Gastric Bypass Surgery

athenaharless

I just learned yesterday that a doctor suggested possible gastric bypass surgery for my 17 year old daughter. She is very overweight and yes it would help her to lose the weight that she has struggled with all her life, but my ex-husband don't like the idea. Is this a safe route to go for her when she is just a couple of pounds from 300 pounds and 5'5? Although we have tried to help her lose weight over the years, she is what I call a "sneak eater". She will sneak into the kitchen when nobody is looking and take food and hide it in her room to eat. Are there other routes we can talk to her doctor about? Advice welcome and needed.

Buddie616

NO NO NO!!!! My mother has this surgery done in 1994 and has been very sickly from the the surgery ever since. It is not a good idea at all. I know several people that have had bad effects years later just like my mother!! Please don't do it

Tropical_Turtle

Well she may want to address her sneaking food, because if you dont address that - nothing beneficial will come from it. She has to want to change in order to make this all happen for her. I am in process for weight loss surgery, and it wasnt my first resort, but my MS has spiraled out of control. The benefits to the WLS (weight loss surgery) is the long term benefits to her health. Just remember that 3 to 5% of people who take off the weight non surgically keep it off, so looking at those odds, they really arent in her favor. Im not advocating surgery but it may be in her best interest. But as I said, addressing her food issues, and other issues that stir her to eat as she does is very important.

mrsmol37

She is only a teenager. How about getting counseling to get the reason why she eats the way she does. It is hard to control their food choices at that age, but only keep healthy snacks and cook good, low fat meals. Gastric Bypass would NEVER be an option for me.

JenOman

Your daughter may benefit from talking to a mental health professional. If she is a "sneak eater" she probably has an underlying emotional issue that she is compensating for. I know for me food is comforting and makes me feel better when I am blue. But I am not a compulsive eater and I can now deal with my stress/issues in other ways (most of the time).

I think it would be cheaper and better in the long run if you get her help for the underlying issues instead of going with the dangerous surgery.

Good luck!

tabbydog

If she sneaks into the kitchen to eat now, she will do the same after the surgery. Without changing her habits she won't keep the weight off. Better to enroll her in weight watchers or something that will teach her healthy habits. Maybe counseling to find out why she sneaks food. I would NOT suggest gastric bypass surgery for anyone, especially a child, except as a last resort, and at 17 I think she still has time to find a better alternative. This is just my opinion.

BGabbart

NOTHINGS works not even surgery if the person is not willing to do what needs to be done to lose weight. This is a self thing just like drinking and drugs. A person has got to want to do the things it takes to lose the weight. I know because I am 5' tall and close to 300 lbs. I had to really want to make changes in my life for this to work. I have dropped 20 lbs so far but I have a long way to go. 17 seems so young to have to go through that type of surgery and she will have to live and eat right or she will gain it right back.

CatchThatKitten

It should be about what your daughter is comfortable with, as far as surgery goes...but no matter what, DO NOT let her be a 300lb teenager! Those years are hard enough (I know from experience...I was heavy all through high school). Definitely get her into some counseling about her weight. Maybe send her to a special camp for weight loss for a while. If she wants the surgery, tell her the risks and don't sugar coat it, and let her decide but get her into counseling IMMEDIATELY. She will thank you for it later!

casey72886

Gastric is a tool, not the answer. Many people do not maintain their post surgery weight loss surgery because they go back to their old ways. The pouch will stretch back out and she will gain weight again. If she has her eating under control and is able to lose weight and maintain on her own then it is a good option. But for most it is not.

boomboom011

is she on MFP? there is also sparkteens. I say NO the the GB.

Tuffjourney

I was being considered for it. But before I could get it auth from Insurance, I had to do the HMR diet. So I did and so far have lost 70 lbs since 10/13/10. I have now realized that I dont want to have the surgery and I have changed my lifestyle completely. Now, I am not suggesting the HMR diet for her. Just saying that there are other options. I have changed my diet so completely, I haven't eaten at a fast food place since I started. I eat healthy, and I started walking. I started walking for 10 minutes to begin with. Now I walk nearly everyday for at least an hour and 2 hours on weekends. I started at 305lbs also.

lcoulter23

gastric bypass patients have a high rate of malnutrition due to the fact that their bodies don't absorb the most important vitamins and minerals anymore. Plus, their stomachs can stretch back out if they are eating the wrong way. My mom works in a hospital and a bunch of employees had the surgery and some lost so much weight they looked grey and others lost a bunch and then gained it all back plus some. I agree with the person who said get her some counseling and only keep healthy stuff in the house that way she is at least eating right and may lose some weight that way.

redscales

My wife had it done and she's had complications and issues eating every since. My mother had the lap band done and she's back up to the weight she started at. The sneak eating is the main culprit to focus on first. If you don't address that, then the surgery won't do any good. The stomach is a remarkable organ. It will G-R-O-W to encompass all that you put into it. Your daughter could have the bypass, and then enlarge her pouch to where she could eat as much as she does now. What's worse, is that most of the digestion that the stomach does is in the bypassed part, so she could get something lodged in there and make herself extremely sick. Also, if the doctor recommending this surgery isn't pushing for counseling first, find another bariatric surgeon. Best of luck to both of you.

scapez

Your daughter need to learn how to manage food and she needs to learn how to live healthy, exercise, etc. At this point in her life she does NOT need her body modified in such a drastic, permanent way. She needs a role model to learn healthy habits from, not a doctor poised to made changes to her that the human body wasn't designed for.

CardiacNP

I would not do it unless EVERY other meathod has been tried. and not work. It will take time and work. But the surgery is not easy or without risk. She needs to learn a new life style how to live without surgery

california_peach

I would try and get her in to see a therapist who deals with eating issues. If she does not deal with why she is sneaking then she will continue with the behavior. Good luck to you and let just say how lucky your daughter is to have such an loving and contentious mother.

lcoulter23

I should also mention that a person who was my best friend had the gastric sleeve surgery done, which is only half of the GB, and while she lost a lot of weight she still eats like she did before. I don't talk to her much anymore because she tried pushing me to get it and told me that it is the only way I will ever lose weight. Well I don't want surgery, I want to do this the safe and natural way, plus I have no insurance and no money to even get the surgery. She has also changed in a way where she is not the same person she was before. She says she is but she isn't.

justnname

Surgery is not a cure all.. I agree with @mrsmol37. You need to find a good therapist for her. Surgery would only help her lose the weight faster, it doesn't cure why she got so heavy. My aunt and cousin both have had the surgery. Both have gain the weight back. My aunt has complication with taking medication/vitamins because of the surgery.

lloydrt

I know 3 sisters who had it done, one is sucessful, the other 2 are back to where they were and then some, each at over 100 lbs each

also, the one sister works with one lady who had it done, only to die at a basketball game ,and that same ladys own mother in law passed away as well...
the 3 sisters have one younger sister, who refused to have the surgery, and shes about 360, more or less and has had one heart attack

Id think it has to do with being committed........I could have had surgery, but I am scared sh tless of surgery, drs and hosptials, so I stayed focused, came here and met friends and logged everything...............got about 18 more lbs to lose and have never ever been healthier.............good luck, I hope she gets help............Lloyd

risefromruin

I considered getting the surgery a couple years ago, and I'm 23 years old now. Let me tell you, I am SO happy that I didn't. The restrictions and complications that come with that surgery and much worse than what I've had to go through with food allergies and a weight loss diet already, so I can't even imagine it. I'm not against surgery if it's the last option, but she's only 17 and that's a really big decision. She CAN lose the weight, but it really has to be up to her. If she gets the surgery and her mentality stays the way it is, she'll just sneak eat even with the surgery and make herself sick.

pumpkinmoccasin

If she sneaks into the kitchen to eat now, she will do the same after the surgery. Without changing her habits she won't keep the weight off. Better to enroll her in weight watchers or something that will teach her healthy habits. Maybe counseling to find out why she sneaks food. I would NOT suggest gastric bypass surgery for anyone, especially a child, except as a last resort, and at 17 I think she still has time to find a better alternative. This is just my opinion.

Basically what I was going to say... Give her the tools to fix the situation, lots of encouragement, and maybe some professional help to learn to cope with whatever is making her sneak food. Even if surgery helps her lose the weight, it's only going to be temporary if she hasn't fixed the problems on the inside that are making her the way she is now.