The social benefits that come with a healthier lifestyle are virtually never-ending. You feel better about yourself and that radiates to the world. You may feel more confident to go out socially. You interact with more people through physical activity. This often leads to long term relationships forming.

The aim of the surgery is to make you feel comfortably full on far less food.

In the initial phases  after the surgery, there’s often food that people find difficult to eat, but over time and by slowing down your eating, chewing well and stopping as soon as you feel comfortably full, our aim is for a wide range of foods to be tolerated.  The goal is for you to enjoy whatever nutritional foods the family is eating.

Any surgery comes with a degree of risk. These will be discussed in your initial consultation. Complications are minimised when the advice from your doctor and support staff are adhered to.

Risks and complications associated with bariatric surgery include:

• Dumping syndrome
• Gallstones
• Hernia
• Internal bleeding or profuse bleeding of the surgical wound
• Leakage
• Perforation of stomach or intestines
• Pouch/anastomotic obstruction or bowel obstruction
• Spleen or other organ injury
• Stomach or intestine ulceration
• Stricture
• Nutritional deficiencies

Most people need around 3 weeks away from work to recover from weight loss surgery.   And they return to moderate exercise after 4 weeks. The surgery itself is a day procedure. Your situation may be different, so we’ll advise you as part of your consultation.

An example of an average patient’s success:

A person who is 172cm tall and weighs 125kg (BMI 42) has an excess weight of 51kg (based on using a BMI of 25 being an ideal weight of 74kg) would expect to lose:

• Approximately 70% of their excess weight,  achieving around 85 – 89kg after a sleeve or bypass

The cost of WLS varies between the type of surgery and whether or not you have private health insurance. Find out all the details about the cost of weight loss surgery here.

50% of patients can put a small amount of weight back on. Don’t be alarmed. This is as little as 5%. This may happen after a stabilisation period of 18 months to 2 year period. The long term studies (10 years+) show most weight loss surgery patients are able to achieve and maintain significant weight loss.

Our GP’s are not just there for us when we are struck down with illness. They are a reliable source when it comes to prevention and advice. Make an appointment and ask your doctor’s advice on weight loss strategies and available support. Your doctor will also have information on the costs of procedures and alternatives to up-front expenses associated with this type of surgery. There are options through medicare and private health insurance. Discuss this with your GP because if the cost of surgery has been making the decision for you, there may be other options.