What Is Gastric Bypass Surgery?

If you’ve tried losing weight on your own with no success or find that it’s difficult to reduce your calorie intake, then consider gastric bypass surgery. During the surgery, the size of your stomach is reduced so that it’s about the size of an orange, perhaps smaller depending on how much weight you need to lose. It essentially forces you to eat smaller amounts of food during the day, cutting back on the number of calories that you consume from sodas and unhealthy items because you can get physically sick if you eat too much. Keep in mind that you can slowly stretch your stomach back to the size that it was if you do consume more food than you should.

This surgery is not just beneficial for weight loss purposes, it has also been proven to reduce a number of health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and others. You will usually stay in the hospital for a few nights so that our doctor can monitor your vital signs and overall health as well as how you’re tolerating the liquids that you’ll be on for the first few weeks after surgery.

While the results are often the same for each type of gastric bypass surgery, there are a few different methods that our doctor can perform. A common type involves making a small pouch in the stomach with staples, which will act as your new stomach. If you eat more than you’re supposed to, then the staples could come undone, resulting in a larger stomach and other health issues.

A detailed bypass involves removing a large part of your stomach and connecting the part that is left to the lower sections of your small intestine. The food that you eat will then bypass the upper portions of your intestine, resulting in fewer calories that are consumed. If you choose to have this surgery performed, you will usually need to stay in the hospital longer and might find that your body doesn’t absorb as many nutrients as it would with a bypass procedure that involves stapling the stomach creating a small pouch.

A benefit of gastric bypass surgery is that you will see a significant amount of weight loss within the first few months of the procedure. Once you begin losing weight and understand the foods that you should and shouldn’t eat, then it will be easier to stick with a diet, which will make it easier to lose weight on your own and keep it off instead of relying only on the surgery.

To learn more about the many health benefits of this procedure, contact the educated professionals at the Orlando Center for Metabolic & Obesity Surgery in Maitland, FL. We would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Contact us today to schedule your consultation!