What is the risk of Bariatric Surgery (Weight Loss Surgery) ?

 

Doctor: How long does it took you to take decision of getting Bariatric Surgery done?

Patient: It took almost 10 years to take the decision. Doctor: Ok. Patient:10 years ago, I came here for consultation. Doctor: Ok. Doctor: How long has it been to your surgery? Patient:It has been 9 days to my surgery. Doctor: Ok. Patient:Yes! Doctor: Have you ever thought even once in these 9 days, that getting this surgery done was the wrong decision? Patient:Now I think that by delaying surgery I have wasted 5-6 years of my life. Because I didn't even feel that I got any surgery done on me. I had no problem. I was afraid that I would have problems after surgery, that’s why I was delaying it. Doctor: Ok. Patient:I am happy after getting surgery done. Doctor: Do you remember anything after we gave you anesthesia? Patient:No, I don't remember anything. I wake up in the ICU and I got to know that my surgery is over. Patient:This is because we are using the latest anesthesia. Doctor: Everyone has fear of surgery, what is actual the reason for this fear? Patient:Yes! Doctor: Like, you were afraid of this surgery.... Patient:Yes! Doctor: What was the main reason for your fear? Patient:I had fear of surgery. Doctor: The main fear is death. Patient:Yes! Doctor: Everyone has fear of pain during surgery, but as you know that you felt minimal pain. Patient:Yes! Doctor: But everyone has fear of death during surgery. Patient:Yes! Doctor: They think that they are overweight, but at least they are alive. Patient:Right. Doctor: But you had a heavy neck and you used to snore before surgery? Patient:Yes! Doctor: Your oxygen saturation used to drop during nighttime. Patient:Yes! Doctor: You are aware of this problem now? Patient:Yes! Doctor: Were you aware of this problem before surgery? Patient:No. Doctor: This means your life was at risk before surgery. Patient:Yes! Doctor: We have heard about many famous personalities who died because of obstructive sleep apnea. Patient:Yes! Doctor: People died while sleeping. People should have fear of heavy neck not of surgery. Patient:Ok. Doctor: Complications are everywhere. A person can have a worse reaction from an injection. Patient:Yes! Doctor: But the incidence of problems is very less. Like you can't go to Canada without airplane. Patient:Yes! Doctor: Bariatric surgery is like that airplane which improve quality of life and make it better. But its designing should be good. Have you ever felt nausea or vomiting even once in these 9 days? Patient:No, nothing. There were high incidence of nausea and vomiting in old restrictive procedures. Patient:Ok. Doctor: You must have heard from anyone else. In the field of Bariatric surgery, India is more advanced than the USA. Patient:Ok. Doctor: Because here the quality is better. Patient:Yes! Doctor: Most of our patients come from abroad only. Patient:Ok. Doctor: Because we make customized surgery design according to the patient. Firstly we have given you TIVA anesthesia. Which means you won't remember anything and it is a switch on/off kind of anesthesia. You will be awake when we stop the injection. Patient:Yes! Doctor: After how long you started walking after surgery? Patient:I was awake right after the surgery and I started walking the same day. Doctor: You started to walk on your own. Patient:Yes! I went to washroom on my own. Doctor: No catheter was inserted? Patient:No, I went to washroom myself. Doctor: We have improvised this surgery, now we don't need to insert a urine pipe or food pipe. Patient:Ok. Doctor: It means you can't even feel that your surgery is done. Patient:Yes! I have already told you that I have wasted 5-6 years of my life by delaying this surgery. Doctor: Pain is really minimal in this surgery as compared to cholecystectomy. Obese patients have multiple problems and they are complicated cases. I did surgery in the morning on a young boy who weighed around 180 kg and he had severe breathlessness. Because of this, we try our best to perform surgery in minimal time. Patient:Ok. Doctor: We give short anesthesia and complete the surgery in approx. 18 to 20 minutes. We don't paralyze the patient like old techniques in which the patient wasn't able to move a finger. The main problem in that was slow recovery after surgery. The patient would be lying on the ICU bed for hours. Patient:Ok. Doctor: By minimizing the time we got succeed in minimizing the risk of the surgery. There is less risk in bariatric surgery because surgery is completed in short intervals and with short anesthesia, without using paralyzing agents, and with minimal bleeding. For sleep apnea, we have given you a C-pap machine to use while sleeping. Patient:Yes! I am using that. I had a habit of sleeping with my mouth open. Doctor: Ok. And from the day I am using this C-pap machine, I sleep very comfortably with a closed mouth. Doctor: Try to make everyone aware of this problem. People with heavy neck should understand that this is punishment. Patient:Yes! Doctor: Belly fat is also like a punishment that a man carries with himself. Patient:Yes! Doctor: You can take your time to decide for surgery. The main drawback of this surgery is that after losing weight you can become weak. You should take care of this. You should not look weak, because that won't be good. To prevent this you should take care of your diet. Take more milk products, fruits & vegetables. Rather we say that now you should eat fruits 4-5 times a day. Patient:Ok. Doctor: Eat something in short intervals. Don't eat too much sugars and carbohydrates. Eat more veggies and pulses. It has been 9 days to your surgery and now you can switch to solid diet. Eat fruits and start eating chapati. Patient:Ok. Doctor: Start eating, stop when you feel full. Patient:Ok. Doctor: Eat slowly and chew well. You won't feel nausea or vomit after eating anything. Patient:Ok. Doctor: Switch gradually and eat slowly. Patient:Ok. Doctor: You can eat any seasonal vegetables now. You won't be able to eat too much at once. You will feel full after having small portion. Start your meal like we start diet to a children. Patient:Ok.