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  #1   ^
Old Fri, Jul-23-04, 16:33
dan123's Avatar
dan123 dan123 is offline
New Member
Posts: 21
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 203/192/175 Male 70 inches
BF:
Progress: 39%
Question A Friend Seeking Surgery..

I belong to another website's [way off-topic] message board system..

A member there happens to be extremely overweight and is seeking surgery. -Stomach staple and small intestine shortening.

Has anyone here tinkered with the idea of surgery or can say whether or not a low-carb approach might be possible for those who are [or consider themselves] extremely obese?

Does low-carb weight loss even work for those in such a situation?

Dan
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  #2   ^
Old Sat, Jul-24-04, 11:34
tofi's Avatar
tofi tofi is offline
Posts: 6,204
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 244/220/170 Female 65.4inches
BF:
Progress: 32%
Location: Ontario
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Many of our members ARE or WERE considered extremely obese before starting LCing. Some started at over 400 or 500 pounds. And many of them have lost LOTS of weight. Check out Szar and DWRolfe and Tamarian for people who've done really well on LCing.
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  #3   ^
Old Thu, Jul-29-04, 12:32
cs_carver cs_carver is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,629
 
Plan: Generic LC with tweaks
Stats: 204/178/165 Female 72 inches
BF:
Progress: 67%
Location: NC
Default LC works best for those

LC is hardest for people who are close to normal weight, so it stands to reason it's more effective at the higher end of the scale.

The bigger issue here, and I realize this is only something you can suggest. Whatever problems got your friend into his or her situation are still going to be there after surgery. It can be VERY useful to try this WOE / WOL for a while--six months, three months even--before surgery, to show that it is possible to manage food intake.

My own concern with surgery is n = 1 where I saw someone treat it as a silver bullet. "I've had the surgery now I can't gain weight." Wrong. This WOL helps put the power and control back in the individual's hands, not outside them.
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  #4   ^
Old Sun, Aug-01-04, 16:31
bike2work bike2work is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,536
 
Plan: Fung-inspired fasting
Stats: 336/000/160 Female 5' 9"
BF:
Progress: 191%
Location: Seattle metro area
Default Yikes!

I'm glad that you're concerned. The mortality rate of that procedure is 1%. That is, one out of a hundred die on the operating table. It doesn't include the twenty-something percent who have severe complications and need additional surgeries afterward. It doesn't include the many who have lifelong health problems afterward. Even so, 1% mortality is alarming and unacceptable.

And it doesn't even always work. I've known a couple people who've had it and are still obese. I've heard of many more on TV and in articles.

I looked into it about twenty years ago when I could have had it covered 100% by medical insurance (I'm sure surgical techniques have improved since then). I spoke to the surgeon and asked why it works. He explained that it works because you eat less. I asked if you eat less because you are less hungry. He said, no, you aren't less hungry, you have to eat less because you will rupture your stomach if you overeat. I asked, you mean it works because you live in fear that if you eat too much you might rip your stomach open and die? He said yes. I left and never went back.

Here's another thread on the subject:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=39866

Here are lots of LC success stories:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=86

I hope you are successful in convincing your friend to reconsider.
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  #5   ^
Old Mon, Aug-02-04, 15:59
jjoyb jjoyb is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 212
 
Plan: Atkins-maintwhilepregnant
Stats: 201//135 Female 65 inches
BF:
Progress: 67%
Location: Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bike2work
I spoke to the surgeon and asked why it works. He explained that it works because you eat less. I asked if you eat less because you are less hungry. He said, no, you aren't less hungry, you have to eat less because you will rupture your stomach if you overeat. I asked, you mean it works because you live in fear that if you eat too much you might rip your stomach open and die? He said yes. I left and never went back.


Oh My God!! I can't believe a doctor actually admitted that the diet works by making it LETHAL to overeat! How sad is it that so many people have to resort to something akin to putting a gun to their head and saying that if they eat that food, the gun will go off, in order to lose weight. Thank God I found low carb before I got to that kind of place. Especially since I'm not so sure I would have been able to see death as a good enough deterrant.

Last edited by jjoyb : Mon, Aug-02-04 at 16:01. Reason: quote didn't make the box right.
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  #6   ^
Old Fri, Aug-13-04, 09:14
teriland1's Avatar
teriland1 teriland1 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 121
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 208/208/164 Female 5'5"
BF:
Progress: 0%
Location: Eastern Wa.
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OHhh here is my two cents....If my sis had not had the surgery last Sept. I would still have a sis. She had so many health problems and was extremely overweight. I trusted her Dr. who said he had 300 sucessful surgeries. "This would cure her health problems." Welll...sorrrrrryyyy Carnie Wilson, but I am not a fan of this. Her staples came out, she got a horrid infection, her kidneys failed...2 weeks later we sprinkled her ashes in her favorite lake.

Yes...supposedly this is a low death rate...but please explain to me why I now know 3 people who died after this surgery? All of almost the same complications...

Now - i will say that a good friend of mine did have success...but she did it ~ 260lbs. Still healthy enough to recover from surgery and she is doing so well. ( I don't like my personal ratio though....3 out of 4 people i know DIED from this??) It just seems very frightening...if you are say 400 lbs...you probably do have heart, lung, circulation, diabetes problems..and the cure is verrrrry risky....going into surgery with health problems. Perhaps my opinion is overly tainted in grief....but do you blame me?
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  #7   ^
Old Fri, Aug-13-04, 11:02
Kristine's Avatar
Kristine Kristine is offline
Forum Moderator
Posts: 25,581
 
Plan: Primal/P:E
Stats: 171/146/150 Female 5'7"
BF:
Progress: 119%
Location: Southern Ontario, Canada
Default

I find WLS to be a big paradox: people approach it because they can't/won't succeed on a diet. But as bike2work mentioned, it makes it potentially lethal if the patient can't/won't stick to a diet.

I would strongly encourage your friend to try a LC plan, not just because we've all had success on it, but because that's how s/he is going to be eating after the surgery. If s/he can't handle it now, how is s/he going to handle it when it becomes a matter of life and death?
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  #8   ^
Old Mon, Aug-16-04, 08:21
wcollier wcollier is offline
Mad Scientist
Posts: 4,402
 
Plan: Healthy eating/lifestyle
Stats: 156/115/115 Female 5'4 - small frame
BF:
Progress: 100%
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I've just finished re-reading one of my books, "Mastering Leptin" which further implicates the dangers of gastric bypass.

Apparently the surgery reduces the amount of functional stomach, thereby dramatically lowering the levels of ghrelin. Although this initially seems like a good thing, ghrelin is the key signal in the body that enables the proper release of growth hormone. So without proper ghrelin function, aging worsens as the body cannot correctly repair itself.

Here's a link to an article: Deaths Raise Fears Over Stomach Stapling

Wanda
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