Question:
Can Someone suggest a DR. in Texas that will perform this surgery on a 14 yr old.
— Tiffany O. (posted on July 18, 2003)
July 18, 2003
As much as I am for weight-loss surgery, I am dead set against performing
it on anyone under the age of 18. I've been obese all of my life too, so
don't think that I don't know what it was like growing up fat. Besides
the growth issue (My insurance company (Aetna) has as one of its criteria
"Patient has completed growth (18 years of age or documentation of
completion of bone growth)".), I really don't think that people of
that age are psychologically able to cope with the life-altering aspects of
WLS...JR
— John Rushton
July 18, 2003
You would have to look long and hard to find a doctor willing to do this
surgery on a 14 year old. If you do find one his/her reputation or
abilities will probably by suspect. Remember the 14 year old will be
subject to side effects not yet known because he/she will be living with
the effects of this surgery for 60 years or more. In addition it is not
unusual for fat kids to lose the weight as they enter adulthood. There are
no studies documenting the what this surgery will do to a growing body or
over 50 or 60 years of life.
— Ron T.
July 18, 2003
I can't help you on Texas but you might try the Children's Hospital. The
one in Cincinnati did one on a young girl. I don't know her age but she has
had all kinds of problems. Vitamin B deficiency etc. She really was too
young to understand the lifestyle changes. Heck I wonder sometimes if I am
too young to understand the lifestuyle changes.
— snicklefritz
July 18, 2003
That is just too young. She is the one who will have to live with these
restrictions, and she is too young to really grasp the gravity of her
committment. Unless they said she wouldn't make it to the age of 18, I
can't imagine any surgeon doing someone this age.
— bethybb
July 18, 2003
I had read that they dont like to do surgery on anyone under 18 because the
internal organs and body hasnt finished growing.
— wizz46
July 18, 2003
There was a Dr on tv just yesterday saying they will not do surgery on
anyone that young. They are still growing and they still want to eat all
the junk food other teens eat.
— doodlebug
July 18, 2003
There are surgeons who will operate on kids under 18, but there are
relatively few, so you will probably need to look beyond Texas. Dr. Ren,
of New York University Medical Center, has operated on teenagers. I also
remember reading of a surgeon in Oregon (perhaps Dr. Welker?) who operated
on a girl in her early teens a year or two ago. Look in the library under
"teenager" for more names or suggestions. My primary reason for
responding is that I'm disturbed by the way other responders have dismissed
your question. I was twelve when I stopped growing, and I was never more
than 40 pounds overweight as a teenager, much too lightweight to qualify
for surgery. Still, I suffered enormously. The pain of those years is
with me still. I can only imagine what it must be like to go through the
teen years morbidly obese. In addition to the emotional pain we've all
known, today's obese teenagers face physical complications that my
generation did not. When I was a teen, even the fattest kids did not
contract Type II diabetes; these days, they do, and in increasing numbers.
Can we so lightly dismiss the option of weight-loss surgery for a teen
who's morbidly obese and an insulin-dependent diabetic? The
"lifestyle changes" such a kid faces can make those imposed by
weight-loss surgery seem light indeed. I don't question that there are
issues as to growth and maturity that need to be considered when the issue
is surgery on a child, but the consequences of a blanket rule of not
performing this surgery on kids could be dire. For the morbidly obese teen
who's already coping with diabetes and other complications of obesity, this
surgery could be a lifesaver, just as it is for his elders.
— Kay B.
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