Pixx
Member
Definition of fine print. : something thoroughly and often deliberately obscure; especially : a part of an agreement or document spelling out restrictions and limitations often in small type or obscure language.
So I have been reading posts lately and I am just kind of amazed at some of the stuff I come across when it comes to weight loss surgery. It is kind of like all those thousands of commercials that come on television trying to get you to take a new and amazing drug but at the end of the commercial, you hear a small voice that tells you to consult with your doctor "as it may cause the following conditions..."which it then lists for the next two minutes. I was thinking along the same lines anyway as I notice that there seems to be a pattern in the forums when it comes to WLS. Has anyone else noticed that a huge part of the focus in the forum seems to be on the beginning of the journey, through the pre-op process, onto surgery and then perhaps a bit on recovery and then things get kind of quiet...people disappear, they move on and the next new person arrives at the beginning of their journey and the whole thing starts over. The questions, concerns, topics rotate over and over and I am just wondering, are the surgeons out there truly sharing with their patients "the fine print" of this life altering surgery they are providing? Don't take this the wrong way, I am not trying to discount the care provided by the many weight loss surgeons, but essentially, they are in the business of making money by performing surgeries, and well, weight loss surgery is typically a once per patient kind of surgery. So, while they provide you with tons of information on the types of surgery available and pre-op requirements, dietician visits, nutritional information, are they all giving a thorough amount of information of what life will be like after the surgery? Are they providing 'the fine print'? I only wonder because so many posts reflect the lack of that information and there seems to be a large amount of frustration on the patient side of living the new lifestyle. I know that some insurance companies require a 4 hour class on how to live the new lifestyle once you've gone through the surgery, shouldn't that be mandatory for everyone regardless? I was given a book and told to read it. Really? Because I have that kind of time and inclination when I wasn't truly interested in the weight loss side of things to begin with, I can honestly say I never read it. I was clueless when I got out of surgery on what was next. I doubt I was the only one. I actually sought online search engines and forums to learn the information, which is how I came across this group and ended up joining. It has me wondering who else skipped over the fine print?
For those of you just starting out, I can only encourage you to learn all you can about what life is going to be like after you go through this surgery. Read the fine print! Have a full understanding of what the term 'lifestyle change' actually means. It doesn't have anything to do with wearing smaller clothes or taking the before and after photos. It is all about you changing your daily eating, nutrition, and exercise habits. Managing malabsorption for the rest of your life so that your health doesn't suffer from you forgetting to attend to your daily vitamin, calcium and mineral needs. Understanding and embracing a protein diet for the rest of your life. Giving up bad eating habits and moving forward with nutritional meals. Saying goodbye to bad foods, bad habits, and bad addictions. You can't enter into weight loss surgery as if the surgery itself will take your obesity and cure it, it won't! You are simply given a tool to use to help you achieve what you've struggled to achieve for so long. Just like a woodworker needs a hammer to drive in the nail, you too will have to put forth the effort to make the changes in your life that you want to be a healthier you. Weight loss surgery is by no means an easy way out of our inability to lose weight. It's hard! On both the body and the mind. You have to work hard after the surgery to get to where you want to be. Life after surgery essentially becomes a maintenance system for your body and you've got to use the right tools, at the right time to keep things running in top condition. Your given the right tools for success, it all comes down to how proficient you are at using them long term that will make the difference in whether you are able to be successful and achieve the ultimate goal of a happier, healthier you! Ultimately, when asked for advice on this forum about any of the surgeries and how to successfully deal with them, I can only say with absolute conviction, read the fine print!
So I have been reading posts lately and I am just kind of amazed at some of the stuff I come across when it comes to weight loss surgery. It is kind of like all those thousands of commercials that come on television trying to get you to take a new and amazing drug but at the end of the commercial, you hear a small voice that tells you to consult with your doctor "as it may cause the following conditions..."which it then lists for the next two minutes. I was thinking along the same lines anyway as I notice that there seems to be a pattern in the forums when it comes to WLS. Has anyone else noticed that a huge part of the focus in the forum seems to be on the beginning of the journey, through the pre-op process, onto surgery and then perhaps a bit on recovery and then things get kind of quiet...people disappear, they move on and the next new person arrives at the beginning of their journey and the whole thing starts over. The questions, concerns, topics rotate over and over and I am just wondering, are the surgeons out there truly sharing with their patients "the fine print" of this life altering surgery they are providing? Don't take this the wrong way, I am not trying to discount the care provided by the many weight loss surgeons, but essentially, they are in the business of making money by performing surgeries, and well, weight loss surgery is typically a once per patient kind of surgery. So, while they provide you with tons of information on the types of surgery available and pre-op requirements, dietician visits, nutritional information, are they all giving a thorough amount of information of what life will be like after the surgery? Are they providing 'the fine print'? I only wonder because so many posts reflect the lack of that information and there seems to be a large amount of frustration on the patient side of living the new lifestyle. I know that some insurance companies require a 4 hour class on how to live the new lifestyle once you've gone through the surgery, shouldn't that be mandatory for everyone regardless? I was given a book and told to read it. Really? Because I have that kind of time and inclination when I wasn't truly interested in the weight loss side of things to begin with, I can honestly say I never read it. I was clueless when I got out of surgery on what was next. I doubt I was the only one. I actually sought online search engines and forums to learn the information, which is how I came across this group and ended up joining. It has me wondering who else skipped over the fine print?
For those of you just starting out, I can only encourage you to learn all you can about what life is going to be like after you go through this surgery. Read the fine print! Have a full understanding of what the term 'lifestyle change' actually means. It doesn't have anything to do with wearing smaller clothes or taking the before and after photos. It is all about you changing your daily eating, nutrition, and exercise habits. Managing malabsorption for the rest of your life so that your health doesn't suffer from you forgetting to attend to your daily vitamin, calcium and mineral needs. Understanding and embracing a protein diet for the rest of your life. Giving up bad eating habits and moving forward with nutritional meals. Saying goodbye to bad foods, bad habits, and bad addictions. You can't enter into weight loss surgery as if the surgery itself will take your obesity and cure it, it won't! You are simply given a tool to use to help you achieve what you've struggled to achieve for so long. Just like a woodworker needs a hammer to drive in the nail, you too will have to put forth the effort to make the changes in your life that you want to be a healthier you. Weight loss surgery is by no means an easy way out of our inability to lose weight. It's hard! On both the body and the mind. You have to work hard after the surgery to get to where you want to be. Life after surgery essentially becomes a maintenance system for your body and you've got to use the right tools, at the right time to keep things running in top condition. Your given the right tools for success, it all comes down to how proficient you are at using them long term that will make the difference in whether you are able to be successful and achieve the ultimate goal of a happier, healthier you! Ultimately, when asked for advice on this forum about any of the surgeries and how to successfully deal with them, I can only say with absolute conviction, read the fine print!
