This is essentially what my grandfather did with my brother. My brother’s reply was that he was concerned about the safety factor (though bariatric surgery has become quite advanced and the safety is very high I will note).
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Safe compared to what? 12 gauge buckshot to the sternum? There is nothing safe or sane about giving someone a 3 oz stomach and detaching 1/3 of their duodenum. The long-term safety of such a procedure is extremely questionable, and the nutrient deficiencies caused by this deliberate mal-absorption scenario are extreme in many cases.
So many folks have tremendous faith in “modern medicine”. It scares me, being a professional in the middle of it, knowing how trusting most people in our society are to people and groups who are motivated primarily by profit to prescribe certain drugs, and do certain procedures.
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Lap banding is considerably safer than the original gastric bypasses. Of course the 5 year survival of the the original gastric bypasses was around 0%. Wish I still had that article. Slightly less than optimal outcome.
That’s two horse haters I’ve run into, lol. I’ll put some of my art up I guess but it’ll take time to update (no I’m not that skinny (starved student) anymore.)
And yeah just for everyone else who hasn’t figured out by now, I’m not “pro” bariatric surgery. But my physician grandfather (he’s actually “head of campus” at the University of New South Wales) wanted me to convince my brother to go for it because he’s 350 something pounds (I said “over 300” pounds at the beginning because that’s when I last saw him and I didn’t know how much he gained since).
I will not be advising my brother to undergo surgery. If my brother comes to me for weight loss guidance for a second time I will be for lifestyle improvements. We haven’t been in touch for a long time, but when we were he was complaining about his weight, not sure what leads to him falling off the wagon, probably his social circle.
1)How sick is your brother with his current weight? Does he have a multitude of health issues or risk factors above and beyond his obesity?
2)Does your brother really want to undergo the surgery for this weight loss?
3)Has your brother “really” tried multiple times at losing weight or improving fitness (aka starting an exercise program)?
4)Is your brother driven/motivated to lose weight conventionally at the moment?
5)Is it the people surrounding him or himself that wants the surgery?
6)Has your brother ever tried psychological counselling, dietitians, personal training, weight loss drugs, or basically the multitute of options available aside from surgery?
7)Has your brother internally decided that he wants to lose weight and become more physically active yet?
These are open ended questions, but they should be asked before undergoing what I consider to be the most aggresive/invasive weight loss approach. Although the bariatric surgery profession as a whole has been lobbying to turn weight loss surgery into a common weight loss approach for almost everyone (it is true that the lap band procedure is fairly safe), I still feel that it is reserved for the really desperate cases.
A 400 pound 50 year old lady with diabetes and arthritis who has tried dozens of nutritional/exercise approaches in her life may be a more ideal candidate for such a surgery in my mind, and even then, you still have to ask a lot of questions.