Weight Loss operations reshape your stomach and change the digestive process of your body for life. It is major surgery, performed while the patient is under general anesthesia.

For many people, the idea of “rebuilding“ their stomach sounds good i.e. a small stomach that can help you control how much you eat sounds like a great tool.

For other people, the idea of surgery and anesthesia can provoke anxiety. The potential for complications also can be a little frightening.

This is perfectly normal. Before letting these fears prevent you from having the surgery, you may want to examine them.

Fear of Complications
Fear of short- or long-term complications is valid. As with any surgery, complications may occur.

If you are concerned about short-term or long-term complications, you can talk about them with your surgeon. Every surgery has risks, and your surgeon should discuss the benefits and risk of bariatric surgery with you.

Permanent and Lifelong Change to Your Body
Your surgeon will reduce your stomach to a very small pouch. The small intestine is then rerouted, so the digestive process allows fewer calories and nutrients to be absorbed by the body. The combination of restrictive and malabsorptive mechanisms allow for significant weight loss.

After gastric bypass surgery, the amount of food that you eat is less than what you could eat pre-surgery. At the same time, a feeling of satisfaction, or satiety, is achieved with these small quantities of food. If you eat a large meal or foods high in fat and/or sugar, you very likely will have a painful bout of dumping syndrome, which is an uncomfortable feeling of nausea, lightheadedness, upset stomach and diarrhea associated with ingestion of sweets, high-calorie liquids, or dairy products. This physical reaction provides a deterrent to large meals and unhealthy foods.

Because your stomach will be a fraction of its original size and your digestive process will be changed, you will have the opportunity to lose excess weight. Dangerous co-morbidities, such as type 2 diabetes, GERD and sleep apnea, are often resolved or improved. As you recover, you may find that clothes that fit a week ago or even a few days earlier, suddenly are too large. You also may find that a walk in the park no longer leaves you breathless; that you do remember how to ride a bike and that you can keep up with your kids.