Related Programs

Your Boss Wants You Slim, Healthy and Ready to Keep Medical Costs Down How Sweet Treats May Lead to Obesity Patient Perspective on Weight Loss Surgery What Is Morbid Obesity and What Can Be Done? Understanding Gastric Surgery

Diet and Weight Loss Weight Loss Surgery

Preparing for Weight Loss Surgery

Summary & Participants

Preparation for weight loss surgery includes learning about the available types of surgery, selecting a qualified doctor, holding pre-op meetings with the medical team and understanding the recovery process.

Medically Reviewed On: July 14, 2008

Webcast Transcript

DANIEL G. DAVIS, DO: Patients who do not have weight loss surgery as one of their benefits in their insurance plan, can opt to self-pay, and usually the surgeon, as well as the hospital, will work with that patient to bring down the cost of the procedure itself.

EMMA PATTERSON, MD: So for patients who don't have health insurance to cover the surgery, there's often financing available.

ANNOUNCER: During the week before surgery, patients may meet with the surgeon, nurse and dietitian for a pre-op review. At home, patients should make preparations for their recovery, like stocking their refrigerators with liquids and pureed foods.

ANNOUNCER: On the night before surgery patients should try to relax.

EMMA PATTERSON, MD: They're going to be feeling a variety of emotions that night before, and even the morning of surgery. They're going to be excited, yet anxious, perhaps scared, perhaps really scared. And so it's best if they can get a good night's sleep.

ANNOUNCER: The symptoms patients will experience after surgery depend on the type of weight loss surgery they've had.

MARC BESSLER, MD: A patient, after a gastric banding, can really expect to come to the recovery room having some discomfort and requiring medication for treatment of that discomfort. They can expect to be getting out of bed shortly after surgery, to sit in a chair, to start drinking liquids, and to generally start feeling better and better over the course of a couple of hours. While it is major surgery, patients tend to recover pretty quickly with the laparoscopic approach and can often go home the same day.

ANNOUNCER: Gastric bypass patients will also require pain medication for any discomfort they experience after surgery. It is common for gastric bypass patients to be admitted to the hospital for two or three days after bypass surgery. Hospitalization for adjustable gastric band patients is usually less than 24 hours.

MARC BESSLER, MD: What you can expect is in the hospital is, for the first day, to be on intravenous fluids without having anything to eat or drink. We actually order that our patients be out of bed within six hours after surgery. It helps your lungs expand better; it helps reduce the risk of getting blood clots in the legs, which is one of the complications after gastric bypass.

ANNOUNCER: On the day after gastric bypass or adjustable gastric band surgery, patients will likely have an X-ray to determine that there are no complications.

MARC BESSLER, MD: After surgery in some centers, you'll be getting an X-ray study to make sure things are healing well, or your doctor may have enough experience and enough comfort that he doesn't feel the need to get a routine X-ray, and you'll only get one if there is a sign of a problem.

ANNOUNCER: Regardless of which type of surgery is performed, for several weeks the patient will be on a modified diet of liquids, pureed foods and then eventually soft foods.

Day by day, patients' discomfort should lessen. But if a patient starts experiencing pain he or she should contact the surgeon as this could a sign of complications. Patients should plan on making a series of post surgery visits to their doctor's office.

EMMA PATTERSON, MD: They should expect a visit within the first month. Probably anywhere from one week to a month after surgery, they'll expect to be seen to see how that they're doing with their diet, with mobility, with the healing of the incisions and just general recovery from surgery.

ANNOUNCER: Approximately four to six weeks after surgery, patients who had adjustable gastric band surgery will likely receive their first adjustment, although the exact time will vary from patient to patient.

In the weeks following surgery, patients will experience improvement in their comorbities, the conditions triggered or directly caused by their obesity.

EMMA PATTERSON, MD: Most of the medical problems significantly improve, and generally they're improved or resolved in about 80 percent of patients. And that includes diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, the pains from degenerative joint disease and many other medical problems.

ANNOUNCER: With these conditions resolving and their weight loss continuing, patients should begin to experience significant improvement in their quality of life.

EMMA PATTERSON, MD: As they lose weight after surgery and get more energy and physical ability to do things, their life is expanding again, they're able to actually go and do those things again, and just enjoying life.

<< Previous Page 2 of 2