What happens when an industry promises life changing results but this comes at a price? But a price they can’t quantify for you?

Folk may opt to have surgery to help them lose weight and say they "know the risks" of the surgery, but do they?

• Will they be aware there is a 5% chance of them dying?
• Will they acknowledge that to lose a lot of weight, they will be making a functional digestive tract, dysfunctional?
• Will they understand they may not lose the weight promised because of their genetics or documented side effects?
• Will they get that the gut may stop working sometime within 7 years of surgery?
• Will they agree to sticking to a diet and exercise regime for the rest of their life (only it may be more difficult than before) because their metabolism will be permanently altered?
• Will they accept they may suffer complications that require more surgery, that may further add to any existing complications?
• Will they accept the risk of rapid weight loss increasing the risk of a sudden heart attack?
• Will they understand they may get VERY sick with this surgery no matter what they do?

I have yet to meet someone who knew all of this, even after doing their own meticulous research.

In this episode Mel shares the information bariatric surgeons should be providing for their patients to make a fully informed decision. She talks about the risks of combining eating disorders with weight loss surgery and what you need to think about in taking the best care of yourself. Weight loss is not everything.

Resources

These were mentioned in this episode and pick n mix.

Long-term Follow-up After Bariatric Surgery. A Systematic Review: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1900516

Internalized weight bias in patients presenting for bariatric surgery: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1471015320303482

Bariatric Surgery Patients' Perceptions of Weight-Related Stigma in Healthcare Settings Impair Post-surgery Dietary Adherence: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5056165

FOOD PSYCH #139: THE TRUTH ABOUT WEIGHT-LOSS SURGERY & "FOOD ADDICTION" WITH LISA DUBREUIL: https://christyharrison.com/foodpsych/5/the-truth-about-weight-loss-surgery-with-lisa-dubreuil

Dreams on the Operating Room Table (Bariatric Surgery) Extract from Health at Every Size by Lindo Bacon: https://www.lindobacon.com/HAESbook/pdf_files/HAES_Bariatric-Surgery.pdf

Understanding Postoperative Suicide and Self-injury: https://bariatrictimes.com/understanding-postoperative-suicide-self-injury