Carnie Wilson has been in the news this week because she revealed that in January, she had a second bariatric procedure.
Carnie made headlines back in 1999 when she had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (the same procedure I had). Because of her openness regarding her journey, a lot of people were encouraged to go the same route she did and get the surgery themselves.
And now, 13 years later, she is dealing with her regain by having a lap band placed over her gastric pouch. And I say good for her.
The backlash to this latest surgery is very sad to me. Comments range from "get your lazy a** to a gym" to "how about putting the fork down and walking away" and "she took the easy way out again".
Once again..............people just. Don't. Get it. This is not about someone who needs to lose 30 pounds on Weight Watchers. It's not someone whose life would be awesome if she could just put down a second slice of pizza so she could get rid of the last stubborn 15 pounds of baby weight. We are not normal. It's a day-by-day fight not to slip down the rabbit hole and it's NOT the same as most people saying no to a doughnut at the office meeting. It's not the same. It's not the same. Lather, rinse, repeat.
While I feel for anyone who needs to lose weight (even 10 pounds isn't easy, trust me, I get that), the psyche of those of us who let it get to the point where we feel re-arranging our guts is the only answer to survival is just different. We think about food differently and need different levels of help dealing with it. I, personally, applaud her courage in not only concluding that she deserved and needed ongoing assistance in dealing with her addiction, but also her willingness to share it publicly absolutely knowing the terrible backlash that would be associated with her choice. To have bariatric surgery once is a controversy; to have it twice is unthinkable to those who haven't walked in her shoes.
Chronic food addiction is an incurable disease of the mind. It never goes away. Just like a supposedly "reformed" smoker may need several shots to get it right, an obese person needs the same sort of compassion and understanding. Rock stars go to rehab for drug and alcohol addition several times - what Carnie is doing is not much different. She is dealing with her addiction the best way she knows how in a way that works for her. And it is working...apparently she has lost 30 pounds since having the procedure.
GOOD FOR HER.
Her story is also a much-needed reminder that surgery is not a cure for obesity. There is always a chance of regaining some or all of the weight loss. I personally know someone who has had two procedures: a lap band many years ago and recently, a gastric bypass. Regain after surgery is particularly difficult. You think to yourself that if you fail after surgery, maybe you cannot succeed at anything. Some people who regain simply resign themselves to failure - at more than maintenance. So again, I applaud anyone who takes the bull by the horns and "regains" control of their lives. By any means necessary.
Kinda brings new meaning to that old sappy song, right?
Showing posts with label lap-band. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lap-band. Show all posts
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Dr. Oz talks Lap-Bands
On Monday, Dr. Oz's show topic was on bariatric surgery, the gastric lap-band procedure specifically. Lap-bands are extremely popular. According to figures on the show, there were 200,000 bariatric procedures performed in the U.S. last year and half of them were lap-band placements.
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.
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.
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