What is Gastric Bypass?
Losing weight is more complicated than what other people perceive it to be. Some may easily do it through diet and exercise while others may not see a significant difference with these steps.
If you’re one of the latter and your body mass index (BMI) classifies you as morbidly obese, then you may qualify for bariatric surgery.
About gastric bypass
Bariatric surgery is a term that refers to a number of surgical procedures aimed at helping one lose weight. These procedures do the job by restricting the amount of food you can eat, affecting the release of gut hormones responsible for hunger, or affecting how nutrients are absorbed by your body.
In the case of gastric bypass (also known as Roux-en-Y), weight loss happens as a result of restricting the amount of food you can have.
It’s a major procedure, which means you will be given general anesthesia before it begins. You may either have the traditional (open) or the minimally-invasive (laparoscopic) type. This depends on a lot of factors including your situation and your doctor’s practices.
Regardless of how it’s done, gastric bypass leads to the creation of a small pouch from your stomach and then connecting it directly to the small intestine. As a result, food bypasses most parts of your stomach and the first section of your small intestine.
Who can benefit from it?
Gastric bypass surgery is one of the most commonly performed weight loss procedures. However, it is not for everyone who is severely overweight.
To qualify for it, you have to meet certain medical guidelines.
Generally, to qualify you to have to:
- Have a BMI of 40 or higher
- Have a BMI of 35 to 39.9 and have serious weight-related health issues
- Demonstrate that you’ve had prior attempts to weight loss, including medically supervised ones and have little to no improvement at all
What to expect after gastric bypass?
After the procedure, you will follow a special diet plan. This will slowly transition you from liquid to regular food over the weeks after surgery (there will be phases for liquid, pureed, and soft foods before you can have regular food).
You may also have restrictions on what and how much you can eat especially with the significant reduction of your stomach. Your bariatric team may also recommend or prescribe multivitamins to prevent nutrient deficiencies.
There will be follow-up checkups and bloodwork over the next year to make sure you’re recovering well after your procedure.
Are there risks involved?
As with any other major surgery, gastric bypass and other weight loss procedures can have potentially short- and long-term health risks. However, if you work with an experienced bariatric surgeon and team, and follow the recommended diet and follow-up plan, you can significantly reduce your risk of possible complications.
The New Life Center for Bariatric Surgery in Knoxville has a patient-focused bariatric team. We will work with you from day 1 to make sure you get the best bariatric care and guidance possible.
Bariatric surgery can change your life. We tell this often to our clients a lot because it’s true!
If you do your part, you will really lose weight and keep it off for a long time. For a start, we want you to understand what it is, what it entails, and what it’s not before committing to it. For that, we require all our clients to attend our FREE info series before becoming our patients.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call the New Life Bariatric Team at (865) 694-9676.
New Life Center for Bariatric Surgery is part of Premier Surgical Bariatrics in Knoxville, Tennessee. New Life is affiliated with the Parkwest Center for Bariatric Surgery, an Accredited Comprehensive Center. Parkwest is a member of Covenant Health.