Bariatric surgery for weight loss can be a life changing operation for those suffering obesity. Dr Leon Cohen talks about some of the memorable moments that make working as a bariatric surgeon so incredible. If you are considering surgery for weight loss, please take 5 minutes to hear some stories about people who have undergone the procedure.
Memorable Moments of Weight Loss Surgery
Video Transcription
Can you think of any memorable moments over the years during surgery?
Dr. Leon Cohen: Oh, absolutely. Look, I see memorable miracles just about every day in my practice. I mean the commonest miracle is if I actually recognize the patient one year after their surgery. And I commonly have to whisper in my secretary, “Just remind me. Who is that person?” But there are some memorable moments.
There’s a young lady called Amy who has posted on our website as one of the success stories. And not only has she written, but she has included a video blog. And that is just a beautiful story of how she has changed over time.
And the follow-up to that is that I just recently saw another blog that she has created and I think she is three or four years down the track and have discovered now she is pregnant. She is about to get married. She looks beautiful and happy. And that’s such a satisfying thing.
And happily, that is a common scenario following the surgery. So, this is not just about delivering weight loss. We wanted to deliver health and happiness.
Now, is there anyone who has got the other effect? Is there anyone who wished they never had the surgery?
Surprisingly with the sleeve, very, very uncommon. With bands, perhaps a little more so because the quality of eating and drinking is not as good. But even sleeve patients who have had the worst complication likely can have recovered even the nightmare they’ve had to gone through with that, they still say, “I would do it all again because of the way I’m feeling now.”
Interviewer: There’s no doubt that when we create a healthy lifestyle for ourselves, it rubs off on everything, everything we do whether it’s work, family, play, sleep, everything. We feel confident. We sleep better. Wear better clothes and have a lot more fun.
Dr. Leon Cohen: That is not to say that there are not psychological implications from losing weight. And there have been some patients whose marriages have broken up and because they have become a different person. And often, a more confident person who is not embarrassed by the way they look and diminished in that relationship by the way they are. And so when they lose weight that is the instigation for them to realise that relationship is not right. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
Interviewer: No, of course not. There are people who wished they could really just go out for a bike ride, go out for a walk, go for a run, go hiking. We’re talking about getting fit and keeping fit. I know I’ve been there. I used to walk 20 kilometres a day. Most of my life, I sort of put off doing things because of my weight. And we say, “I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to go there.” And all we wanted to do was simply go and have a swim or something that other people just take for granted.
Dr. Leon Cohen: Obesity inhibits all of those things. It inhibits them because physically, it’s hard and it hurts. So I reject the proposition that obese people are weak. No, physically weak. Actually, they are tremendously strong. They have to be strong to carry around that 40 kilograms.
And one of the things we do in our gym when people come back is at the 6-month or 12-month mark where they may have lost 25 to 40 kilos, we put a weight belt on them to give them back their 25 kilos while they’re doing their exercise test just to remind them of how much weight they have and how light they feel.
I mean I do a lot of hiking and backpacking. I dread carrying a 25-kilogram rucksack. And yet, an obese patient might be carrying many more times that amount.
One of the other patients we operated on when he was 270 kilos to start with, he is now currently around 130, when he had lost a 100 kilograms, we loaded up a backpack with a 100 kilograms worth of weight. We had a barbeque to celebrate his milestone. There were very few people who could carry that backpack. Yet, he had been carrying and walking around. So you can’t tell me obese people aren’t strong.
Of course, the other activities, riding a bike, going to the beach, playing a sport, people may do that not just because they are physically hurting but they are embarrassed. And so, we can give that back to them, and that’s a very gratifying thing.
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