Who is eligible for the bariatric surgery?
People who have a very high body mass index or BMI value are eligible for the surgery. You should have a BMI above 35 or 40 for this surgery. People who have co-morbidity can also undergo the surgery. These are severe health problems due to obesity like diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, osteoarthritis, and other diseases. If you are obese and have these problems, you can benefit from the bariatric surgery.
For how much time will the patient be admitted to the hospital or the surgery?
Most Bariatric surgeries take 1-2 hours to finish. The patient is admitted to the hospital for 1-2 days.There is a slight pain after the surgery. The laparoscopic surgery is minimally invasive and causes minimum pain. Medicines are given to control the pain. You may need to take the medicines for some days post surgery. The pain is minor that can be easily controlled.
It takes about 1-2 weeks time for a person who undergoes the bariatric surgery to return to work. There can be some weakness and low energy levels and you may not be able to work for the full day. Thus, you might need a half day leave in the first seven days of joining the office. Another option is to go to the office on alternate days. Consult your surgeon about this. Some jobs need full attention and it might not be safe to have low energy while you work. If your work involves strenuous physical activities or lifting heavy objects, it might cause a problem at the site of the incisions leading to a hernia. Thus, be careful in the workplace and avoid these things.
Surgeons advise their patients to begin the exercises immediately after the surgery. Start the exercise by doing gentle and slow exercises initially. Do walking for a short distance during your stay at the hospital after the surgery. Take your surgeons advice and ask him to make an exercise plan for you. Do low-impact exercises when you go home and during the first thirty days. Avoid lifting very heavy weights and doing hard exercises that cause strain. Choose sports with less force and intensity.
Is laparoscopic surgery possible for people who have undergone abdominal surgery earlier, suffer from a hernia, or have a stoma?
Yes, it is possible. Let your surgeon know about the surgeries that you have undergone earlier. It is important for the surgeon to know about the previous abdominal and pelvic surgeries. Also, if you have had any surgeon in childhood and young age, let the surgeon know about it. You may need to show the surgery report of some previous surgeries like the esophagus, stomach, and bowel surgeries to your surgeon.
Weight loss after the bariatric surgery makes the skin loose and sagging. This is a temporary problem. It is possible to hide the skin with clothes. Patients can choose to have the plastic surgery after one and a half years of the bariatric surgery.
There can be some risk involved in the bariatric surgery for people who have diabetes. The surgeon can give the best advice for controlling the problem of diabetes during the bariatric surgery. Diabetic patients get relief from diabetes and high sugar levels with the weight loss surgery. The bariatric surgery improves the condition of people who have both Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes.
Yes, it is possible. However, the patient needs to consult a cardiologist and take his permission for undergoing the laparoscopic surgery for weight loss. The bariatric surgery can help in controlling heart problems by reducing the blood pressure levels, cholesterol, and lipid. It also helps in fighting other problems like heart enlargement. The surgeon who does the bariatric surgery must know that the patient has a heart problem.
There is a slight hair loss in some patients in 3-6 months of undergoing the bariatric surgery. However, the hair loss is very less and it goes unnoticed by other people. The hair grows back again after some time. It is a temporary hair loss and a minor problem.
What vitamins and minerals do the patients need after the surgery?
The patients are asked to take a multivitamin tablet after the bariatric surgery and they may need to take this for the rest of the life. The surgeon may advise to take some specific vitamins and minerals in a high dose. Annual laboratory testing is required to check if there is any nutritional deficiency.
The surgery is effective for losing weight and maintaining the lost weight for a long time in the future. Although the bariatric surgery helps in weight loss, some people regain five percent of weight after two years of the surgery. Most patients have a long lasting weight loss with the bariatric surgery.