The idea of surgery may sound scary to anyone. It's a very natural and human feeling. There are nearly two billion overweight and obese people in the world. There is no country that is successful in the fight against obesity. The obesity problem continues to increase day by day. The pandemic process has increased these numbers even more. Obesity surgeries are the most effective method in the fight against obesity. However, the vast majority (90%) of people who meet the criteria for bariatric surgery are concerned and cautious about the idea of surgery. We know this very well from the stories told by the patients we operated on.
"Hodja, I've waited for years to decide on this surgery. I never had the courage to
“I wish I had the surgery earlier. I lost 3 years for nothing. I overestimated the surgery.” We got used to hearing these phrases so much in the post-operative period. Of course, it is not the fear of surgery alone that prevents them from undergoing sleeve gastrectomy surgery. At the same time, 'what will my environment say to me? If they say, "Look, he couldn't hold his throat, he went under the knife," and there is also a concern. At the same time, the negative news heard from the right and left can further fuel people's fear of surgery. The media already loves this kind of news. Sensitivity increases even more when there is a group of people who still think that these surgeries are done for cosmetic concerns. When the widespread misinformation is added to the news such as "Our neighbor's son had bariatric surgery and died", people's fears increase even more.
I want to give you an example. Plane crashes are always news, no matter where they are in the world. But this does not change the fact that the plane is still the safest means of transportation. The risk of death in open heart surgery is around 2-3%. This is actually a very high rate, but the media will never report it.
For example, you weigh 110 kilograms and you have appendicitis. You will have to have surgery. Can you say I'm afraid of surgery and I don't want to have surgery? You can't because if you don't have surgery, your appendix will burst and the infection will spread into the abdomen and eventually kill you. Did you know that at this weight, appendicitis surgery carries 7-8 times more risk of complications than obesity surgery?
The risk of gastric sleeve surgery is even lower than gallbladder surgery in experienced hands. This risk is so low (1/5000) that it is a risk that can be easily taken when you consider co-morbidities due to obesity. 25 years of SOS (Swedish Obese Subjects) research showed us that. People with obesity problems die 10-15 years earlier due to reasons such as heart attack, diabetes, cancer, fatty liver, and vascular diseases. We now know very clearly that bariatric surgery reduces deaths due to cardiovascular diseases by almost half (40%). We now know very clearly that surgeries such as sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass not only cause weight loss, but also cure type 2 diabetes and other weight-related diseases with hormonal effects.
There is also a section of people who are afraid of anesthesia and narcosis rather than the fear of surgery. Considering the developments in anesthesia techniques today, anesthesia is actually the safest area for a person. In fact, every person goes through a head-to-toe check-up before stomach reduction surgery. People before sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass are examined in detail to see if there is a risk of the operation. Therefore, if a serious risk is detected in pre-operative research, no one will want to operate on you.
Do not be afraid of obesity surgeries. Go beyond your fears and be brave. After a while, you will already realize how groundless your fears are. If people had regrets after stomach reduction surgery, would these surgeries still be done so often? In general, the biggest regrets of the patients are "I wish I had this surgery before". If you have a weight problem and you haven't been able to lose those pounds despite numerous diets, don't let obesity wear you down any longer. Take action right away.
