Customer Reviews

The Patient's Guide to Weight Loss Surgery, Revised Edition: Everything You Need to Know About Gastric Bypass and Bariatric Surgery

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

If I wanted a dummy book I would have bought one. This book is for intelligent people who would like more than the Kindergarten overview of weight loss surgery. The helpful quiz at the front of the book set the tone for the rest of the book. I found the first part of the book, the details about the different kinds of surgeries, to be of practical use. When looking on the Internet, I did find the mini-bypass advertised as a low-cost choice. This book gave me the facts I needed to know about the mini. I would NEVER subject myself to the mini, no matter how good the doctor made it sound.

The middle of the book, about different options, diet pills, OTC drugs and hunger levels in different people was eye-opening. This book didn't condemn weight loss surgery for those that need it for health reasons, but it did give reasons why it might not work for some people. Some of the surgeries change people's basic hunger signals and other surgeries just leave you hungry, but with a very small stomach. Over-eating then becomes almost inevitable because nothing's changed as far as what your body thinks it requires. The consequences of over-eating if you have a stomach the size of a walnut are bizarre. But if your surgery changes your basic hunger needs, as it does with the bypass, the BPD and the Sleeve, you have a much higher chance of success. This book emphasized the miraculous disappearance of Type II Diabetes within the first 24 hours of the surgery and gave reasons why this occurs in 90% of patients.

The personal stories at the end were short, concise and to the point. I found this book to give two sides to the weight loss surgery question. Most people were pleased with the outcome of their surgeries, even if they didn't lose as much weight as the doctor promised. But a few felt they were lied to and unsupported in the end when it didn't work. This book gave me a lot to think about.

The part of the book that really got to me was the part about how society is prejudiced against fat people, and this prejudice is socially sanctioned. "Even people who are fat have a problem with people who are fatter than they are." I really liked the research that went into the Metropolitan Insurance height-weight tables, it turns out they are not actuarialy correct at all, and yet that is what doctors use to tell you you're too fat. Careful instruction about BMI, and how to really tell if you need surgery.

The quiz was fantastic. The most compelling part of the book was about new genetic research into hunger levels and obesity. How our hunger levels are controlled by certain hormones produced in the body and not under our conscious control. That's why diets often fail (97% of the time) because our bodies internal mechanisms are working against us.

I thought I knew everything about dieting and it turns out I barely know anything, and researchers are just finding out what really leads to obesity. Well-researched, up-to-date and not written down to the "dummy" level.

I really appreciated this book! This book dispelled many myths that are out there about weight loss surgery, especially the myth that it is the miracle to end obesity. I appreciated the straight forward facts. The positive and negative personal experiences of those who underwent surgery were quite insightful. I would recommend this as a must read for anyone considering weight loss surgery.

Sometimes reading this, it seems like a marketing book in favor of undergoing surgery. Why? The author lays out the facts that for those of us who have struggled with weight all our lives, diets nearly always fail...to the tune of 97%. She discusses Weight-Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc. and explains that success rates are decent while people continue to go, but once a person stops going to Weight-Watchers or whatever, the weight (and then some) comes back on. Based merely upon the statistics, the only permanent, long-term loss seems from surgery.

In addition, the author discusses the many different surgeries, the pros and cons in general, nonsurgical methods (including dieting, weight-control controls and herbs, etc.). She also has an entire chapter on the pros and an entire chapter on the cons of surgery. The bottom line, that author makes clear, is that the surgery is the easy part. The changes in eating habits are where the real work begins. The thing the surgery provides is that it corrects the feeling full problem that overweight people seem to have.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely. Would I recommend doing your own research in addition? Not only would I recommend that, but I think it is necessary. For this, or any type, of surgery, you can never have too much information.

This was an informative look that gave some insight that needs to be thought about before surgery.