Weight loss surgery - plain talk

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18 Comments

Comment by Sue Widemark on October 6, 2009 at 4:46am

A 2009 study by Dr Thomas Inge found that at the 18 month post op check, 39 percent of gastric bypass patients had developed iron deficiency anemia. Most who have this, require iron infusions (the part of the GI tract which digests iron is bypassed). Iron infusion is an outpatient procedure which is done in the oncology dept of a hospital and carries some risks of its own (besides being inconvenient for the patient). The study was a clinical study with a cohort of 67 patients and the results appeared in the "Journal of Nutrition" Sept issue.

Comment by Sue Widemark on October 6, 2009 at 4:42am

Thanks Allen, I appreciate the support... *hug*

Comment by Allen Steadham on October 6, 2009 at 4:35am

It will help someone, in time. Sometimes I feel that way about the ISAA website, then some amazing situation comes about and I am so glad it's there for whoever needed it! Hang in there, Sue.

Comment by Sue Widemark on October 6, 2009 at 2:40am

thanks, Essa - it doesn't seem to be getting much interest but hopefully it will help someone. :)

Comment by EssaAdams on October 5, 2009 at 9:28pm

Sue - I am so glad to see you heading out this group. Essa

Comment by Sue Widemark on September 19, 2009 at 5:45am

In the discussions of WLS it would seem that the gastric bypass or duodenal switch would be simply invented for folks who are extremely high BMI like in the 600 lbs and above category, except it has not been observed to be a good answer at all... at least from what I've seen: (and I've worked with hundreds of folks since 1999)

* Jackie the 600 lb woman on Discovery Health... had a duodenal switch - developed severe malnutrition causing many co-morbidities - required her guts reconnected to save her life (unfortunately with that surgery they cannot restore the 90 percent of the stomach they removed) and ended up in a wheelchair even tho she weighs in the 200's now. i.e. she could move better when she was 600 lbs. Classic picture was when a lady who weighed over 400 lbs (down from 600) pushed 250 lbs Jackie in her wheelchair to see the zoo - was on the sequel to 600 lbs woman.

* Allen Mata from "BIg Medicine" despite dramatic scene of him walking in the pool after losing 600 lbs (from 1000 lbs to 400 lbs) after his gastric bypass, is today, still confined to his bed and not walking. Might be regaining by now. (has a myspace he updates regularly)

* Patrick Deuel - still immobile after his gastric bypass and regained 200 lbs last I heard. (down from 1000 lbs)

* Peter Herida - big Pete Herida - had gastric bypass - went from 750 lbs to 250 in 2 years after his gastric bypass and seemed a success when he appeared on the Oprah Show... however, he died 6 months after his appearance. Here's more about him:

Big Pete's memorial

* Castaway Ray - he was only 500 lbs, still mobile, drove a truck etc but was on dialysis and convinced that having a duodenal switch was the answer for him... he fought for a year (even as a self pay) to GET a doctor to perform surgery on him... even Baltasar of Spain wanted nothing to do with doing his WLS. Finally Ray found someone in California (actually a rather prominant WLS surgeon) to do it. After his WLS, he suffered progressive organ failure and many other problems... he lived for 3 weeks after surgery, fully awake and in pain, to realize his big dream was actually a nightmare. (His grandmother had paid for his surgery with her life savings... the surgery he had costs over $40,000).

Castaway Ray's Memorial

In fact the only successful weight losers I know of who were that large were those who did NOT have surgery... for example Robt Hebranko who weighs around 350 pounds (down from 1000 lbs - the guy who had to be cut out of his apartment) seems to be maintaining the lower weight and is healthy well into his 50's - he has a blog which he updates regularly... did NOT have WLS.

Manual Uribe, has taken off 300 or 400 lbs but seems healthy and exercises from his bed (did not have WLS)

WLS seems like the ideal answer for extremely large folks but turns out, at least from observation, to be a very bad answer... in fact, I've never heard of any successes in this population... (after WLS) but have heard of a few who managed to get down to the lower weights without surgery... (like from BMI 100 to BMI 40 or 45)... Interesting...

Anyway, the following lady in the video also thinks WLS is the answer... and obviously is looking for someone to pay for hers... the bariatric surgeon who appears in the video of course, tells in detail, how her fat is going to kill her in months...

large lady is hinting that she wants WLS

Comment by Sue Widemark on August 9, 2009 at 8:49am

Most ME reports on folks who die from the repercussions of weight loss surgery, call the death from "something else" but this report is a unique look into the condition of a patient's body... and the surgery the patient had is about half as invasive as the popular gastric bypass i.e. in the VBG, the small bowel is not "disected" i.e. cut into pieces and rearranged. Neither is the stomach cut into pieces either... just the top part of the stomach is stapled in this surgery.

Medical examiner's report on the death of a weight loss surgery patient - cause of death : aspiration of vomit - interesting medical facts in detail, about condition of the body etc.

http://tinyurl.com/death-rpt-wls

Comment by Sue Widemark on August 7, 2009 at 6:48pm

Obesity surgery deaths down? Maybe not -

Comment by Sue Widemark on August 7, 2009 at 10:15am

Interesting point, Vicki!!!

Comment by Vicki Savage on August 7, 2009 at 3:39am

This was definately an interesting conversation that you had with your friend Sue. I read this piece in the group too .... talk about wlsers being viewed as the proverbial untouchables .... we are obviously viewed as modern day lepers. Which is rather ironic because prior to surgery we were judged for being FAT and after surgery we are judged for having had the surgery ... you know, the surgery that "the medical profession" insists will cure us of all ills and make us much happier and healthier human beings. Doesn't seem that "we" people of size can please anyone really and inevitably we are "apparantly" incapable of being successful in achieving goals either .... after all, isn't it meant to be "Our" fault when the surgery fails too. Anyway back to the subject at hand, which is the insurance companies views of wls .... I think that people really need to start listening to the fact that a lot of these insurance companies won't cover wls or post wls complications. (And I say this with all due respect those poor souls out there who are trying to get cover for the enormous costs of post wls complications) If they will cover a cancer patient who is in remission but won't cover someone who has had wls (based on the pre existing condition principle) then from thier perspective there has to be some pretty big reasons for why that is the case. In the wls world ( as we know) there is a division of opinion on whether this surgery is " a miracle cure" or a "medical disaster", a lot of surgeons support the surgery but there are quite a few who don't .... and then there are those who prefer to sit on the fence and cover themselves by giving out watered down warnings of the risks involved. I sometimes think that the best allies we could have for the " post wls complication cause" might just be the Health Insurance Companies. If they are becoming more and more adverse to funding wlsers then maybe the world should be paying more attention to there reasons for this. And surely they base thier decisions on thier own research ... so wouldn't it be good to be able to have access to and be able to read thier statistics. I think that would make for some very interesting and thought provoking reading!

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