Unrealistic expectations of bariatric surgery results

Controversial ads

Have you ever thought how much some of these ads that sell you bariatric surgery manipulate the real thing? I have my Facebook lately flooded with ads from all over the world to have the surgery with their clinic and with no one else. And I have to say that some of them made me pretty upset. I am a very calm person who takes things with a lot of philosophy, but what I saw…!!!

These ads not only manipulate reality, but some of them directly lie and cause unrealistic expectations among the future patients. I know it, I can decipher it because I have already had the surgery, I have 2,5 years behind me living with it and I know. But a person who has been fighting with their weight for decades, who is desperate, emotional, and would do anything to solve this thing, is a very easy target and they will believe everything.

Irreversible surgery

How many times have you believed some stupid fat diet that ended up in disaster? This is what I am talking about. Obviously many times. That is why you have collected all the weight with time. But it was only a diet, you could say, to h.ll with this and I give up. But we are talking about surgery here. They will open your tummy and start cutting. There is no way back, it is altered forever. There is very little, if anything at all, that you can do to revert it.

You can’t wake up tomorrow and say, I don’t want it, I have changed my mind, I want another surgery (!!!) to have it removed. It is not possible. They cut 80% of your stomach and it is somewhere in the trash, they can’t put it back again as if nothing. Plus, it is a major abdominal surgery, so without any doubt, it has its risks and it can be very rarely even deadly. You have to be very well informed and know what you are doing (at least think that you know) before you end up on the surgeon’s table.

https://bariradka.com/2024/06/22/a-whole-year-of-preparations/

Downplaying

What made me really furious was downplaying it as if it was doing your eyebrows. Pick our salon, we are the best in the city. Special discount, experienced personnel. Great to know. But… under what license you are operating? Are you maintaining the same standards as in the US or the EU?

I am not saying that these systems are perfect, but still, you can expect that “minimal standards” would be maintained and that you have your surgeon and your hospital close, at hand, so to speak. So if something goes wrong, and it can happen, it is a major surgery, you have them close, they know you and they can act.

It is not so rare to read around that people returned from abroad, things became difficult and the surgeon abroad had a Zoom call with them to solve the situation. Just… how? I am not a doctor, but I think that it is almost impossible to solve things if there is another surgery needed, some more tests, bloodwork, and things like that. So what will you do? I do not say it happens all the time. But in case it happens, are you prepared for this? Because you will have to solve it somehow.

Extra charges for possible fixes

These people turned to the national system and sometimes they were told to go directly to the private hospital to have this addressed, which is very expensive. But you have to do it because things are badly wrong and you need help. So maybe you might have been waiting longer in your country, but now you are facing extra charges that might be way beyond your possibilities.

Fast recovery

But this was only the technical part. How about a fast recovery? Only two days in the hospital! You can go back to work in three days! How many of you, who have already had the surgery, were able to go back to work in three days? I know that even if you have a desk job, you are advised to take a week, maybe two.

If your job is physically demanding, you will be at home recovering for weeks. It is like that. You are weak, you can eat next to nothing, you are half dehydrated, you have diarrhea (yes!), you are tired and sleepy, and all you want is to rest. So yes, sure, the third day directly to your night shift! Ridiculous…

No supplements needed

No need for lifelong supplement taking! I don’t know, but almost all of us have to take some kind of supplements for life. We eat so little, most of the time, that we simply don’t have any means to get inside all the nutrients we need. There is always something missing. Very often it is iron, and if you skip your pills, you will end up with severe anemia. Who has never dealt with this, lucky you. This is a pretty nasty condition.

You might also develop osteoporosis because of a lack of calcium. Another joy. And there are tons of other things that are closely related to the lack of vitamins and minerals. So are you so sure you don’t need supplements?

https://bariradka.com/2024/06/29/bariatric-supplements/

https://bariradka.com/2024/07/11/bariatric-anemia/

No more medical checks

It is the same with no need for continuous medical checks. I, as an inexperienced future patient, understand this: they will do the surgery, I go home, and that is. No, it is another lie. We need at least a bloodwork every six months to adjust our supplements. It is like that and it will never change. So at least twice a year you will see your endocrinologist.

Maybe you will develop reflux, in case you had the sleeve, and you will need another medication to address this, or, if it is very persistent, you will need to have another surgery. Yes, they will convert it to bypass. It happens sometimes. Oh, they haven’t told you? What a surprise.

No restrictions

And the golden thing is no restrictions! Wow!!! This is too good to be true! Again, as an inexperienced future patient, I understand: I will be able to eat whatever, in any amount I like, I will lose all the weight and I will stay slim for life! This is a fairy tale! Yes, things like these happen only in fairy tales, and not in real life.

They somehow forgot to inform you that you will spend weeks on a liquid diet, you will have food from a blender for a lot of time, and if you finally get to solid food, you will be lucky if you get in three tablespoons without feeling like dying. Many people can’t drink water after the surgery, they have to add some flavor to it to be able to get it in, you will have so many protein shakes in your kitchen, that you might think about opening your own store with them.

You will have to change everything about food. You will eat lean meat and vegetables mostly, some protein shakes, cottage cheese, and scrambled eggs – I highly recommend living on a farm or ranch, that high your demand will be. You might have to wait for your coffee for months before you will be able to digest it.

https://bariradka.com/2024/07/03/old-friends-or-your-new-you/

Dumping

What you can completely forget about are all burgers, pizzas, donuts, and sweets as a whole – did they tell you about dumping? Oh, this is such a beautiful thing, that you really think that you are dying when it happens to you. And many smells will make you gag. Some food will be so disgusting for you that only thinking about it will make you miserable. I forgot to mention some intolerances and some food will become completely unavailable because it will make you so sick, that you simply will not eat that.

https://bariradka.com/2024/07/13/dumping-experience/

Emotions

And all to this amazing emotional roller coaster. You are excited in the morning, at snack time you are crying, at lunch you are pissed off, but the whole afternoon you feel like that Duracell Bunny, and you crash completely at 6 pm because you can’t anymore. Great expectations, right? You will have emotional swings for months so big that your relatives will start thinking about diagnosing you with manic-depressive disorder. And you are all alone in this. No one understands what is going on with you.

But everybody around you is eating, going to parties, having fun – while eating, having cakes, coffees, unlimited buffets, dinners, you name it. And you will be sitting there and watching them, hating them and yourself at the same time, and having your chicken breast and broccoli. No, you won’t be able to have a single spoon of what they eat for months. And after that time, it will be your very occasional treat. You will never eat like them again. Ever. Stuff it in your head. It is like that. They forgot to tell you… aha…

https://bariradka.com/2024/08/06/bariatric-emotions/

Hair loss

Your hair will fall like crazy. And I mean it. And there is nothing that would stop it. Only floor (haha). You will even think about wearing a wig, that bad things sometimes can get. Your nails will become brittle, your skin will be dry and itchy.

https://bariradka.com/2024/07/02/bariatric-hair-loss/

Loose skin

Btw, talking about skin, I completely forgot about having loose skin. Yes, you will have it. No matter what they promised you, it will be there. The more you have to lose, the more loose skin you will have. Take it with a pinch of salt. Under no circumstances you will have this toned slim body, showing off your almost six-pack belly.

Where is the skin, right? You will have it. Everybody does. If you don’t want it, after two years of maintaining the final weight, you can have it surgically removed. Yes, another surgery. In the meantime, you will have mold, rushes, and yeast infections in the areas that are folded. Lovely indeed.

Your boobs will likely get saggy, your butt will disappear, and what is more, sitting will become a pretty nasty experience. You don’t know it yet, but there are bones in your butt that will make your life miserable 😂 sitting starts to hurt after a few months… sad but true 😀

Super fast weight loss

And they will promise you that you will lose 100 pounds in the first month. For sure! No problem! Almost guaranteed! Well, if your starting weight is 600 pounds, it can happen. Otherwise, it is a much slower process. It will take months, easily a year, before you will lose it all. People with higher weight lose easily for two years. And it is perfectly fine. We haven’t gained it all in a month, we won’t lose it all in a month. It is like that.

No quick fix

There are many more things that are behind the surgery. It is definitely not a quick fix. Something that will miraculously solve all your problems with food, your overeating, binge eating, your traumas, emotions, loneliness, whatever there is behind your weight. Because the weight is only a symptom. If you don’t solve why you got to this point, nothing will help you. No pills, no injections, no surgery. Nothing. It is like this. Sad but very true.

People have no idea that losing weight is the easiest part. You got to your healthy weight. Great. Celebrate. But then put your ducks back in the row, because if you don’t keep doing what you should be doing, you will start gaining all the weight back. And it can be pretty quick. And then you will be screaming that the surgery was a scam, that it doesn’t work… it is a tool you were given to help you to deal with the weight.

The real game starts after you lose it all. You are now all alone and you have to keep going. The world will keep going. People will upset you, maybe your loved one dies, you will get lonely again, you will get emotional. It is so easy to go back to your old habits and this is where the disaster starts. If you stop making the right choices, you are doomed.

https://bariradka.com/2024/07/15/it-is-a-tool-not-a-cure/

Change or gain again

You will have to change everything. Yourself, your life, your habits, the way you deal with food, maybe you will have to go to therapy for years, it is all possible. It requires a lot of work. If you don’t put in the work, nothing will change. You will go back to where you were. Directly. There is no doubt about this. Oh, they forgot to tell you…

Unrealistic expectations

People have often very unrealistic expectations. And it is all due to these very manipulative ads, where information is directly missing or is blurred, said in half, leaving a lot of space for imagination, misinterpretation, or direct lies. People believe it. I had been there, I know how it feels. You would do anything to get rid of the stupid weight that is messing up your life. You have tried everything and nothing worked. So now, you see here a wonderful opportunity.

It is an amazing tool. But comes with a lot of commitment, discipline, and change and it is not easy. You might be thinking that people who say that it is an easy way out, are maybe true. You have the surgery and you lose the weight. If only it was like that…

Do your homework

Do your homework, research, inform yourself, and talk to people. There are hundreds of groups all over Facebook, and people are talking about this on Instagram, there are articles, blogs, and Google Scholar, and you can go to the clinics in your area. Don’t think it is another diet you can stop any time you like. It is a lifelong commitment. If you go for it, you are in and no one will take you out. You can even develop some health issues if you don’t follow the rules.

https://bariradka.com/2024/06/18/reasons-to-undergo-bariatric-surgery/

https://bariradka.com/2024/06/17/change-or-die/

My experience

I would do it a million times over. I gained all my health back. I am at a healthy weight, all the medication I used to take is over, and I don’t have anything apart from my supplements. I don’t have any more doctor visits, only the endocrinologist twice a year for the vitamins. My heart is completely healthy, there is no fat around it, my kidneys are working perfectly, and I can walk up to the seventh floor I live on. My life has changed so much for the better.

But I had to do many things to get here. And I keep going. I gained a little in spring, which serves me right, I was a little cutting corner and I received a good lesson. But I lost it all again. I know that I need to be strict and do what I should do and eat what I should be eating. Yes, sometimes I reward myself, I have some treats. But it is only very occasionally. This is the ugly truth that the fad ads won’t tell you.