Bariatric Surgery In Miami​

There are several reasons why bariatric surgeries don’t work. However, most of them depend on the patient’s lack of discipline and ability to maintain the newly imposed lifestyle or adapt to changes. If patients keep overeating, remain static, and avoid physical exercise, the weight might not come down, or at least not as quickly as it would. 

Some secondary conditions (which are often tied to obesity) can also impede the success rate of bariatric procedures, like PCOS, diabetes, insulin resistance, hypothyroidism, and sleep apnea. Complications and inadequate follow-up care may also play a role. 

Patients can regain weight if they don’t follow the doctor’s recommendations. It usually occurs in about 10-15% of patients, but it’s mostly related to poor discipline. Stomach pouches are considerably smaller after bariatric procedures, but patients can still stretch them, particularly if they over-eat large quantities of food and eat them often. 

Changing the anatomy of your digestive system is not an easy feat, and after all, a bariatric procedure is a major surgery. As such, it comes with a set of risks that most procedures carry. Also, there is a high possibility that you won’t tolerate some of the foods or food groups after the procedure since the stomach will be much smaller. 

Bariatric surgeries can cause nutritional deficiency, so you will have to rely on vitamins and minerals to make up for it. Sometimes, people can develop a so-called dumping syndrome after the surgery, which may cause nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting for some time after the bariatric procedure.  

Like every other procedure, bariatric surgery can have some long-term side effects, some of them can be: 

• Dumping syndrome,
• Vomiting,
• Hernia,
• Ulcer,
• Low blood sugar

Like all major surgeries, bariatric procedures are painful, but the pain is manageable with proper aftercare and good physicians helping you manage your pain levels. Generally, on a scale from 1 to 10, many patients claimed they felt pain on a scale from 7-8. 

According to the National Library of Medicine, the overall success rate of bariatric procedures, defined when the percentage of excess weight loss is more than 50%, was 96.1% of the patients after one year, 95.1% after two years, 89.5% after three years, 82.1% after four years and 73.0% after five years.

The procedure can be between one hour and several hours, depending on the type of bariatric procedure in question. The recovery is always individual, but it can take from days to weeks, depending on whether the surgeries were done laparoscopically or not. Also, recovery does not have the same connotation for everybody. Most people can go back to work after a week, but they still need to avoid strenuous activities for weeks to come. Full recovery can be up to 6 weeks after the surgery. 

There isn’t a weight loss procedure that’s without risk. But some are more widely used than others. Naturally, it’s best to consult a top-rated Miami Lakes plastic surgeon for more information about bariatric surgeries if you are considering one. A medical professional can weigh all the pros and cons of all available weight loss procedures and suggest one that will be a good fit for you personally. 

That being said, it is true that sleeve gastrectomy is generally considered the safest and is most widely used. Gastric sleeve procedure does carry less risk than, let’s say, a gastric bypass, but out of the two surgeries, gastric sleeve patients ended up needing to have a follow-up procedure over the course of years. 

After a successful gastric bypass, you can lead a normal life. However, you’ll need to adjust your eating, exercise, and lifestyle habits. Only then you’ll ensure that the weight doesn’t return.

People often have negative thoughts about their appearance, the success rate of bariatric surgeries, or the speed at which they shed pounds. However, according to Medical News Today, when asked whether they regretted having bariatric surgery, NONE of the women said they had regretted undergoing bariatric surgery. 

You will be pleased to know that bariatric surgery comes with a generally low mortality rate. According to the American Medical Association, patients undergoing bariatric surgery had a 1-year case fatality rate of approximately 1% and a 5-year case fatality rate of nearly 6%. 

After surgery, proper wound care is essential for lowering the risk of infection. Even though it is one of the most common causes of infection following surgery, poor care is one of the simplest issues to prevent. One of the most crucial factors in wound treatment is – always fully washing your hands before touching an injury or anything around.

Also, anyone who assists you wash their hands first. The general recommendation is to wash for 20 seconds in hot water using antibacterial soap. This makes it more likely that any bacteria you may have acquired will be destroyed. Furthermore, any time the gauze is removed, you should replace it with a brand-new one. 

To speed up the process, avoid using any creams or ointments, not even antibacterial ones. It’s typical for you to have some redness and swelling. Even some clear discharge could be visible. There is no need to treat this. However, this is an emergency that demands a call to our office and cannot be treated at home. So, call your plastic surgeon if you see the wound growing noticeably, turning redder, or if you smell discharge.

When the surgery is done, the process of healing starts. Its speed is different for everybody, however, there are some things each patient should do after it: 

• Follow the recommended lifestyle and remain on the liquid and pureed diet as long as it is necessary for your stomach to heal,
• Don’t bend or twist your body, and don’t be alarmed – it’s normal to feel pain in the upcoming weeks when you are lying down and getting up from a seated position,
• Make sure to watch over your nutrition intake and quality,
• Eat and drink slowly,
• After the surgery, make sure that you eat every meal for 30 minutes and take 60 minutes to drink a cup of water,
• Give your body enough time to heal before participating in strenuous activities, 
• Take proper care of incisions,
• Don’t be alarmed by the change in bowel movement consistency, frequency, and odor.

Patients recovering from the procedure can rehabilitate and alter their eating patterns with the aid of a gastric bypass diet. This diet is designed to help you get used to smaller food portions. As well as avoid side effects or complications that can come out of the procedure. 

The diet itself will depend on your individual situation. To help you gradually transition back to eating solid foods, diet often uses a staged approach. How quickly your body heals and adapts to the change in eating habits determines how quickly you advance from one phase to the next. After surgery, you can normally resume eating regular meals around three months later.

Overall, in each diet stage, you should: 

• Drink beverages between meals rather than during them.
• Consume lean, protein-rich foods frequently. 
• Select foods and beverages that are low in sugar and fat.
• Skip the alcohol.
• Be careful with caffeine, which might dehydrate you. 

You should also eat and drink slowly and keep your meals small. You can eat several meals a day but avoid larger portions. Thoroughly chewing food is also a must.