Surgery or Not
@nonersays (3344)
United States
February 1, 2011 6:18pm CST
If you had to decide between gaining 13 pounds to qualify for weight loss surgery, or losing 100 pounds on your own without surgery, which one would you go for?
5 responses
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
2 Feb 11
I don't think I would try to gain weight in order to have surgery. I have already had too many operations for other problems to want to be cut again just to take out some fat or something. I don't know what is involved with weight loss surgery, but I do know there are risks associated with any surgery and that would be the deciding factor. I think I would be inclined to try losing the weight on my own because it is safer and more likely to last.
@nonersays (3344)
• United States
2 Feb 11
Weight loss surgerys either remove or tie off part of your stomach so you CANT eat as much. They are very invasive surgeries. And even then you won't magically lose all the weight unless you diet and exercise, but so many people seem to think that surgery is the answer.
1 person likes this
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
2 Feb 11
While it might help to tie off part of the stomach, it is still important that you diet and exercise. Since that is necessary whether you have surgery or not, why not bypass the surgery and start on the lifestyle change right away. It is probably healthier that way. Thanks for letting me know what is involved in the surgery.
@nonersays (3344)
• United States
2 Feb 11
You're welcome.
And making healthy lifestyle changes are so much better. I have over 100 pounds to lose, and I had never even considered surgery. Today I read an article about a DIABETIC man gaining weight so that he can get weight loss surgery.
1 person likes this
@TrvlArrngr (4044)
• United States
2 Feb 11
I have a friend that gained about 15 pounds to qualify for the surgery. She has lost about 80 pounds.
@TrvlArrngr (4044)
• United States
2 Feb 11
She found that certain foods made her sick after surgery. She would get bad cramps and diarreah. She had to eat like 8 tiny meals a day. By now she can eat regular meals. Your stomach slowly stretches again. She has changed but not really by choice - she just didnt want the pain and being stuck in the bathroom. It forced her to eat better.
@nonersays (3344)
• United States
2 Feb 11
Interesting that you do know someone who opted to gain the weight to get the surgery. Did the surgery alone help her lose the weight, or has she made other changes in her life to help it along?
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
2 Feb 11
That's disturbing in that someone could be overweight by at least 100 pounds above their "Normal" weight (or could afford to lose that much) and yet still be under an arbitrary threshhold at which point they could qualify for a surgical intervention..
That's a tough call to advise upon..to put on more weight in order to get medical help,or go with conventional weight loss methods from the current baseline...it definitely sounds counterproductive to go UP further before being able to get help to go down again..and at the same time,losing a hundred pounds or so without help would have to be done very carefully for medical reasons..In this situation,would there be medical professionals who would be advising the person to take the "put weight on" approach to this? or are they leaving the choice to the individual?
@nonersays (3344)
• United States
2 Feb 11
While I am over 100 pounds overweight, I'd never consider surgery for myself at my current weight.
This question was inspired by an article I read today where a man wanted to have gastric bypass surgery, but could not get funding for the surgery at his current weight. Instead of trying to lose weight on his own, he chose to gain weight to qualify for the surgery.
From the article it says "was denied a gastric bypass by his local NHS Trust in Portsmouth who will only consider him if he is 21 stone."
He was already around 280 pounds, but they would not consider surgery until he was 294 pounds or more.
He is a 5'7 man, and I don't think that even at 280 pounds he would need surgery. Its not like little 5'3 me being 229
@RebeccaScarlett (2532)
• Canada
13 Feb 11
I've thought about it. I get serious infections so easily though that any uneccessary surgery could kill me, so I wouldn't go that route.
It can be so difficult to lose weight though, especially as a diabetic. As soon as you reduce your food intake you start to feel tired, sluggish, irritable, and headachy. You don't have the energy for much and you aren't pleasent to be around. Everything has to be monitored perfectly for you to lose weight without ruining your life in the meantime!
I've been exercising more and skipping junk food in favour of vegetables. I'm not losing weight but I am getting more energy. Perhaps if I go in small steps so my body adjusts as I go I will end up losing weight.
@cecil04 (408)
• South Africa
9 Feb 11
I would try to lose the weight by myself, surgery is just too risky. I had surgery once to remove my appendix and I couldn't get out of bed for almost two day because of the pain. I did lose two kilogram after the appendix surgery because I could not keep my food down which was hell, but prior to that I was able to lose 20 kilograms by exercising and eating less junk food and yes I did keep it off.
