What to Expect from Weight Loss Surgery
If you’re considering weight loss surgery, you’ll want to ensure that you have realistic expectations of the procedure and its effects. It is important to have a firm understanding of your surgery beforehand so that you’ll be able to better prepare yourself, both mentally and physically.
Depending on which type of surgery you have, you can expect to lose around:
- 50% of excess weight with gastric band surgery
- 55% of excess weight with sleeve gastrectomy surgery
- 60% of excess weight with gastric bypass surgery
What to Expect Before Surgery
In the weeks leading up to your surgery, Dr. Bass will give you specific pre-surgery instructions, including:
- Start implementing physical activity into your day-to-day routine
- Dietary guidelines
- Quit smoking
- Avoid alcohol
- If undergoing gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy, start taking vitamins, including a multivitamin with iron and calcium, and Vitamin B12
It’s important to get used to these dietary and lifestyle changes before your surgery so that you’ll be in the best position to continue them after your surgery.
Benefits of Weight Loss Surgery
Weight loss surgery’s positive effects aren’t limited to only weight loss. After surgery, you are less likely to develop obesity-related health conditions. And if you are already suffering from any of these conditions, you may see an improvement or resolution in them after surgery.
These health conditions include:
- Sleep apnea
- Heart disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Joint pain
- Hypertension
Post-Surgery Lifestyle Changes
Weight loss surgery will help you control the dietary aspect of weight loss because it restricts the amount of food you can consume (and in some cases, the digestive process). It’s up to you, then, to maintain some level of physical activity and remain nutritionally-conscious of your diet. Regarding physical activity, Dr. Bass suggests that everyone try to add some sort of exercise into their home life after surgery through low impact forms of activity like walking.
After surgery, Dr. Bass recommends that you continue the lifestyle behaviors introduced prior to surgery. As well, you will want to have regular check-ups with him in order to optimize your weight loss and insure that you remain on the track of living with complete health and wellness in mind.
