Recovering from Weight Loss Surgery
Every aspect of weight loss surgery is crucial to your success — including recovery. Keep reading to learn more about what to expect during the recovery period after you've had a weight loss procedure.
Obesity is a growing epidemic in the world, and is one of the leading causes of chronic disease and premature death. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even losing 5% to 10% of your weight can significantly reduce your risk for preventable chronic conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes. If you’ve tried on your own without significant results, weight loss surgery could be for you.
At Snow Bariatric Center, Dr. Robert Snow and our team offer comprehensive weight loss care for the communities of Fort Worth and Flower Mound, Texas. If you’re struggling with weight loss, Dr. Snow offers a number of procedures that can help, including gastric bypass surgery.
When you’re overweight or obese, it’s often hard to lose weight. Even with strict calorie counting and endless time on the treadmill, you may not be able to shed enough weight to get your body mass index (BMI) to a normal level.
Your BMI is a number determined by your height and your weight. A simple calculation helps you find out what your BMI is. If it’s over 40, you’re considered obese, and your risk for serious medical conditons increases.
A BMI of over 40 is just one of the factors that may qualify you for gastric bypass surgery. Other criteria that make you a candidate for weight loss surgery include:
If you meet any of the above criteria, weight loss surgery is definitely an option for you. At your initial appointment, Dr. Snow discusses your options, including gastric bypass surgery, to help you finally lose weight and improve your health.
Gastric bypass surgery is a procedure that makes your stomach smaller so you consume fewer calories. It allows you to feel full on significantly less food, leading to drastic weight loss.
It’s a very invasive procedure, but has many benefits over other forms of bariatric surgery. For instance, you can lose up to 70% of your body weight within the first two years after surgery. That’s significant if you’re obese.
It also improves and sometimes even resolves medical conditions caused by obesity. Some of the medical issues that gastric bypass gets addresses include:
The procedure also reduces your risk of heart disease and stroke, especially as you quickly lose the excess weight. The more your BMI drops, the better your body feels, and the less risk you have for chronic, long-term medical issues. If you have type 2 diabetes, gastric bypass surgery can’t cure you, but it can help you manage your symptoms.
Once you’re in the operating room, we administer general anesthesia, so you’re asleep for the entire procedure and won’t feel any pain or discomfort. Dr. Snow then begins the two steps of the gastric bypass procedure:
The first step in gastric bypass surgery is separating your stomach into two distinctive pouches. Dr. Snow uses staples to make a tiny pouch at the top of your stomach, and a large pouch at the bottom.
The top pouch only holds about an ounce of food, which allows you to feel full on significantly less food. This allows you to lose weight quickly, and limits your caloric intake.
Once the pouch is made in your stomach, Dr. Snow moves on to the second part of the procedure, which is the bypass.
Now that your stomach has a tiny pouch that holds a lot less food, Dr. Snow connects that pouch to your small intestine. To do this, he makes a small opening in the upper pouch where the small intestine will go.
Dr. Snow then takes a portion of your small intestine and connects it to the opening in the new stomach pouch. This is where the food goes after you eat. Bypassing other areas of the intestines helps your body absorb fewer calories, leading to significant weight loss.
If you’re obese and are looking into gastric bypass as a weight loss option, call one of our offices in Texas today. You can also request an appointment online using the booking tool on our website.
