The lap-band has made big headlines recently because the FDA has lowered the recommended BMI requirement from 40 to 30, plus at least one co-morbidity such as high blood pressure or diabetes. To put that into perspective, the average American woman who is 5'4" tall would only have to weigh 178 pounds now in order to be considered a candidate for surgery. Previously, she would've had to weigh 230 pounds. So the point of Dr. Oz's show was: Should people who are only 30 pounds overweight be having surgery to lose it?
There were two women in the audience, both about 50 pounds overweight, who said they were considering the surgery. They wouldn't have been candidates before the new recommended guidelines. Dr. Oz featured two lap-band patients - one 6 months out and one 6 years out - to give some perspective on life post-op.
This is the typical diet of the patient who was six months out, or so she said (note my sarcasm - click to enlarge):
Five spoonfuls of yogurt; 1 cup of broth; 4 spoonfuls of pudding.
Ladies & gentlemen, I call bullshit. I call bullshit allll day long. No freakin' way that is the diet of someone who is six months post-op. If it is, then she has a real problem either physically, emotionally or both. That's the diet of someone who is SIX DAYS post-op, perhaps, but not six months. Nuh-uh.
When I was six months out in January 2010, I was talking about sugar-free recipes I'd tried and the occasional SF treats I allowed myself. I wasn't eating six spoonfuls of yogurt at breakfast - I was having one egg on a whole-wheat wrap with a slice of cheese. A couple hours later I'd eat a banana, and so on. It's not that I was anything special, either. The bariatric blogosphere is buzzing about this woman's presentation of what she eats every day. Not many people buy/understand it.
The woman who was six years out explained that she was able to eat a bit more than the other lady (ya think?). Still, her menu wasn't much better - though they did show it very quickly and you really couldn't tell exactly what she was eating. One thing was obvious was the tiny portion sizes. A little too tiny, really.
Both women said they'd do the surgery over again, no question. Dr. Oz was surprised by this and asked the women who were considering the surgery: "Doesn't this scare you?" He almost seemed to be trying to scare them. Then he backpedaled and conceded that he "gets" both sides of the surgery argument and it can be effective. But he also pointed out that it doesn't cure the emotions behind why a person overeats. Fair enough and very, very true. Surgery isn't a magic bullet that makes everything better and people really need to be aware of that.
Case in point, the woman who was six years post-op. When asked about the one thing she wasn't prepared for involving the surgery, she said "the effort" you must put into losing the weight. Okaaaayyyy....again, this is either complete bullshit or her pre-op medical team didn't do its job by informing her the way it should have.
But she did say another thing that struck me as very wise: Oftentimes, surgery is seen as a weakness. Another thing of "Why can't you do this on your own?" She said there was strength in admitting your weakness against food addiction and reaching out a hand for help in conquering it. I believe this completely although she did use the dreaded phrase "on your own". Which conveys a magic wand, in my opinion - that somehow, bariatric patients aren't losing weigh 'on their own'. And again, I call bullshit.
While it's a good thing to see bariatric procedures discussed as a viable option for weight loss in the mainstream media at all, there is still a long way to go in terms of education and attitude. I feel sorry for anyone considering surgery and watched this show thinking: 'OMG...that's how I'm going to have to eat??' I'm sure it scared some folks right into the McDonald's drive-thru and away from something that could save their lives. I find that very sad. Not a total thumbs-down, but really - Dr. Oz could've done a lot better.
If you missed it and you're interested in watching, here are some links. They're in a weird order on the site, so these will make your life a little easier:
Are you a candidate for weight-loss surgery: Parts ONE, TWO and THREE.
Life After Lap-Band Surgery: Parts ONE and TWO.
No comments:
Post a Comment