Gastric-bypass surgery and stomach-stapling are operations that dramatically reduce the size of the stomach. A pouch about the size of an egg is all that is left.
After the surgery, patients can only eat 1 to 2 tablespoons of food at a time. Sometimes people become sickly because their bodies are not getting sufficient nourishment from food. Many people must take nutritional supplements following the surgery. Most patients do lose weight quickly and keep most of the weight off. But, it is not easy. They must completely change the way they eat and what they eat to avoid having stomach problems.
Weight-loss surgery can cause severe complications. After surgery, it is not unusual for people to suffer from nausea, weakness, sweating, faintness and diarrhea. The surgery may cause leakage of stomach acid into the abdomen. This is dangerous because the acid can eat away at other organs.
In time, the stomach may also stretch back to its normal size. When this happens, patients often stop losing weight and can even gain weight back.
It is important to learn about and carefully consider the pros and cons before making the decision to undergo this drastic approach to weight-loss.