1. The Weigh Down
For some people living with extreme or morbid obesity, gastric bypass surgery seems the last option in a long line of failed attempts at weight loss. However, gastric bypass surgery isn't just another diet plan. Gastric bypass surgery is major surgery with loads of potential for complications and in many cases death. Reports suggest that one out of every fifty gastric bypass patients die within one month of having the surgery each year from surgery complications. That number jumps in patients using an inexperienced surgeon.
2. Experience Counts
With numbers like that, you'd better believe it! When considering gastric bypass surgery, you need to interview any doctor you're considering to do the procedure. If she doesn't have years of training, a stack of recommendations and a number of successful surgeries under her belt, walk away. Leaks from the surgery pose the biggest risk, and inexperienced surgeons just aren't qualified for the extensive reconstruction involved in gastric bypass. Experienced and successful surgeons agree that early detection of problems is the key to saving the life of a patient in trouble.
3. Risky Business
Because traditional gastric bypass surgery involves a large wound and more potential for danger, many doctors choose the laparoscopic method. In either case, the surgeon staples the stomach at the top leaving a walnut-sized pouch that holds about an ounce of food. She then cuts the small intestine and attaches it directly to the pouch. This means food completely bypasses most of your stomach and the first section of your small intestine and goes directly to the second section of small intestine. This limits your ability to absorb calories. The rest of the stomach stays healthy, even though it's not involved.
4. Basic Benefits
The benefits from gastric bypass surgery are the same as those from any major weight loss. Weight loss decreases the risk of adult onset diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke. It also reduces cholesterol, acid reflux and helps with sleep apnea. As with any weight loss, lifestyle change is a part of gastric bypass weight loss surgery. In some cases, people who haven't changed their lifestyle find themselves putting weight back on as their stomach stretches out over time.
5. Safer Options
There are a few alternative forms of gastric bypass that are much safer and less invasive than traditional gastric bypass surgery. The lap-band system sections off the stomach with a band instead of staples and vertical banded gastroplasty uses staples but sections the stomach into two parts without a bypass.
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