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Long-Term Results After Bariatric Surgery
When you leave the hospital, we will schedule an
appointment with you about two weeks from the date of the operation.
You
will see your surgeon and a dietitian at regular intervals several times during
the first year and then as needed thereafter to monitor your
progress.
Because of fatigue and the inconvenience of your special diet,
you will be unable to return to work for at least two weeks to four weeks after
surgery.
We will place no lifting restrictions on you after three
weeks.
If you have an active job, you probably will be able to return to
work in about four weeks to six weeks. If your job is rather sedentary, you
could return to work earlier.
By eating small meals (until you are full),
your daily food intake will decrease markedly, resulting in a weight loss of
about four pounds to six pounds per week initially. Weight loss will continue
for about one year.
Our goal is for you to reach a stable weight at about
30 percent above your ideal body weight. In other words, if your height suggests
that your ideal body weight is 150 pounds, 30 percent above your ideal body
weight is 50 pounds. Your weight may stabilize at about 200
pounds.
Extremely obese patients (greater than 400 pounds) tend
to stabilize at a greater weight than less obese people, and conversely, less
obese patients (less than 300 pounds) tend to stabilize at lesser weights, 10
to 20 percent above ideal body weight, for example.
Other factors that
affect your weight are your exercise level and the type of diet you consume. For
example, people who eat large amounts of sweets tend not to lose as much
weight.
We believe that about 80 percent of patients have
excellent results. Another 10 to 15 percent of patients get a "good" result. This
latter group of "good" patients do not lose as much weight as we would like or
they have more nausea or restriction in their diet than we would like.
We
have been extremely happy with the effect of weight loss after surgery on the
complications of obesity. For example, diabetes is rapidly improved after weight
loss. About two-thirds of patients are able to stop all medications for high
blood pressure. Sleep disorders usually resolve completely, and lower extremity
joint pains are markedly improved.
Five to
10 percent of "poor" results of patients either do not lose enough weight or regain
their weight, and that is largely due to disruption tearing of the staples in the
stomach. This allows patients to eat more and weight gradually
returns.
In our experience, excessive weight loss and/or frequent
vomiting is an unusual cause of "poor" results.