Is Bariatric Surgery Right for You? Exploring Weight Loss Options and Considerations
Is bariatric surgery right for you? Many people who want to lose weight think about this question a lot. Well, let me help you. Read this article to learn what makes you eligible (or ineligible) for bariatric surgery and what pre-surgery guidelines you need to follow for bariatric surgery. Log on to www.doralhw.org for a consultation about weight loss surgery.
Are you a candidate?
You may be a suitable candidate for bariatric surgery if you fulfill the following guidelines:
- If your BMI is 40 or higher (it means you’re severely or morbidly obese).
- If your BMI is 35 along with chronic medical problems related to obesity, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, or sleep apnea.
- Your age should be between 18 to 75 years old.
- You are committed to following lifestyle changes permanently.
Keep in mind that bariatric surgery is usually recommended for adults. However, if a teen is extremely obese and has a weight-related medical condition then bariatric surgery can also be advised.
Behavioral and mental health concerns
Your weight loss after surgery mainly depends on your ability to change behaviors in eating and exercise. Additionally, it’s necessary to have an optimal mental state to follow the demands of your treatment plan. Your medical team helps you understand what psychological or behavioral risk factors are involved in the surgery and how you can address those problems. This helps you decide whether you’re ready for the surgery or not.
Your doctor and healthcare team will talk with you about these concerns:
- Motivation: Are you fully motivated to accept lifestyle changes, and educate yourself about healthy nutrition? The medical team helps you track your ability to follow recommended diet and exercise routine changes.
- Weight-loss history: Your doctors will ask you questions about your dieting and exercise plans in the past that you followed to lose weight. These patterns in weight loss and gain help them to better understand the challenges they’ll have to deal with and create effective strategies for post-surgical plans.
- Eating behaviors: Irregular eating behaviors or eating disorders may be the leading cause of obesity. Habits like binge eating, nighttime eating, and unplanned grazing between meals are also associated with other mood disorders and mental health conditions that you need to manage.
- Mood disorders: Depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or other mood disorders are commonly linked with obesity and make it difficult to manage your weight. Additionally, people with untreated mood disorders often had a tough time sticking with new diet and exercise habits after surgery.
- Alcohol and drug use: Alcohol or drug use, and smoking, are usually associated with poor weight loss and addiction problems even after surgery. That’s why untreated or unmanaged problems like this are prohibited from weight-loss surgery.
- Suicide risk: There is an elevated risk of suicide among people who have undergone weight-loss surgery. More common in people with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, etc.
Pre-surgery guidelines
Your medical team will give you the pre-surgery guidelines you should follow according to your lifestyle and past weight management patterns. It may include:
- Nutrition guidelines: The dietitian guides you with your nutrition guidelines, vitamin supplements, and menu planning. Those guidelines include changes before and after surgery.
- Exercise plan: Your nurse, occupational therapist, and other specialists create your exercise plan with appropriate exercises with realistic goals.
- Weight loss: Your team may recommend or require you to lose some weight through diet and lifestyle changes before having surgery.
- Psychotherapy: You may need to start talk therapy, drug treatment, or other mental health therapy to treat your eating disorder, depression, and other mental health conditions. Your therapy may include coping skills and addressing your concerns about your body and self-esteem.
- Smoking: If you smoke, you’ll need to quit smoking or participate in a program to help you quit.
- Other treatments: You need to follow treatments for other medical conditions.
These requirements will help you achieve your best possible weight-loss outcomes after surgery. Additionally, your ability to follow all these plans will show your team how motivated you are to follow guidelines after surgery.
Remember, your weight-loss surgery can be delayed or canceled if your healthcare team thinks:
- You’re not medically or psychologically ready for surgery.
- You haven’t made the necessary changes in your diet and lifestyle habits.
- You gained weight during the evaluation process.
Weight-loss surgery is a good option for you if you are severely obese or overweight with a medical condition. However, you also need to commit to making the necessary lifestyle changes in your life. Otherwise, you will regain the lost weight or may develop complications as well. So, consider all these factors and discuss with your healthcare provider whether a surgical or non-surgical option is best for you to lose weight.
If you want the best surgical options for weight-loss surgery, visit our bariatric clinic in Brooklyn to get professional medical support on what surgery fits best for you, Gastric sleeve surgery, Laparoscopic surgery, Gastric bypass surgery, Sleeve gastrectomy, or LAP band surgery? Call us on +13473845690 to get a consultation from us. Doral Health and Wellness has one of the best bariatric doctors and surgeons to treat obesity and weight problems. Book your appointment and walk in at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11212. Book your slot for a weight-loss consultation.