Customer Reviews

This is NOT Brain Surgery! A Mental Health Companion for the Gastric Bypass Patient

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

I bought this book pre-op, and at 6 months out, I can truthfully say that it was a complete and utter waste of money. The author seems to believe that all morbidly obese people are completely [messed up] in the head and losing the "crutch" of overeating is going to cause all our demons to come surging forth to wreak havoc. Well, sorry to disappoint you, Ms. Holtzclaw, but the only demon plaguing me was a metabolism that was [messed] up from years of yoyo dieting. OF COURSE this is not brain surgery...DUH (and by the way, I am hard pressed to imagine a more condescending and insulting title for a book like this). But I've got news: most of us don't NEED brain surgery; what we need is a tool that will keep our bodies from sabotaging all our efforts to lose weight and keep it off. Gastric bypass has given me that, and the only emotional challenge I have faced is adjusting to my success. (And believe it or not, pre-ops, that IS a challenge, albeit a fun one. *grin*) To anyone planning to have weight loss surgery, my recommendation is to give this book a pass and save the money to help pay for the new clothes you're going to need in a few months.

I have purchased and read many books on the topic of Gastric Bypass surgery this is by far the worst. I would strongly advise you against reading this if you are Pre-Op, as it will make you feel like a complete failure. I felt like I should have been going to a 12 step program instead of getting Gastric Bypass surgery. I feel very bad for anyone else that might become infected with this authors "Glass is always empty" thought process. Please do yourself and some trees a favor and DO NOT READ OR BUY THIS BOOK!

I received this book today in the mail and read it from cover to cover in about 40 minutes... Sadly, there was nothing written in this book that I didn't already know... I know gastric bypass surgery is not BRAIN surgery ... what I hoped to learn were some valuable tools in understanding myself a little better. The only thing that I truly learned from this book is that it needed a PROOFREADER before it was published. The typos throughout the book made it even harder to swallow anything the author had to say. I did like the idea that the book was written by someone who actually had the procedure but unfortunately I'm left knowing no more now than I did before I read her book. I also think that the book is ridiculously overpriced as, sadly, most of these types of books are... supply and demand, I suppose.

I had WLS last May and I have been successfully losing weight over the last 9 months. I'm down 118 lbs. and have 4 more to go hit my goal. Despite the fact that I have been successful so far, I KNOW that unless I get my mind right, I'll end up fat again!
This PRIMER for the author's book is incredible. It makes you ask yourself questions that aren't necessarily comfortable. The author's hard hitting style is wonderful. This is not fluff at all. I wish I had read it before the WLS but it is still majorly beneficial now. If you want rah rah, read Carnie 's book. If you want another tool to help you be successful in your new body and lifestyle, this is for you. Thank you Dr. Holtzclaw and I can't wait until your book comes out. Be assured that I will be one of the first to buy it. I'm sure it will help me to maintain my size 6 body and my mind headed in the right direction!

I was very pleased with this book. It really put Gastric Bypass surgery in perspective and helped me to see that the surgery is not the end of the journey but the beginning. This is the one book that really tells the truth about what it takes to be successful. Two thumbs up Dr. Holtzclaw and thank you!

Thanks for keepin' it real. I wasn't looking for anything except the truth. This book was worth it to me just knowing that someone took the time to talk to me about their experience with losing weight by surgery. I had no one. This book made me feel like someone out there understands. It was worth it's cost just for that reason alone.

As with her other book, "The Magic Pill," this book has one basic and useful premise. That insight is interesting, but not worth the price of the book. The problem is that the material for one paragraph has been turned into an entire book.

Everything I've said in my review of "The Magic Pill" applies here. Ms. Holtzclaw would not have passed my junior English class. Moreover, as someone who has since had RNY and dealt with the issues surrounding it, I don't find her premise to be at all universally applicable. If you want one good guide to weight loss surgery, there are better choices.