Weight Loss Surgery Patients *****gain; Check this article out!

Not sure why it is printing the correct title in the subject....

WLS Patients Who Are Experiencing Weight Regain

Hello,
In my Public Speaking class I am doing an informative speech and my topic is:
Weight Loss Surgery.  I am coming across some very interesting articles and wanted to share them with you.  The link is below. But I am posting a few point of the article...very interesting.

I am 10 years out and I know many people who have regained a lot of weight...I am not advocating this article....just sharing....

(from article)
For the well-informed and motivated obese patient, WLS combined with regular follow-up care, results in substantial long-term weight loss. However, approximately 1 in 5

patients will experience surgical failure.5 Surgical failure is defined as the failure to achieve significant weight loss and resolution of weight-related medical comorbidities, or the failure to maintain substantial weight loss. There is a growing body of evidence indicating that weight regain is common at 2 to 10 years postsurgery, during which time some patients may regain up to 15% of initial body weight.4,6,7. A detrimental consequence of weight regain is often that improvements in medical comorbidities resulting from substantial weight loss are not maintained.

Table 2. Intervention Strategies for WLS Patients Who Are

There is a section that talks about Intervention Strategies for WLS Patients Who Are Experiencing Weight Regain.experiencing Weight Regain

http://search.proquest.com/docview/218878463/fulltextPDF/12E F452DD7A5DDA3F96/10?accountid=10589

154 Obesity and Weight Management August 2009 © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089/obe.2009.0403

 Only 15% ?  Wow.

I was surprised with it too!  But this is only one report....think of all the people who never go back to their bariatric surgeon when they start gaining weight back....I know there are a lot!

 Oh heck yes.

The shame ALONE keeps people away from the Dr.

A bariatric surgeon is pretty useless to us after the first year anyway - they aren't great nutritionists generally.

I would say its muuuuuuch higher.

Yes, I agree...much higher....when I think of the people who had surgery the same time as I did.....I bet 75% or more have put back on most of their weight.....

When I talk to them.....they tell me they feel the way they felt before they had weight loss surgery.....desperate...like a failure....and depressed! 

It hurts my heart to hear!!!  And with the people I have talked to....there seems to be an addiction to food that they could not control....plus grazing....and generally not creating healthy eating and exercise habits that they continued....they started off Strong....and then it fizzled out! 

For me.....I can gain weight so easy!!!! It scares me sometime...but I know as long as I stay away from the foods I was addicted to (I don't even miss it any more anyway) and continue exercising...everything will be OK....and I am in control!

But it is something I have to do for life!!!

 Ditto.  To all.

Surgical failure is defined as the failure to achieve significant weight loss and resolution of weight-related medical comorbidities,

I had sleep apnea before surgery and after loosing 127 lbs down to 145 lbs I still had it.  To me  there was no guarantee that it was going to resolve,  That does not constitute a surgical failure to me.  Most other issues did resolve and I was certainly much healthier.  I gained back 80 but have lost the majority of it as I am down to 170 and 5'9".  I'll be 62 in September so disposing of the weight a second time was most important.  You have to keep or regain focus.  Diabetes is only controlled with Byetta and Metformin despite walking 8-10,000 steps a day and some other cardio.

Your weight was obviously not the "cause" of your sleep apnea but rather exacerbated it.

The comorbidities of obesity can also be caused by other things (even diabetes) and unfortunately there is no way to know this prior to surgery. It is ASSUMED when you are obese that it is the cause of ALL YOUR PROBLEMS; but, as we know, this is not always the case.