28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
What a Disappointment!, December 6, 2001
This review is from: This is NOT Brain Surgery! A Mental Health Companion for the Gastric Bypass Patient (Paperback)
This is the first book in over 100 that I have returned to Amazon. Being that I am anticipating bariatric surgery myself in the near future, I have read everything I could get my hands on regarding the subject. This small book is just that -- small, with a lot of blank filler pages, and very little content. A thorough waste of time for someone like me with little time to waste!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Holtzclaw's Primer Tackles Vital Emtional Issues, February 13, 2002
This review is from: This is NOT Brain Surgery! A Mental Health Companion for the Gastric Bypass Patient (Paperback)
I decided to review Dr. Teri Kai Holtzclaw's execellent primer "This is Not Brain Surgery" because I found it extremely informative, thought-provoking, and useful in my preparations for gastric bypass surgery.
It is a valuable tool because it helps the reader identify and begin to tackle important emotional issues surrounding morbid obesity and weight loss surgery that must be addressed if the patient is to have LONG TERM SUCCESS.
I purchased two other full-length books on the procedure itself -- which were excellent -- they explained the physical aspects of the surgery and the day-to-day life-style changes I will have to make, but they barely touched on the EMOTIONAL issues. I wanted more information and I got it in this booklet.
Even though it is only 47 pages (a full length version apparently is due out this year) Dr. Holtzclaw deftly and honestly discusses major emotional issues such as integrity, anger and food addiction. She also includes methods to strengthen self-esteem and the tools to develop skills needed to succeed before and after the surgery. She gets you ready.
She doesn't use high-brow psycho-babble, she tells it like it is, and supplies some self-help writing/journaling exercises which allow the reader to expound on the issues -- to personalize it.
Some of the exercises can be "gut wrenching" but that's the whole point, these emotional issues are not something you can just have explained to you in a nice, neat little package and that's it -- you have to be "in it" or you won't succeed, at least in the long term. That's what I learned from this little book.
I thought the primer was well worth the price because the author isn't just some skinny doctor telling me about my fat, she knows what she is talking about because she had the surgery herself several years ago and has successfully lost more than 150 pounds. Her "Before" and "After" photos are remarkable.
If you are thinking about having gastric bypass surgery, this booklet should be required reading.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is REALLY helpful to bariatric patients!, February 16, 2002
This review is from: This is NOT Brain Surgery! A Mental Health Companion for the Gastric Bypass Patient (Paperback)
I have gone through bariatric surgery and I KNOW how hard it is to lose weight and keep it off. This book succintly defines the problem in an accessible way and then helps the reader evaluate the mental issues involved with weight loss after surgery. There are no easy answers and lots of mental work to be done by surgery patients. Dr. Holtzclaw tells it like it is and this little book helped me, as a weight loss patient, come to grips with the issues facing us. I think this is a must-read for weight loss surgery patients and I look forward to more books from Dr. Holtzclaw.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
