Surgery for obesity & metabolic diseases
Making state of the art surgery affordable
In medical tourism for weight loss surgery, patients are often bombarded with questions and concerns, not always with the best intentions. What I mean is that many times, the relatives or acquaintances of those interested, instead of supporting them in changing and improving their quality of life, try to get them to give up the idea of having surgery. Interested people usually have many doubts, so on this occasion, we want to discuss the main questions you should consider asking the bariatric surgeon you choose for your peace of mind.
You must remember that the fact that if you find affordable procedures is relevant but it is not the most important thing, you must first know what it is about, what expectations you should have, and how they can change your life so that you choose wisely and favorably to your objectives.
This article addresses some of the five most common questions from patients considering weight loss surgery. They are not necessarily the most common, but they are the most relevant for making your decision.
A personalized approach to weight loss
The decision to undergo weight loss surgery is a very personal one. Patients often wonder if it is the right choice for them. However, determining whether surgery is for you does not depend solely on the patient or interested person but on a series of questions that the surgeon you contact must ask you to determine if you will obtain sufficient benefit from the surgery to justify going forward.
Considering that bariatric surgery has become a safe branch of surgery in the last two decades, it is likely that if you meet the requirements in terms of body mass index, you are a good candidate for weight loss surgery.
If you have chosen your bariatric surgeon properly, they will speak to you with the truth and let you know if bariatric surgery is for you. If you want to know more about this particular topic, we invite you to visit this article:
Am I a good candidate for Weight Loss Surgery?
Exploring surgical options
Nowadays, as in the past, countless bariatric procedures may be an option for you. However, some procedures are much more effective than others, a topic that you should discuss in depth with your bariatric surgeon. You may have heard of many of them, the most common and popular being the gastric bypass, gastric sleeve, and mini bypass, but these are just three of many others that exist today.
Choosing the ideal procedure for you will depend on aspects of yourself, your medical history, and the surgeon's preference. In other words, there will be patients who are candidates for more than one procedure, and your surgeon will likely opt for the one with which he feels most familiar, with which he has more experience or better results with his patients.
Deciding on the ideal bariatric procedure is one of the most essential aspects you should consider when proceeding with your surgery, and you have every right to investigate and ask your bariatric surgeon everything you need to know to make the right decision and best decision. You must evaluate all the pros and cons of each procedure appropriate for your case. In this article, we talk in more depth about the different procedures available today, as well as other treatment options:
Treatment Options for Morbid Obesity
Weighing the pros and cons
This question as such could imply an entire topic with an infinite number of explanations and possibilities; however, on this occasion, we will limit ourselves to mentioning that, like everything in life, there are risks when performing weight loss surgery, considering that the procedure will be carried out by a certified bariatric group, in the adequate facilities and using the best quality material, the chances of a complication are minimal, even lower than the risk of complications from gallbladder surgery.
For this reason, it is crucial to correctly choose your group and bariatric surgeon and that not only the economic factor is what motivates you to decide who will be your bariatric surgeon.
Among the principal risks of bariatric surgery are the presence of post-surgical bleeding, infection of the wound or surgical wounds, formation of clots in the lower extremities, and some others, all of these being in a percentage that should not be the reason to give up on your plan since the statistics and rates are entirely in your favor. Unless you have a significant history that considerably increases these risk percentages, it will always be better to do something effective and lasting for your health than to do nothing for fear of surgery. If you want to read a little more about the fear of surgery, we invite you to visit the following article:
Fear of weight loss surgery, what you need to know
The quality of life you will achieve with weight loss surgery far exceeds the minimal risks of complications mentioned above. This quality of life is achieved because by losing weight considerably, you will be able to improve your general health and avoid the development of chronic and deteriorating diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, heart attacks, strokes, and many types of cancer, situations that definitely YES they put your life at imminent risk.
Fear of pain is common
I decided to include this question in the article since it is one of the most frequently asked by all patients; for some reason, pain is a constant and genuine concern for the majority.
What I can tell you about this is that it is infrequent for a patient to suffer from intense pain after gastric or bariatric sleeve surgery in general, considering that we perform all procedures laparoscopically, which involves tiny incisions, so the pain is usually much more tolerable than patients imagine.
After surgery and when the anesthesia wears off, our patients often do not even realize when they enter the operating room, or they forget. It has happened to me that when I get to their room hours after having had surgery, I wake them up, and they ask me what time their operation will be! This is not a joke, it is an actual situation that occurs regularly. This tells us how noble laparoscopic surgery is in terms of pain.
A frequent reference from our patients is that their abdomen feels as if they had done many sit-ups the day before; that is the type of discomfort they usually perceive. On other occasions, women try to compare it with a previous gallbladder surgery or cesarean section and tell us there is no point of comparison since the discomfort is minimal compared to these other procedures.
In short, fear of pain after bariatric surgery is unfounded and should not be a reason for you to give up on your plan. Even in the hypothetical case of considerable discomfort, we have postoperative management within the hospital for at least 24 hours, in which we administer analgesics through the vein based on the patient's degree of discomfort.
If you want to review the topic of pain after gastric sleeve surgery in more depth, I invite you to read the following article:
Planning your return to daily life
Finally, the recovery time from bariatric surgery will depend mainly on whether it is performed laparoscopically or conventionally as before. In the vast majority of current practices of bariatric groups, surgery is laparoscopic.
Being a laparoscopic approach, my patients usually return to their normal activities at home and work for a period of between four and seven days. That is, at home, from the next day or 48 hours after surgery, they can lead their life practically normal, climbing stairs, going for a walk, etc.
An essential thing in these first days is to be aware that they must maintain an adequate state of hydration and have clear liquid at all times since they will not be able to take drinks of considerable volume. So, while at home and work, you can meet this goal, returning to your work activities as soon as five days after surgery.
The only restriction they should consider at home and work is not to make great efforts such as carrying heavy objects. My recommendation to my patients is to lift at most 30 pounds (Not more than 30 pounds for the first 30 days). In these cases, it is common for women between 25 and 65 years old to wonder if they can carry their children or grandchildren. The answer is yes. They should only avoid bending down to the floor to lift them if they weigh more than 30 pounds. If you want to know more about the topic, we also have a dedicated article:
Recovery time after gastric sleeve surgery
We hope that this article has been helpful to you to have a clearer perspective on weight loss surgery. We invite you to like, subscribe, and share this article if you find value in this information.
Remember to contact us on our social networks or our website, www.obesityfree.com.
We will gladly answer your questions!
Receive interesting articles about obesity surgery, weight loss and healthy living by mail.
Rodrigo Andalon St # 112 Suite C
Colonia Burocratas. Piedras Negras, Coahuila. México
Blvd. Díaz Ordaz #300 Col. Miravalle
Monterrey, Nuevo León. México
Baja California 3401, Jardín 88260
Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. México
Requerimientos
