Weight-loss surgery is not a cure for obesity, but rather a tool to help you lose weight to live a healthier, longer, and more fulfilling life. Successfully maintaining your weight loss depends on your ability to follow guidelines for diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes after surgery and for the rest of your life. Life after weight loss surgery will be a 180 degree turn from what you are used to.

Thankfully, you don’t have to figure out this new post-bariatric-surgery life alone. Follow-up care, including a support group, dietitian services, and continuing education are imperative to help you achieve long-term success. Your chance of maintaining a healthy weight will increase if you have a network of family, friends, and professionals who can offer encouragement and help you stay on track. Even though it can be difficult at times, most patients say it was the best decision they have ever made.

In addition to weight loss, bariatric surgery may improve or resolve conditions often related to being overweight, including:

• Gastroesophageal reflux disease
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Severe sleep apnea
• Type 2 diabetes
• Stroke

Despite all of these positive outcomes, you’ll need to develop permanent long-term habits in order to maintain your weight and health goals.

If you let your post-surgery habits slip and find yourself putting weight back on, you’ll be more likely to experience a recurrence of your former health problems. For example, most patients with diabetes experience a complete remission of the disease following bariatric surgery, but one out of five of these patients see their diabetes return, due in part to having a higher body weight as time goes on following surgery.

Get ready for some significant changes to both what you eat and how you eat, but don’t be discouraged! It may not be as hard as it sounds. Many patients find that their unhealthy food cravings completely go away, plus your new stomach will cause you to feel full much sooner than before surgery.

If you live in the Las Vegas area and are considering bariatric surgery, schedule an appointment with Dr. Shawn Tsuda. He and his expert team can find the right treatment for you.