Comments on: Kids under the knife

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 00:48:11 +0000

I went to a seminar back in September for my weight loss surgeon and there was a couple that was there for themselves and asked about surgery for one of their children that was under the age of 18. My surgeon won’t do surgery on anyone under 18 unless there are extenuating(sp?) health concerns to do it.

I, myself, finally opted for WLS after years of trying to lose weight the conventional way. I also have thyroid disease and have for the last 11-12 years, so this was the tool that I needed to get the ball rolling.

Also, gastric bypass is not the only type of WLS out there nowadays. I opted for the Lap-Band. My physiology has not changed and the procedure can be reversed if it needs to be down the line. Granted I am not losing weight like someone that has had GBP, but then again, I didn’t want to lose weight that rapidly and eventually, I will catch up to the rapidity, is that a word, that GBP patients have shown in their loss. I hope that makes sense. :)

By: Lose Weight With Me

Lose Weight With Me — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 08:12:58 +0000

My concern about someone so young having th surgery is that the root behaviors that need to change may not get addressed. It does no good to have portions of our stomach removed if we don’t know how to eat right and exercise.

Brian

By: d

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 23:33:55 +0000

Could you have gotten … TALLER after losing all that weight? Is it possible your skeleton is less compressed? Cause you appear longer in the last photo than the first — try to line them up! AND you’re barefoot in last and sneakerclad in your earliest.

By: melsky

melsky — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 13:46:48 +0000

I would be worried that there would be complications much later as the body continued growing.

By: BrightAngel

BrightAngel — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 11:58:09 +0000

Pasta Queen,

Regarding my 18 year old self.

I wasn’t morbidly obese at age 18. My weight problem began at puberty (age 9), and pre-high school I went up to 150 lbs. At age 13 the doctor gave me thyroid pills & diet pills(1957) which brought my weight down to 113 at the start of my Freshman year in High school. I was able to keep my weight between 125 & 135 during those years…with a GREAT deal of EFFORT.

My first time over 200 lbs was after the birth of my first child (1965). When she was 6 months old I was age 20 and about 235 lbs. With what I knew about my dieting and genetic history AT THAT TIME, would I have chosen gastric bypass surgery if it had been available to me? Yes. In retrospect do I think it would have been the right decision? Yes.

I think the maturity of 18 year olds vary.

I married two weeks after I turned 18, (1963) and at that time I already had a lot of wisdom about my food/dieting/fat problem.

Of course, in reality, the surgery didn’t exist at that time, and even (at age 47) when I had it 15 years ago, it was still considered experimental..(laser surgery didn’t exist yet).., and I had to travel to a large city 400 miles away and and stay there for a month in order for a California surgeon to do it.

By: PastaQueen

PastaQueen — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 08:21:29 +0000

Patricia - I wrote about loose skin here.

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 00:16:07 +0000

I can’t rationalize WLS to kids. I’ve sat here thinking about it, and nope – can’t do it. There has to be a better way. I don’t buy that all other options have been exhausted.

We like the fix the symptoms of the problem, and not the actual problem.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 23:50:52 +0000

Oh, oh, oh!!! I meant to ask you a question, but I forgot in my previous comment! Loose skin? Do you have any issues with loose skin? I’ve gone from 175 to 154 in 6-7 mths and I have loose skin! It seems incredibly unfair that I wasn’t morbidly obese, just overweight, I lost 21 lbs slowly by eating right and exercising and I still have loose skin! So, you lost a helluva lot of weight at a healthy rate over time, do you have loose skin too? If you do, what do you plan on doing about it? Plastic surgery, or just deal with it?

By: Patricia

Patricia — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 23:19:57 +0000

I think that for some people the WLS is a good starting point for the weight loss bc they really have no other choice but to change their eating habits afterwards or suffer the consequences. If they eat too much prior to surgery they don’t have the negative side effects. (except gaining more weight)

I also disagree that teens, 12-18, can have exhausted all other options. It is just too young and they are just not ready to undergo such a life changing surgery.

My mother would like to have WLS and I have never seen her try to eat healthy. She says, I have tried everything, I eat healthy now, and in the next breath gets chili cheese fries and a bowl of ice cream! I’m sure there are people out there who really have tried everything but I think the doctors have to be careful, because I’ve seen my mother and others who claim to have tried everything and just are not being honest with themselves.

By: Sara

Sara — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 19:43:17 +0000

I don’t feel one way or the other very strongly… but I do know that it would have been very hard for me to lose weight before I turned 18 and left for college, just because of the constant food distractions in my house. At age 19-20 I went from 260lbs to 180lbs through diet and excercise. The food part only really worked well for me because I didn’t keep crap around my apartment. Even now, I struggle with control when my boyfriend inadvertently buys something I could easily binge on.

I wonder if “exhausting all your resources” includes a full family lifestyle overhaul.