Weight loss surgery

Let's face it - I'm not 25 any longer. One would think that having children in their 30's would make that pretty clear, but they don't look like they're in their 30's, and I really don't feel like I'm in my 60's (barely!) However, I have noticed that there is more of me (except for my hair) than there used to be. Quite a bit more, actually. The added weight has brought on several problems that I'm not thrilled to be facing. They include acid reflux, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, hypertension, and a near approach to Type II diabetes; the last three together are known as Metabolic Syndrome. All of them are a byproduct of the extra weight. I keep telling Vickie that in me she just has too much of a good thing. It doesn't really help.

Nor did various attempts at diet and exercise seem to do the job. I'd lose a few pounds (up to 10-12), then put them back on. Not good.

So we decided it was time to do something more dramatic: bariatric (weight-loss) surgery. It turns out that there are several ways to go. Here is the link for the National Institute of Health's site discussing weight-loss surgery.

The type of operation I'm actually having is laparoscopic gastric banding, often referred to by the brand name of one of the equipment makers, lap-band. Basically, they install a little band with an inflatable balloon around the stomach, near the top, to make a little pouch instead of a big stomach. Here's a diagram, so you can see how it works. The inflatable portion is connected by a little tube to a port that sits just under the skin in some convenient place. To tighten the band, you simply inject a little saline through the port; similarly, you can loosen the band by withdrawing saline through the port.

As a precursor to the surgery, I've been on a 1000 calorie/day diet for the last week and a half, and have lost about 10 pounds so far. After the surgery, I'll be on liquids for a week, then soft and mushy foods for a week or two, then back to relatively normal stuff - just not very much of it.

The idea of this whole thing is that you don't eat as much because the pouch gets full and your natural gastrointestinal reactions tell you that you're full - even though you haven't eaten nearly as much as you might with a normal stomach. That is supposed to basically eliminate hunger - which is for me, like for most people, a big part of why I eat.

Of course, I'll have to watch what I eat from now on. Carbonated drinks are out, for example, including champagne (I'll never miss it, since I've never even tasted the stuff.) I will have to concentrate on protein and nutritious things, and be sure not to miss taking vitamins regularly. Vickie and I have already started exercising fairly regularly, so that will continue, too. In essence, you're supposed to live a healthy lifestyle - not a bad thing for anybody. This will just help enforce it.

There is at least one more big advantage - Vickie and I will now be on the same diet, since she had the same surgery about 50 pounds ago, so cooking will be easier. We've already decided how to handle eating out: we will alternate the choice of what we eat, since the best way to eat out is to just order one meal for both of us, then split it.

My surgery is scheduled for Thursday the 26th of February. It's done on an outpatient basis, so unless something goes drastically wrong, I'll only be in the clinic about 3-4 hours. After I come out of the anesthetic, it's homeward for a nice nap.

The statistics for lap-band surgery are very comforting, as complications are rare, especially when it's done by a doctor with lots of experience. My doctor has done about 700 of these, so he knows what he's doing. Even better, all of the office staff has had the surgery, and there are numerous support-group activities. Complications occasionally do happen, but the odds are much better than for other types of bariatric surgery, and having this surgery greatly decreases my risks of having problems related to excess weight.

Wish me luck!