Bargain-Basement Bariatric Surgery – Be Careful!

When searching for a Weight Loss Surgery provider, cost is obviously important – everyone has a budget, and no-one wants to pay more than they have to.

Price isn’t everything though, and it is important that you find out EXACTLY what is being offered. You obviously need to check on the surgeon’s level of expertise and his track record on the procedure you are planning, but there’s more to consider.

Bariatric Surgery is quite unlike most surgical procedures

With most forms of surgery, the procedure is carried out then (hopefully) the problem is fixed. Bariatric surgery is different. The surgery in itself DOESN’T immediately fix the problem, it simply gives you a tool which you can use to fix it yourself – a “sleeved” or “wrapped” stomach, a bypass or a band.

You wouldn’t expect to be able to drive a car or fly a plane without proper training, yet some surgery providers (and some surgeons) assume you can have the surgery and that’s it. You then are left to learn how to use it yourself, or ask questions on forums, where the answers may conflicting, often not accurate and usually only reflect the writer’s own experience.

The result is that patients go for their surgery with high expectations and can end up struggling to lose weight, or wondering why others seem to be doing so much better than they are with their weight loss.

It is SO IMPORTANT to be given accurate information, proper coaching and preparation to ensure the surgery can be carried out safely, to be given full and detailed tests before the surgery goes ahead and to be provided with a structured plan to follow for life after surgery.

To make a success of your weight loss after your operation you will need the right level of support, both psychological and nutritional, from advisors who are fully trained and experienced in what they do, and have been able to answer any concerns or difficulties you express from time to time in your weight loss journey based on their experience of helping many other patients who have encountered the same issues.

If the surgery provider you are considering does not offer all this then even though they may appear to be a “bargain” in the end you will pay dearly, because when you analyse it you are NOT paying a substantial amount of money to just to have a surgical procedure carried out on you, but to get yourself the best chance possible to lose your excess weight and keep it off forever. It is extremely difficult to do this without good advice and back-up.

We post this advice because at CB we have become concerned in recent months over the growing number of post-operative patients from other providers who have asked us for help. Our support and advice can only be for CB patients, but we are now in the process of developing a programme for patients who have failed following surgery elsewhere, to offer clinical investigation and (if needed) revision surgery coupled with a structured plan to ensure adequate weight loss thereafter