieting and gaining, super-motivated months of exercise followed by depression and lethargy, in some cases physical injury preventing exercise. People with heart conditions as a result of obesity, -cannot- exercise the same way people who don't have heart conditions, and aren't obese, can exercise. Then you have people who need to take blood thinners, and -cannot- eat "green leafy vegetables" or other "normally" healthy foods, because it interferes with their meds. It's a vicious cycle. Some folks have eaten so unhealthily, in such profound quantities, that they have literally stretched their stomachs. And now, because of this, it takes them twice, three times, even four times as much food, to feel "full" as people who eat more modest portions of food. If they were to eat "only" what they need to nourish their bodies, they would spend most of their life hungry.
So they have to resort to drastic measures to stop the cycle. Surgery is a drastic measure. The surgery reduces the size of their stomach, so that they don't merely feel fuller sooner, they ARE fuller sooner. Eating three bites of a single slice of pizza is likely to fill them up, while their buddy at the dinner table is scarfing down three slices. Once your stomach is a quarter of the size it was, you are better able to discipline yourself. You know you love cheesecake, but you also know your stomach can only handle your choice of a slice of cheesecake, OR a single bite of cheesecake, plus a custard-dish sized portion of salad, plus an ounce of protein such as chicken or fish. You are no longer capable of eating more, without being sick, because your stomach can no longer hold that vast amount of food it could, prior to surgery.
The stomach will eventually stretch again, sometimes to the same size it was prior to surgery. But by then, the hope, is that you would have already learned portion control, self-control, healthy eating habits, and have brought yourself back down to a more reasonable weight and fitness level.
Surgery is for people who have tried, and failed, profoundly, to return to fitness in more traditional ways.
Easy way out would be the worst choice of words.. it is a tool and a very effective one at that, but still just a tool. It's obviously one of, if not the most extreme tool there is in the toolbox, but it's still just a tool. It gave me the motivation I just could not find before, but it still took a lot of work. I was out for an almost 5 mile run in the blazing heat yesterday, so it's no easy way out for sure.
People are supposed to be diagnosed and approved, but these doctors were obviously only motivated by greed..
You basically answered your own question. It does what diet and exercise didn't do. People who undergo gastric bypass or lap-band surgery, are *supposed* to have tried, and failed, the traditional methods of losing weight. Endless cycles of dieting and gaining, super-motivated months of exercise followed by depression and lethargy, in some cases physical injury preventing exercise. People with heart conditions as a result of obesity, -cannot- exercise the same way people who don't have heart conditions, and aren't obese, can exercise. Then you have people who need to take blood thinners, and -cannot- eat "green leafy vegetables" or other "normally" healthy foods, because it interferes with their meds. It's a vicious cycle. Some folks have eaten so unhealthily, in such profound quantities, that they have literally stretched their stomachs. And now, because of this, it takes them twice, three times, even four times as much food, to feel "full" as people who eat more modest portions of food. If they were to eat "only" what they need to nourish their bodies, they would spend most of their life hungry.
So they have to resort to drastic measures to stop the cycle. Surgery is a drastic measure. The surgery reduces the size of their stomach, so that they don't merely feel fuller sooner, they ARE fuller sooner. Eating three bites of a single slice of pizza is likely to fill them up, while their buddy at the dinner table is scarfing down three slices. Once your stomach is a quarter of the size it was, you are better able to discipline yourself. You know you love cheesecake, but you also know your stomach can only handle your choice of a slice of cheesecake, OR a single bite of cheesecake, plus a custard-dish sized portion of salad, plus an ounce of protein such as chicken or fish. You are no longer capable of eating more, without being sick, because your stomach can no longer hold that vast amount of food it could, prior to surgery.
The stomach will eventually stretch again, sometimes to the same size it was prior to surgery. But by then, the hope, is that you would have already learned portion control, self-control, healthy eating habits, and have brought yourself back down to a more reasonable weight and fitness level.
Surgery is for people who have tried, and failed, profoundly, to return to fitness in more traditional ways.
Or, you can eat smaller portions of food on your own and retrain your stomach without the possible complications of surgery. Hence, the "easy way out" comment.
Quote:
Easy way out would be the worst choice of words.. it is a tool and a very effective one at that, but still just a tool. It's obviously one of, if not the most extreme tool there is in the toolbox, but it's still just a tool. It gave me the motivation I just could not find before, but it still took a lot of work. I was out for an almost 5 mile run in the blazing heat yesterday, so it's no easy way out for sure.
The easy way out is my opinion, which is worth...nothing. How long ago did you have the surgery? And what is the screening process for this? I wonder how they evaluate who is "eligible" for the surgery?
Bariatric surgery is not "just" a weight loss method. It is very specifically for morbidly obese people (their BMI is over 40), who _also_ have life-threatening illness as a result of that obesity. Unfortunately, there are some doctors who will recommend, and/or perform, this surgery, even when it isn't medically indicated.
It is for people who *have already tried* conventional methods of losing weight but have failed - not once, not twice, but multiple times over an extended duration.
It's not supposed to be a quick fix for someone who just needs to cut down on fast food and lose 50 pounds. It isn't supposed to be performed on someone who just needs to cut down on fast food and lose 50 pounds. It's for people who need to lose a couple of HUNDRED pounds - whose bones can't hold up their weight well and whose nutritional intake is so horrible that their organs are starting to fail. That means they -cannot- just join the gym and walk the treadmill, because they are at risk of having a heart attack if they even try walking as far as the mail box outside their front door unassisted.
Again - which you have completely ignored, whether intentionally or innocently - bariatric surgery is not for someone who 'just' needs to lose weight. It is considered a last-ditch effort when all else has already failed and the body is at risk of shutting down.
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I have a very close friend who is about eighty pounds overweight and who has a host of other medical issues (diabetes, heart and kidney problems ) and she is scheduled to have this same surgery in Monterey. I am so worried for her and I believe that she is making a terrible mistake, but she just insists she can not lose weight on her own. She sees this operation as an easy way out & I don't think it is.........
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People may not recall what you said to them, but they will always remember how you made them feel .
Bariatric surgery is not "just" a weight loss method. It is very specifically for morbidly obese people (their BMI is over 40), who _also_ have life-threatening illness as a result of that obesity. Unfortunately, there are some doctors who will recommend, and/or perform, this surgery, even when it isn't medically indicated.
It is for people who *have already tried* conventional methods of losing weight but have failed - not once, not twice, but multiple times over an extended duration.
It's not supposed to be a quick fix for someone who just needs to cut down on fast food and lose 50 pounds. It isn't supposed to be performed on someone who just needs to cut down on fast food and lose 50 pounds. It's for people who need to lose a couple of HUNDRED pounds - whose bones can't hold up their weight well and whose nutritional intake is so horrible that their organs are starting to fail. That means they -cannot- just join the gym and walk the treadmill, because they are at risk of having a heart attack if they even try walking as far as the mail box outside their front door unassisted.
Again - which you have completely ignored, whether intentionally or innocently - bariatric surgery is not for someone who 'just' needs to lose weight. It is considered a last-ditch effort when all else has already failed and the body is at risk of shutting down.
Apparently, I am not the only one "ignoring" the intended use of this method.
The woman in the OP was not hundreds of pounds overweight. And neither was my friend who had the surgery this year. My friend said that she elected to have the surgery because several diseases ran in her family and she didn't want to be at risk. She doesn't currently have the diseases, she is afraid of contracting them. My friend isn't even a hundred pounds overweight. She had the surgery and had to go to the emergency room the following week because she ate something that she wasn't supposed to. Even after that scare, she continues to eat the same as before. She is not even attempting to learn about nutrition. I asked her how this surgery changed her life. "It is going to help me lose weight. I can eat whatever I want, I just eat smaller portions of it."
I had the surgery 1 Sep 2010 and lost almost 150 pounds. At my worst, I was around 350ish, which is about 175 pounds more than I am now. Weight was always a constant battle with me and after I retired from the military, it started winning big time and I no longer had the external threats to keep me at "only" the chubby level. I also became diabetic and had insanely high cholesterol levels accompanied by triglyceride levels that couldn't even be measured. At my one year appointment, one of the interns said I have the heart rate and blood pressure of a teenage girl and everything else in the 9 vials of blood they took were exactly where any normal human would want to be. I honestly don't think I'd be there without the surgery and definitely wouldn't if I didn't utilize this tool to its maximum potential. I also know I am an exception and most people usually only get to the chubby level I mentioned earlier. The doctor initially hoped I would get down to around 210-220 and I've been holding around 170-175 for over a month now, which is ideal for a 6'2" male. I never in a million years thought I would be "normal" and most people that don't know the old me call me skinny. That definitely makes up for those 7 holes they punched in my gut last year
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