Bariatric Surgery - The Cons Pt 1 (reblog)
Originally posted October 13, 2008
Ok, as I posted yesterday, I’m looking in to bariatric surgery, or as most around the web seem to refer to it; “weight loss surgery” or WLS. The pros of doing something like this are pretty much self-evident. What about the cons? What about the risks? I haven’t been blowing sunshine up my own kilt on this, I’ve been trying to find out about the downside to doing this as well.
First off , even the minimally invasive procedures are still, well, invasive. It is still a major surgery. There are inherent risks any time you get put under for a surgery. But those, well there is little you can do to avoid them other than not having surgery, any surgery. So I guess I put that stuff in the category of “not gonna sweat it”.
After surgery, this turns into a HUGE life-style changing deal that is going to (if it works) change how I eat for the rest of my life. That’s something I’ve been trying to do in little steps any ways, because I recognize that I need to do that to keep from dying before I hit fifty. Or if I don’t die, at least be able to walk up a flight of stairs without passing out, or falling from a joint giving out. Bariatric surgery, in that regard, is a major kick start.
Maybe the difference between doing this via WLS and not is some of the things that, from what I’ve been reading, become not just things that I “should not have” but rather things that I “can not have”. It is still early in my learning on this, but a few things that I think are going to end up on that list that I am really going to miss would be Coca-Cola, fruit juice, and popcorn at the movies. I’m trying to find out more about a post WLS diet, because I’m also going to miss cooking I think.
I love to cook, almost as much as I love to eat maybe? I don’t get real exotic, but I enjoy trying new things. I read cook books for entertainment. I hate cooking for just myself. Cooking for two is bad enough, there are tons of cookbooks out there on it. Cooking for one is probably worse, though maybe I didn’t see much difference yet, because lots of times I was probably eating enough for two. The point is, going through the effort of cooking a single burger or a single chicken breast and a side dish and other stuff – that was enough of a pain when they were “regular” portions. What about when the majority of a meal consists of a single egg?
Will that make things easier? or harder? Will the impulse to not want to have to mess up the kitchen for something so minor increase the odds of just hitting a fast food place on the way home from work? Granted, post WLS, I’d likely not be able to handle much more than just the patty from a dollar-menu burger rather than a couple of them with fries and a pop but still… that can’t be a good thing, it’s just on a smaller scale.
In some ways I am sort of approaching this as a challenge though. I have a freezer. I have a food-saver. Ok so I cook once a week and I’m good for a month now? I recently started a recipe site that I haven’t touched in a few weeks now, maybe I’ll have to give it a new direction. We’ll see.’
This reblog was originally posted on one of my previous blogs/websites. Some will be about my personal experiences with my decision to have bariatric surgery, others are about other relevant issues that I feel are worth still having available for discussion. Minor editing may have been done for clarity.
