Attended surgical weight loss seminar

Last night I went to a surgical weight loss seminar put on by a local bariatric surgeon and his team. The doctor said he doesn't perform lap band surgery anymore because it's not proven effective in the long term. Just a few years ago my mom was trying to talk me into having that surgery with her. She got it, herself. Got down to a healthy weight but then gained it all back again. Whenever I pictured getting that done I thought I'd feel like Ping the Duck, in a childhood story I read, with a ring around his neck that prevented him from swallowing his fishing catch.

One thing the doctor pointed out in the seminar that I didn't know is that if you need to take medications regularly, and have them absorb well, a gastric bypass is not the best option -- you not only have limitations on absorbing nutrients, but on medications as well. The gastric sleeve, which is what my friend had, doesn't do this. But sometimes people get really bad acid reflux after the sleeve and end up having to convert to the bypass (which corrects the reflux).

I gave them my information at the seminar with the thought of starting their process in case my current gung-ho efforts at weight loss through increased protein and decreased carbs doesn't turn my health around enough. If I'm going to move forward in their process (which would take at least 6 months before insurance would approve it, including nutritionist and psychiatrist appointments leading up to the surgery) the next step is to get a referral from my primary care doctor and have him send over my labs etc. My next follow up with my primary care doctor is in 2 weeks, so I'll talk with him about it then.