Bariatric Surgery |
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Life After Bariatric Surgery
Weight-loss surgery is not a cure for obesity, but rather a tool to help you live a healthier, longer and more fulfilling life. Long-term success depends on your strict adherence to the recommended dietary, exercise and lifestyle changes after surgery.
The UCSF Bariatric Surgery Center offers follow-up care, including support groups, dietitian services and other forms of continuing education to help patients achieve long-term success.
Diet
Weight-loss surgery involves significant modifications to your gastrointestinal tract. Your body won't be able to handle the amount and types of foods that you ate before surgery. Following surgery, you must permanently change your eating habits. Adhering to the dietary guidelines you receive from your doctor is critical to your long-term success. Post-surgery dietary guidelines will vary depending on the procedure performed and your individual situation. Not every patient follows the same dietary guidelines.
The following are some commonly recommended guidelines following surgery:
- When you start eating solid food, you must chew thoroughly. You can't eat steaks or other meat if they're not ground or chewed thoroughly.
- Don't drink fluids while eating. Fluids will make you feel full before you have consumed enough food.
- Omit desserts and other foods that list sugar as one of the first three ingredients.
- Omit carbonated drinks, high-calorie nutritional supplements, milk shakes, high-fat foods and foods with high fiber content.
- Avoid alcohol.
- Limit snacking between meals.
Going Back to Work
Your ability to resume pre-surgery levels of activity will vary depending on your physical condition, the type of activity and type of weight-loss surgery you had. Many patients return to full pre-surgery levels of activity within six weeks of their procedure. Patients who have had a minimally invasive, laparoscopic procedure may return to these activities within a few weeks.
Birth Control and Pregnancy
We advise that women of childbearing age use the most effective forms of birth control during the first two years after weight-loss surgery. The added demands pregnancy places on your body and the potential for fetal damage make this an important requirement.
Long-Term Follow-Up
Although the short-term effects of weight-loss surgery are well understood, questions remain about the long-term effects on nutrition and body systems. Nutritional deficiencies that occur over the course of many years are being studied. Over time, you will need periodic checks for anemia or low red blood cell count, vitamin B12, folate and iron levels. Initially, follow-up tests will be conducted every three to six months or as needed, then every one to two years.
Support Groups
Support groups provide weight-loss surgery patients an opportunity to discuss personal and professional issues. Most learn, for example, that weight-loss surgery will not immediately resolve existing emotional issues or heal the years of emotional damage that morbid obesity might have inflicted. At the UCSF Bariatric Surgery Center, support groups are offered to assist you with short-term and long-term questions and needs. The majority of patients find that ongoing support helps them achieve the greatest long-term success.
More Information:
Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated February 14, 2008
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your doctor or health care provider. We encourage you to discuss with your doctor any questions or concerns you may have.
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