Expectations
After Weight Loss Surgery
Weight loss surgery -- like any surgical
procedure, may require an extensive recovery period. Recovery
time varies with the person, but usually takes at least one
full week, and often up to three or four weeks.
New techniques have helped lessen recovery
time. Today, the weight loss surgery can be performed minimally
invasively via small incisions. In a few centers around the
country, weight loss surgery is even done on an outpatient
basis.
Most obese people lose about a pound a
day for the first month or so after weight loss surgery.
Then they may lose between 50% and 75% of their excess body
weight within a full year after surgery. But even then, the
process is not over. People who have weight loss surgery
are at risk for medical problems due to nutritional deficiencies
such as anemia, osteoporosis, and metabolic bone disease.
They need to follow a careful healthy diet, exercise, and
have regular checkups with doctors who can monitor their
nutritional health.
Quick
Questions to Ask Yourself About Weight Loss Surgery
Ask yourself these questions, from the
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases,
if you are considering weight loss surgery. If you answer
yes to many or all of them, start by calling a surgeon and
your insurance company.
Are you?
 Unlikely
to lose weight or keep weight off long term with non-surgical
measures?
Well
informed about the surgical procedure and the effects of
treatment?
Determined
to lose weight and improve your health?
Aware
of how your life may change after the operation (adjustments
to the side effects of the operation include
the need to chew food well and inability to
eat large meals)?
Aware
of the potential for serious complications, dietary restrictions,
and occasional failures?
Committed
to lifelong medical follow-up and vitamin/mineral supplementation?
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