Your Thoughts on the Easy/Lazy way to fat loss (Surgery)?
Spyer116
Posts: 168 Member
A bit of a long story /explanation here (with a bit of a rant too)
So I work in the operating theatres of the biggest hospital in the country. Well..9 of the 21 theatres are in the area I work in. And today, as the last case of the day for Theatre 6, they were doing a plastic surgery case (which isn't their usual work, they got it from Th9 which is in a different complex). I didn't pay much attention to the case before hand nor the patient. I just prepped the table before hand, and as I was leaving the theatre, passed the patient as she walked in - obviously not a sick (or at least not very sick patient, due to being mobile and able to walk in, unlike many others that would be in for surgeries each day and can't even shuffle from the bed to the table, let alone even walk).
Fast forward to after the surgery, I head in while they're stitching up the patient. start doing my own work, and chatting away to a nurse i'm friendly with. I notice a big mass of 'something' on the weighing scales, and ask him what it is, assuming it was an organ or something. It was skin and fat. And I was told they did a tummy tuck. First one i've seen in the 2 months i've been working in that theatre complex (worked many months in maternity theatres, before that).
Out of curiosity I asked him was there a problem with them, cancerous, or some sickness or disease or something, that she's in here getting it or was it like just cosmetic reasons. (Again, since its first time I saw that procedure since working there). Nope, cosmetic reasons only. "For her mind / mental health", as apparently it was like that after pregnancy.
I don't say much more to him about it, just carried on with my work, but was thinking about some things.
Something that wouldn't ever give me a second thought for most other cases, but came back here due to that was the last time patients ate. Sometimes patients eat and/or drink when they shouldnt, due to having to fast for surgery. In pretty much all cases, its fasting since dinner the previous night if the surgery is in the morning. And usually no liquids from 6+ hours pre-surgery or at least limited to a small amount of water. And the anesthetists and surgeons need to discuss whether to proceed or not. and so on. Depending on what and when they ate and/or drank.
Surgery started around 4pm, give or take. And she ate a hospital breakfast around 7am that morning. I've seen all the options of hospital breakfasts here, and they're very generous in size. She had a 3 egg omelette with whatever filling, with 4 slices of toast (usual is 2, she kept asking till she got 2 extra according to the surgeons), and a decent sized bowl of some sugary cereal that her sister had brought in for her.
That wasn't the problem. The problem was, she ate again afterwards. About after 10am. not hospital food, as the ward wouldn't give her more knowing she had surgery coming up. It seems she made her sister go across the street to a fast-food place, and buy her a meal. And not just a hamburger, it was a fairly substantial meal. I can't remember which kind, but something like a king sized burger, large chips, and some dessert or something.
Obviously - they went through with the surgery, I wouldn't know what they changed or did due to her not fasting though.
So here we have this woman, coming in for surgery to take away fat and skin. Claiming it was caused by pregnancy, and its for emotional/mental well-being. Yet she wasn't referred there by her doctor either (private patient through clinic). One look at her though, and its straight up obvious that she wasn't a skinny or average or even chubby sized/shaped woman at any stage, even before the pregnancy and just had some extra 'padding' or saggy skin left over after it. She was just straight up very fat. Easily 200-220+ pounds. Very short. She was at most 5'1 if not shorter again. Bmi would probably class as morbidly obese, which even though bmi isn't a great thing to go on, is pretty much accurate in this case.
The mound of fat and skin on the weighing scales? 18.2 pounds. Amount of goop/liquid-gooey-fat in the suction tubing was 800ml, but way heavier and thicker than blood which is what usually goes in there. Probably at least 4-6 pounds in weight as well if i was to guess from when I had to take it out to dispose of.
What was the end result from this procedure? she had a little less belly fat overall, yet still a big belly that wobbled and hung out. Massive flabby/saggy arms and thighs and legs. A fat filled neck too. Chubby face, but not as much as others with similar height/weight would have. and probably 45+ inch waist. And (imo) she was still just as unattractive/unappealing to say the very least, - body wise, as before the fat was taken out (not even due to weight alone, but sagging/flabbiness, features, hair, nose, etc). The procedure cost her somewhere between €8-12k. And it would seem she has a young child (Due to her saying it was from her recent pregnancy).
And in my mind, its safe to assume her overall diet must be relatively unhealthy too, firstly cause of her weight, and secondly since she couldn't even go half a day without eating, even in preparation for surgery, and not even eating healthily when she did get her sister to go out and buy her more food - specifically junk food.
I know alot of that sounds really harsh. But i didn't say any of it to anyone, just things that went through my mind. And i'm not out-right insulting her, just stating my observations / opinions from what I saw and heard of her during and after the surgery, and heard about her before it.
Summed up, she basically wanted to lose weight. Paid a large sum of money (even though she has a new born or at least a young child at home) for someone else to do the work and spend an hour sucking out and cutting off a massive amount of fat from her body even though she (again imo) doesn't look any better after it either, and not for medical reasons, but purely cosmetic reasons. With a seemingly unhealthy diet / lifestyle, and not even the self-control to go less than half a day without eating. And I would guess she'd probably gain the weight back + more after a period of time too, since she may not even start eating less or anything. (Again, she wasn't referred by her doctor, her doctor had no notes or information to give the hospital about any weight loss attempts, any prescriptions to weight loss medication or anything. So she made no previous attempts, at least not with him, to lose weight herself).
The whole situation of hers kind of just made me mad. Not necessarily at her personally, but people like that in general. That with some money, and other people's time/effort/work, get all your fat taken out in an hour. And still continue to live the same lifestyle that got you to that weight/condition to begin with.
And then to just reflect on my own situation. Spending 7+ months with massive work, determination, tears and joy, depression, ups and downs, and research on the body / nutrition / diet / exercise / etc, to lose 50+ pounds of almost pure fat. (noticeably bigger muscles and can lift a fair bit heavier too, so muscle loss had to be minimal if not even nothing, and probably gained some muscle in fact).
And part of it might even jealousy or envy or something, that I had to work for so long and so hard (and still am), to lose fat, while this sort of an option exists for people that are just too lazy to put in effort or work themselves.
So I work in the operating theatres of the biggest hospital in the country. Well..9 of the 21 theatres are in the area I work in. And today, as the last case of the day for Theatre 6, they were doing a plastic surgery case (which isn't their usual work, they got it from Th9 which is in a different complex). I didn't pay much attention to the case before hand nor the patient. I just prepped the table before hand, and as I was leaving the theatre, passed the patient as she walked in - obviously not a sick (or at least not very sick patient, due to being mobile and able to walk in, unlike many others that would be in for surgeries each day and can't even shuffle from the bed to the table, let alone even walk).
Fast forward to after the surgery, I head in while they're stitching up the patient. start doing my own work, and chatting away to a nurse i'm friendly with. I notice a big mass of 'something' on the weighing scales, and ask him what it is, assuming it was an organ or something. It was skin and fat. And I was told they did a tummy tuck. First one i've seen in the 2 months i've been working in that theatre complex (worked many months in maternity theatres, before that).
Out of curiosity I asked him was there a problem with them, cancerous, or some sickness or disease or something, that she's in here getting it or was it like just cosmetic reasons. (Again, since its first time I saw that procedure since working there). Nope, cosmetic reasons only. "For her mind / mental health", as apparently it was like that after pregnancy.
I don't say much more to him about it, just carried on with my work, but was thinking about some things.
Something that wouldn't ever give me a second thought for most other cases, but came back here due to that was the last time patients ate. Sometimes patients eat and/or drink when they shouldnt, due to having to fast for surgery. In pretty much all cases, its fasting since dinner the previous night if the surgery is in the morning. And usually no liquids from 6+ hours pre-surgery or at least limited to a small amount of water. And the anesthetists and surgeons need to discuss whether to proceed or not. and so on. Depending on what and when they ate and/or drank.
Surgery started around 4pm, give or take. And she ate a hospital breakfast around 7am that morning. I've seen all the options of hospital breakfasts here, and they're very generous in size. She had a 3 egg omelette with whatever filling, with 4 slices of toast (usual is 2, she kept asking till she got 2 extra according to the surgeons), and a decent sized bowl of some sugary cereal that her sister had brought in for her.
That wasn't the problem. The problem was, she ate again afterwards. About after 10am. not hospital food, as the ward wouldn't give her more knowing she had surgery coming up. It seems she made her sister go across the street to a fast-food place, and buy her a meal. And not just a hamburger, it was a fairly substantial meal. I can't remember which kind, but something like a king sized burger, large chips, and some dessert or something.
Obviously - they went through with the surgery, I wouldn't know what they changed or did due to her not fasting though.
So here we have this woman, coming in for surgery to take away fat and skin. Claiming it was caused by pregnancy, and its for emotional/mental well-being. Yet she wasn't referred there by her doctor either (private patient through clinic). One look at her though, and its straight up obvious that she wasn't a skinny or average or even chubby sized/shaped woman at any stage, even before the pregnancy and just had some extra 'padding' or saggy skin left over after it. She was just straight up very fat. Easily 200-220+ pounds. Very short. She was at most 5'1 if not shorter again. Bmi would probably class as morbidly obese, which even though bmi isn't a great thing to go on, is pretty much accurate in this case.
The mound of fat and skin on the weighing scales? 18.2 pounds. Amount of goop/liquid-gooey-fat in the suction tubing was 800ml, but way heavier and thicker than blood which is what usually goes in there. Probably at least 4-6 pounds in weight as well if i was to guess from when I had to take it out to dispose of.
What was the end result from this procedure? she had a little less belly fat overall, yet still a big belly that wobbled and hung out. Massive flabby/saggy arms and thighs and legs. A fat filled neck too. Chubby face, but not as much as others with similar height/weight would have. and probably 45+ inch waist. And (imo) she was still just as unattractive/unappealing to say the very least, - body wise, as before the fat was taken out (not even due to weight alone, but sagging/flabbiness, features, hair, nose, etc). The procedure cost her somewhere between €8-12k. And it would seem she has a young child (Due to her saying it was from her recent pregnancy).
And in my mind, its safe to assume her overall diet must be relatively unhealthy too, firstly cause of her weight, and secondly since she couldn't even go half a day without eating, even in preparation for surgery, and not even eating healthily when she did get her sister to go out and buy her more food - specifically junk food.
I know alot of that sounds really harsh. But i didn't say any of it to anyone, just things that went through my mind. And i'm not out-right insulting her, just stating my observations / opinions from what I saw and heard of her during and after the surgery, and heard about her before it.
Summed up, she basically wanted to lose weight. Paid a large sum of money (even though she has a new born or at least a young child at home) for someone else to do the work and spend an hour sucking out and cutting off a massive amount of fat from her body even though she (again imo) doesn't look any better after it either, and not for medical reasons, but purely cosmetic reasons. With a seemingly unhealthy diet / lifestyle, and not even the self-control to go less than half a day without eating. And I would guess she'd probably gain the weight back + more after a period of time too, since she may not even start eating less or anything. (Again, she wasn't referred by her doctor, her doctor had no notes or information to give the hospital about any weight loss attempts, any prescriptions to weight loss medication or anything. So she made no previous attempts, at least not with him, to lose weight herself).
The whole situation of hers kind of just made me mad. Not necessarily at her personally, but people like that in general. That with some money, and other people's time/effort/work, get all your fat taken out in an hour. And still continue to live the same lifestyle that got you to that weight/condition to begin with.
And then to just reflect on my own situation. Spending 7+ months with massive work, determination, tears and joy, depression, ups and downs, and research on the body / nutrition / diet / exercise / etc, to lose 50+ pounds of almost pure fat. (noticeably bigger muscles and can lift a fair bit heavier too, so muscle loss had to be minimal if not even nothing, and probably gained some muscle in fact).
And part of it might even jealousy or envy or something, that I had to work for so long and so hard (and still am), to lose fat, while this sort of an option exists for people that are just too lazy to put in effort or work themselves.
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Replies
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Thanks for you honesty, but you have to know this isn't going to go well...0
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Guess you're allowed your opinion - but that's judgey as it can be. You don't know that woman, you have no idea of her life or her struggles - and it isn't much your business how she chooses to handle her issue. You do you.
Hope your day/life improves.0 -
Cliffs????0
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Unless triage failed and she bumped someone in medical need, I'd say it's none of our damn business what she does with her life, her money and especially her own body.0
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The only reason you should care at all is if you are a taxpayer funding her surgery. It sounds as though that is not the case. Other than that, a healthy dose of empathy is all that's required.
The other peoples' time/work/effort is paid for. You get paid to do this job, no? She's getting nothing for free from the sounds of it. She's a grownup who earned her money and can do what she wants with it. She will likely end up right back in the same place in no time and your life will have moved on to the next thing.
I personally have not had WLS but from what I understand here on these boards, it is not the easy way out you seem to think it is.0 -
Why do you care what she does?
People get all KINDS of unnecessary surgeries. For instance, some of them to add body enhancements merely to pleasure their partner more in bed. How dare they, when the rest of us actually have to practice getting good in bed without the help of permanent ribbing!0 -
I would not care about the money or whether she looks better or not. Her money, she can throw it away. What I can never comprehend in elective surgery is taking the risk. I had the "pleasure" of having several major surgeries for different reasons, and I always understood that there is a risk, even a small death risk. I can even see taking this risk for cosmetic reasons, when a huge improvement is expected that will improve quality of life. But taking the risk for minor improvements, it is something I can never understand.0
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Holy crap. I can only hope and pray that if I ever go in for surgery or other medical procedures, be they doctor-recommended or for my own vanity, that I never ever have someone like you in the building. You don't know her. And even if everything you've assumed is completely correct, what the hell do you care? It's not your time/money, not your life.0
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Where's my popcorn and wine!
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IsaackGMOON wrote: ».
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There are good (and bad) reasons for liposuction, tummy tuck....whatever. Perhaps this woman knows a thing or two about her body (or maybe not).
When I was in my 20's......I was going to be thin, come hell or high water. My goal was 125 (I'm 5'5"). I got to goal and yet I still had fat thighs. I finally gave up at 106 pounds .... I still had fat thighs.
If I weren't a big chicken I would have liposuction (just on my thighs)....because I know from experience I will never have thin legs. I'm a pear....not everyone has the same body type. My goal for losing weight now, is to look "better"......but I will always wear capris.0 -
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Sounds like just another form of fat shaming. It's saying, "it isn't enough to lose weight, you have to do it in the right way too. You have to purge and sacrifice and be in discomfort to purify your past failures."0
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Liftng4Lis wrote: »
Heart Attack Grill?0 -
My 2 cents.. it's really none of your business and I don't know why you even spend your emotions thinking about it. Focus on you. She can afford it and so be it. Good for her. You are working hard.. good for you.0
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I swear to salami, if this is your greatest set of worries/concerns/anger-inducing circumstances, you're doing ok in life.0
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Sounds like just another form of fat shaming. It's saying, "it isn't enough to lose weight, you have to do it in the right way too. You have to purge and sacrifice and be in discomfort to purify your past failures."
I'll preface this by stating that what I am about to say has nothing to do with the original post, as I didn't read the whole thing because it was long and boring.
People talk about fat shaming like it's a bad thing. You have the right to eat what you want, and you have the right to get as large and unhealthy as you'd like, but you don't necessarily have the right to have people treat you as if you take care of your body and are a healthy person. If you are obese and are working to get healthy again, I have the utmost respect for you, but if you are obese and are continuing to over consume calories, I have no respect for you because you have no respect for yourself. If you are obese and doing nothing to correct that, or even worse, working on becoming more obese, you should be ashamed, and society should shame you. That's my opinion anyway.
How do you tell? I mean you, personally, how do you tell? How can you tell when looking at someone whether or not they're working to get healthy again?
Shouldn't people, regardless of their health status, be treated with a modicum of courtesy and respect simply because they're people?0 -
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You seem to have gone out of your way to speculate about this woman and judge her negatively from her appearance, her reasons for surgery to what she ate that day, how she spends her money or whether she really had a pregnancy. Why did you not also judge the surgeon and the hospital which will perform a medically unnecessary procedure for money? Are they not worse examples of human beings?
Sometimes people on MFP will say not my circus, not my monkeys. This is clearly a case of that.
I'm pretty sure you are jealous that you worked hard and someone else didn't. Weight loss isn't hard work for everyone even without surgery. There are plenty of people who have lost weight without feeling depressed, shedding tears, doing massive work or research. Some people never count calories or exercise and still manage to lose weight!
Try not to think about what other people are doing. You just do the best thing for you.0 -
I think you'd do better taking this to reddit.0
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CasperNaegle wrote: »My 2 cents.. it's really none of your business and I don't know why you even spend your emotions thinking about it. Focus on you. She can afford it and so be it. Good for her. You are working hard.. good for you.
Agree totally. To be honest I don't know how you know so much about this patient according to what you do, sounds like set up & clean up after surgeries. Privacy laws evidently not adhered to.
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Wow - you took stock of everything she ate. You're like a walking MFP. I'd love to have that kind of time and energy to waste tracking someone else's diet.0
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That isn't weight loss surgery. It's cosmetic surgery. Would you be similarly offended if it were a breast reduction surgery and you witnessed the person eating an above average meal beforehand?
I class weight loss surgery, which I had, as one that modifies digestion or intake. In my case the surgery greatly improved my quality of life. It was not easy and I am not lazy.
Perhaps orderlies like yourself would be less judjy if you could see what I ate before and after my surgery (which wasn't much).
The orderlies who brought me my meals sure looked sorry for me. They were the saddest things you ever saw and I couldn't finish them (cream of wheat, juice, tea).0 -
OMG - Did she really? Did you really? Did they really? I can't believe it! That's just so wrong! You are so right! <end sarcasm>0
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I would have to say, you may have worked hard for your weight loss but did you ever consider that she may have worked equally, if not harder, for her money. You choose what you do with the result of your hard work (apparently judging others), she chooses what she does with the result of hers (surgery). It does not sound like you are a medical doctor, did you read her chart or judge based on gossip. Are you really so bored at work that you had nothing better to do with your time than investigate a patient? Maybe you should speak with your employer and tell them you need things to do to occupy your time more productively.0
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GypsyByTheSea wrote: »OMG - Did she really? Did you really? Did they really? I can't believe it! That's just so wrong! You are so right! <end sarcasm>
Bahhahahhaahahha0 -
Sounds like just another form of fat shaming. It's saying, "it isn't enough to lose weight, you have to do it in the right way too. You have to purge and sacrifice and be in discomfort to purify your past failures."
I'll preface this by stating that what I am about to say has nothing to do with the original post, as I didn't read the whole thing because it was long and boring.
People talk about fat shaming like it's a bad thing. You have the right to eat what you want, and you have the right to get as large and unhealthy as you'd like, but you don't necessarily have the right to have people treat you as if you take care of your body and are a healthy person. If you are obese and are working to get healthy again, I have the utmost respect for you, but if you are obese and are continuing to over consume calories, I have no respect for you because you have no respect for yourself. If you are obese and doing nothing to correct that, or even worse, working on becoming more obese, you should be ashamed, and society should shame you. That's my opinion anyway.
It's bad because it doesn't help. At all. Researchers have done several scientific studies that have proved that fat shaming only makes the problem WORSE. Overweight/obese people who are fat shamed usually feel worse about themselves and overeat to compensate for the emotional damage that bullying does. Fat people know they're fat. They have eyes. What actually works is encouraging people and telling them that they can lose weight if they try hard enough. I was bullied a lot for being overweight, but I didn't start to lose weight until someone told me that they knew I could do it and that they believed in me.
Also, treating other people like **** generally makes you a nasty person.
Back to OPs point... WLS like gastric band is not a lazy way out, because it takes a lot of work. But tummy tucks and liposuction... I can see your point. If they were willing to work hard to keep the weight off (from the surgery) they would have been willing to work hard to get it off in the first place, surely? But I guess it's her money, she can do what she wants with it. If she ends up gaining it all back, then that's her own money wasted.0
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