AspireAssist

Did anyone read the article on OH about the newly approved AspireAssist? I know that I am a bit biased about wls procedures, as the sleeve has worked so well with me. I also have additional bias against any tubes coming out of me due to several years and constant surgical recovery requiring this, and all of the soreness associated with it. So with that said, I am having a hard time figuring out why someone might elect to go through the surgery for this thing. 

Seriously. You go through a surgery and have installed a tube that is inserted in the stomach and has an exit point in the abdomen. You eat a meal that requires crazy careful chewing, because when done you go to the bathroom and extract the food you just ate. Even worse, the weight loss appears to be 20% or less of your weight. I do not think that they were referring to EWL in the article, but that is still low. At my starting weight I would have lost 68 pounds or so. Nothing to sneeze at, but a far cry from the 155+ that I lost. The only advantage I see is that it is reversible. It does little to retrain eating habits though with the exception of significantly slowing someone down. 

What am I not seeing here? Maybe it costs a ton less so folks who are self-pay have more access to something that might help? Something different?

It seems like medically assisted bulimia to me. 

Exactly this! I am trying to be open-minded, but save yourself a surgery and do the bulimic thing- seems the same for the most part. Not that I am advocating that!!  

There will always be new medicines and new procedures for dealing with obesity.  This could be a way for a person to lose weight who is not ready to make the life-long changes needed to be successful with the sleeve.

Maybe a bride who wants to fit into a smaller size for her wedding, maybe a college student who still wants to get drunk on Saturday night, maybe someone who is afraid of a permanent procedure.  While this procedure does not appeal to me, it will appeal to some.

I am still hoping that the magic pill or surgery will be invented that will easily and safely wipe out the epidemic of obesity.

Oh gawd, I hadn't thought about the possibility of pumping your own stomach after drinking a lot of alcohol. THAT is terrifying.

I'm reminded of the Hunger Games when they have drinks to vomit so they can keep eating.  It's literally a "reverse" feeding tube.  So, none of the metabolic benefits of other surgeries.  Even the sleeve can have a profound metabolic benefit, too.

The problem is that obesity is a symptom that we consider to be a disease, but the cause is multifactoral and almost always involves habit or behavior.  Purging rarely changes the habits that get you obese.  Most bulimics actually digest a large bit of calories in the long run.  Their bodies adapt to purging.

As for why people get it, often our surgeries are lambasted as "extreme."  Our stomachs are permanently removed, partially.  Our guts are reconfigured.  DS patients take supplements for the rest of their lives.  People think this is less extreme than losing most of their stomach.  We have a strong psychological connection to food.  Many people will go to any length to preserve their relationship with it.  We all need good boundaries, whether it's with relationships or with twinkies.  The problem is that it's difficult for most people, hell even most counselors, to indicate that you can have very bad boundaries with food.  

Perspective is everything, eh?

That idea of folks not being ready to full on commit and jeopardize that relationship with food makes a lot of sense actually. That in combination with White Doves ideas as a rationale behind the facing it full on. I can understand that. I do also get that for most our surgeries would be drastic. But our health needed drastic intervention, and that was just something I was very comfortable with. I wasn't going to get healthy without some pretty drastic changes.

disgusting

Definitely "medically assisted bulemia".  My daughter had a similar tube in her stomach for the last month of her life when she was dying from cancer (her intestines had largely been shut down by the cancer).  I can't even imagine doing this for weight loss and thinking it is okay.  

I am so sorry about your daughter.