Weight Loss Surgery

You answered:

"My health is suffering because of my weight."

"I think that an operation would fix my problem."

Here's what you need to know:

If you're going to have an weight loss surgery...

Forget the costs -- the dollar costs. Money's just money. You can scrape together whatever weight loss surgery costs somehow.

But what about the other costs? What are the costs to YOU?

There's the pain of the operation. And the lost time recovering from surgery. I suppose you can get over that.

Complications and failure

One, what about complications of weight loss surgery? And what if it doesn't work?

OK. Complications. Well, there's the risk of infection. Some hospitals have more infections than others. Some doctors have more infections than others.

Surgical skill

I've worked with some surgeons where it looked like they must have poured manure -- let's just call it germs -- into all their wounds. Everybody got infected.

Others surgeons hardly get any infections.

And sometimes the operation is just done wrong. You get over the operation. You expect to lose weight. And nothing happens.

Troubles with lap band

It's supposed to be so quick and easy. But then you find...

Lap band was put in wrong. Or it slips. Or it erodes -- where it wears through the tissue and ends up in the wrong position. Then it doesn't work.

Or the tubing gets kinked. The port gets disconnected. Does that happen? Yes, it does.

Then you need another operation.

Surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic have found that lap band surgery, "can be associated with significant morbidity and that revisional surgery is common." In fact, 14% of the people had to have the band removed. (Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2008 Jun 6)

Problems after gastric bypass

Worse complications? Gastric bypass has a lot of potential complications. With a bypass they have to cut your intestines and reattach them.

The places where they are reattached can leak. And that can be deadly. Deadly as in DEADly.

You can get "dumping syndrome" afterward. That's where the body can't handle the food you eat. And then whenever you eat you get nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. You get sweaty. You feel like you're going to faint.

What are the risks?

They used to say that about one in every 200 people die after gastric bypass surgery. But now it turns out those risks have been underestimated.

A recent study from the University of Washington showed that one out of every 50 people that has gastric bypass dies from the surgery.

Now pay attention here: They found that the risks are FIVE TIMES THAT HIGH IF THE SURGEON IS INEXPERIENCED WITH THE PROCEDURE. Do the math -- that's one out of 10 people that has the surgery. This could be you. Or someone you love.

Problems for years

So it's clear that the surgery might kill you. But it turns out that your risks of dying in the years after the surgery are higher too. There are a lot of deaths from heart attacks and suicide.

Scientist at the Cleveland Clinic call this a "substantial excess of deaths" in the years after weight loss surgery. (Death Rates and Causes of Death after Bariatric Surgery for Pennsylvania Residents 1994-2004. Bennet I. Omalu et. al. Arch Surg. 2007;142(10):923-928.)

Or you can run into a true horror story: Dr. Terry L. Sanderfer, a weight-loss surgeon, was accused by the Medical Board of California of gross negligence and incompetence in the treatment of 11 gastric-bypass patients. Six of the 11 patients died.

Do you need the surgery?

How do you decide? You can ask the surgeon of course. But there's an old saying about asking doctors if you need an operation. It goes: "You don't ask a barber if you need a haircut."

Now, ask any reputable surgeon and what do they tell you? They say, "You must commit to long-term lifestyle changes. Diet and exercise are the key to success with weight loss surgery."

Nothing could be more true. But it isn't just diet and exercise. There's more to it than that.

But I've tried everything...

My opinion: you should make sure you've tried to do everything you can before you undergo surgery. Sure, I can hear you saying, "But I have tried everything."

But have you, really? I've talked to a lot of overweight people. I have a lot of overweight patients. And I know what they've done. And I know what they've learned about weight loss.

And I can tell you -- they haven't "done everything." And you haven't "done everything." You're fooling yourself.

You're not even close to doing everything. Not even some of the simplest things. The obvious things. The easy things.

You owe it to yourself

So let me say this: You at least owe it to yourself to get a copy of my book Dr. Dan's Super Weight Loss Plan. Get the book. Read it. Then read it again.

It will change the way you look at things. You won't ever again say "I've tried everything." Because you'll see it wasn't true.

Do you have to do anything after you read it? No. That's up to you. But you will know -- you will understand -- what works. What doesn't work. Why it doesn't work. Why everything you tried before failed.

And then if you want to go ahead with the weight loss surgery, then go ahead. But then you actually can say you know everything you need to know about weight loss. And it will be the truth.

And if you end up following my advice in the book, and if you end up slimmer and trimmer and healthier and happier without surgery, well, so much the better.

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