I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed our communications. The information you have conveyed so well has prepared me in many ways — from eating to exercise, from expecting pain after surgery to dealing with plateaus. So thanks so much for your sharing, help and personal experiences.
— Patricia

You are the best source of information and support I have found!
— Dana K.

After communicating with you, I'm deeply moved and feel like I have found someone who is going through profound experiences very much like my own. I studied up on the WLS process for 11 months prior to having my procedure, but never in all my reading did I come across any significant discussion on the early pre-op months and the related emotional and physical challenges. Thanks for your gift!

Through Thick and Thin #43 (May 7, 2004)

It Really IS A Matter of Genetics!

I found it on the first page of the “Foreword” to   The Patient's Guide To Weight Loss Surgery, by April Hochstrasser, PhD.  My review copy had just arrived, and I was interested to note that both the author and the writer of the foreword ( Tacoma bariatric surgeon S. Ross Fox, M.D., a former President of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery) were (relative) locals.  I became even more excited when I read Dr. Fox, in a few simple sentences, tell The Bottom Line.  He wrote:

“A great majority of Americans who are heavy are that way primarily because of their genetics.  It is true that they must consume the calories to put on the weight, but their biology asks them to do that .  When their excess weight reaches around 100 pounds, it is virtually impossible for them to get the weight off and keep it off without drastic interventions .  The NIH has looked at various therapies for the treatment of morbid obesity (100 pounds or more overweight) on several occasions in the past 30 years, and has found that diet, exercise, behavior modification, and other treatments are virtually never successful.  The NIH has stated that the most effective therapy for long-term significant weight loss in morbidly obese patients is surgery .  This sentiment has been echoed by Dr. D. Everett Koop, the American Academy of Science, and other prestigious scientific groups.” (underlining added)

This is the most succinct and powerful statement of these facts I've yet found.  It corresponds completely to my own experience, first as a morbidly obese man and then as a WLS patient.  At some point, my accumulated obesity reached a point of Critical Mass and nothing I could do – nutritional education, improved eating, exercise – could make much of a difference .  That's when, without other meaningful or realistic options, I turned to Weight Loss Surgery.  And my WLS gave me the tools I needed to take off my excess weight.   Today, a year and a half after my surgery, I struggle more to avoid losing additional weight than I do to maintain my present 180 lb. weight loss.

Every week I talk or correspond with at least twenty fellow WLSers who report feelings of guilt, shame, humiliation or despair because they had or have to resort to such drastic measures – Weight Loss Surgery – to lose their excess weight.  These are people who blame themselves, as I used to do, for their powerlessness over food, eating and weight.  Dr. Ross' paragraph should be required reading for anyone considering, or pursuing, bariatric surgery.  I intend to share it with clients I am coaching and folks who ask for my advice.  I encourage you to share it with others in your circle.  There's no need or reason why morbidly obese people should continue beating themselves up over something that is NOW beyond their control and that insidiously destroys their hope and health. 

There's nothing more I can add.  If you are your own Hanging Judge, I encourage you to memorize Dr. Fox's Bottom Line, or carry a copy around with you.   If you're sabotaging your success or limiting your options out of a misguided sense of guilt, at least be clear that YOU'RE making that choice.

Glenn Goldberg, VBG 10.24.02, 360/181© Glenn Goldberg 2004

Copyright, © 2003, Glenn Goldberg. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer & Notices