lap band surgery, gastric bypass, pros/cons, halachic q.

mimsy7420

Fri, Mar 09 2007, 10:52 am

elmofood wrote:

you know cm people like you sicken me. I am sorry for such a harsh post, but you HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ITS LIKE TO BE OBESE OR SEVERELY OVERWEIGHT. dont tell me about yout 25 pounds, thats NOTHING. you have not clue about the struggle that obese people go through and WE SUFFER. we dont do this "to ourselves". your trivial post just solidifies my reason for not sharing with my relatives about my surgery. they are as obtuse as you and just as ignorant. please dont post comments that are hurtful and are going to make people feel ashamed.
Twisted Evil

I agree, but you have to admit that like with any addiction, for some people, there are sometimes underlying issues that contribute, such as depression. And the weight issue is just masking the underlying issues so when the weight issue is cured, there are still many more issues to work out because the weight was just masking a very unhappy person. And the thing is for some people its sometimes hard to know, is the weight issue the cause of the unhappiness or is the unhappiness the cause of the weight issue?
I'm not saying that every overweight person is depressed, like CM said. But I'm saying that it will be the case for some people, and just having the surgery is not really going to help because they probably need help with the underlying issues from a therapist or such.

elmofood

Fri, Mar 09 2007, 11:06 am

well sure there are underlying issues to overeating. btw thats why before surgery you have to meet with a psychologist of determine if this is the appropriate measure to take. that being said, most fat people have been throgh every emotional and physical diet out there. we have delved and tried to get to the root of the problem (out parents, siblinsg, realtives, friends etc etc. made us eat blah blah). it no onger matters, we who are fat need to be healthy and we dont have an entire lifetime to spend working out the root issues and thats not to say if we did, we'd get skinny! so dont judge or crticizie a struggle you are not familiar with. it hurts too much to be looked at with a crticial eye.
thank you for listening

chocolate moose

Fri, Mar 09 2007, 11:40 am

I GAINED WEIGHT BECAUSE I HAD A THYROID PROBLEM. Plain and simple. I had to lose the weight I gained. And I did it through diet and exercise. Why do you hate me for that?

People with eating disorders have to have their disorder addressed. I don't have a disorder and I don't pretend to have one or have had one. I had a medical problem, but medication takes care of that.

I just wonder why the cause - overeating - is being treated but not the symptom. My cause was my metabolism slowing down. That was solved through medication.

Why is this so emotional and so difficult to understand?

mimsy7420

Fri, Mar 09 2007, 11:54 am

elmofood wrote:

You are right, for some people it could just be a slow metabolism. Everyone just has to be honest with themself.

Motek

Sun, Mar 11 2007, 5:00 pm

happyone wrote:

Actually, they do have a teen program for extreme obesity.

A 19 year old wrote a letter to the editor of Mishpacha saying she thought the article I referred to a few posts back was too negative. Yes, it's surgery, but ... she had it, is doing well ...

I wonder if she is married and if not, whether she plans on telling this in shidduchim

downsyndrome wrote:

Take heed all ye' surgical weight reduction candidates -
I was at the laundramat today washing my very heavy blankets in the commercial machines and there was a large t.v. blaring there and Oprah was on. The topic was: New addictions after weight reduction surgery. Bottom line - 30% of people (they actually portrayed women on Oprah) who had these surgeries became either alcoholics, substance abusers, or relations addicts!!
So, newly skinnied imamothers, which vice have you picked up now? Let us know! Should make for some interesting threads and posts!

I'm surprised you sound somewhat flippant about it. Sounds like a serious matter to me.

I absolutely agree with you choc

and elmo - 25 pounds overweight is not NOTHING. Depending on the person's height it can be quite significant. You want people to be understanding of your problems yet you deride other people's problems as NOTHING. Choc made valid points and did not attack anyone yet you respond with insults ...

by the way, the article also said that 25% of people reverse their lap band surgery!

elmofood

Sun, Mar 11 2007, 7:22 pm

that mishpacha article was grossly misrepresented. many who have had the surgery read the article and agreed that is not a factual article.
btw having to lose 25 pounds is not considered obese, morbidly obese or even severly overweight. yes its not healthy, but I do not think it is life threatening.
and I guess the reason I was in defensive mode, was because cm has been judgemental in the past. this just really took the cake- no pun intended.
people who dont have severe weight issues cannot possibly understand the struggle and shame we deal with on a daily basis. this surgery is a bracha and has given so many of us a chance at a normal life.

Motek

Sun, Mar 11 2007, 7:27 pm

elmofood wrote:

that mishpacha article was grossly misrepresented. many who have had the surgery read the article and agreed that is not a factual article

let's hear some facts, not just a blanket condemnation by people who are subjective (I.e. those who had the surgery who, of course, will say they made the right decision)

what specifically is inaccurate about the article?

by the way, the 19 year old I referred to earlier who had the surgery, did not say the article was factually wrong. She said "it seemed negative" and was "very different from my experience and from the experiences of others". She did not point out a single error.

greenfire

Sun, Mar 11 2007, 7:39 pm

elmofood wrote:

elmofood - I am here for you if you need chizuk - some people just cannot understand the difference between a few extra pounds and the severity and hardship overweight really overweight people have. It is minimized without even any empathy. Sorry for what you are going through and continued success in your plight to lose weight - whichever way you can.

Pickle Lady

Sun, Mar 11 2007, 7:41 pm

I kind of agree with motek and choc.

Do people who get those surgeries get major counceling to confront why they became obese in the first place?

Food can be an addiction. A person can be buleimic, anorexic or an overeater.

I have a family member who had a similar surgery to loose more than 200 lbs and it saved her life but she has gained the close to 75 lbs since then.

It makes me wonder. What does the surgery do that you couldn't do on your own?

Motek

Sun, Mar 11 2007, 7:48 pm

greenfire wrote:

some people just cannot understand the difference between a few extra pounds and the severity and hardship overweight really overweight people have. It is minimized without even any empathy. Sorry for what you are going through and continued success in your plight to lose weight - whichever way you can.

Excuse me but the difference is quite clear. You don't need to be a genius to understand it. Nobody minimized it. The thread topic is "lap band surgery for weight loss" and that's what I (and others) are discussing. If this thread was meant for "only positive comments supporting lap band surgery" it should have said so.

greenfire

Sun, Mar 11 2007, 7:53 pm

the point is she needs chizuk - are you all really giving that to her ... although I agree with looking at the flip side ... she is begging for understanding ... not to be compared to the 15 25 lb loss - why can't we focus on what she needs and not what you want to give her - and the things that are harder to understand with a sensitive heart and a kind word...

Squash

Sun, Mar 11 2007, 7:59 pm

greenfire wrote:

Wow, Green!! Are you sure you belong here?

Thumbs Up

elmofood

Sun, Mar 11 2007, 8:09 pm

to the people who have not clue about weght loss surgery. of course there is an extensive process one must go through before the surgery. and I happen to think that they may be some very overweight people looking and responding to this post who may be miserable with thier weight, but are terrified of surgery or dont beleive in it. is there some jealousy here? I have a friend who is very overweight, like me, she would not even entertain the thought of surgery, but she has been dieting for the last 20 years with little success. her health is at risk, but she keeps plugging away. yes maybe one day it will kick in and she will lose weight, but its been 20 years already. statistics show that most people can lose weight, but that they cannot maintain that loss. that is the problem.yo yo dieting is very unhealhty to the body.
I just have so much to say, you have opened a pandoras box. theres no holding me back now!!!!!!!!!!!!

Motek

Sun, Mar 11 2007, 8:29 pm

elmofood wrote:

I happen to think that they may be some very overweight people looking and responding to this post who may be miserable with thier weight, but are terrified of surgery or dont beleive in it. is there some jealousy here?

jealous of what exactly?

Quote:

statistics show that most people can lose weight, but that they cannot maintain that loss. that is the problem.yo yo dieting is very unhealhty to the body.

that is true

but you have to diet after surgery too, correct? the difference is that the surgical procedure 'force' you to diet otherwise you vomit?

Motek

Sun, Mar 11 2007, 8:36 pm

elmo - I glanced at the first post and see that you started the thread and it wasn't for the purpose of discussing it, so I'm sorry that the discussion has gone off your topic but I didn't read the entire thread and just joined later. Do you think a moderator should split the thread so that the posts that discuss it are separate from the posts that pertain directly to you and to chizuk?