Is the Surgery for You

For patients who remain severely obese after nonsurgical approaches to weight loss have failed, or for patients who have an obesity–related disease, surgery may be the best next step. But for other patients, greater efforts toward weight control, such as changes in eating habits, behavior modification, and increasing physical activity, may be more appropriate. Answers to the following questions may help in your decision to undergo surgery for weight loss.

Are you:

• unlikely to lose weight successfully with (further) nonsurgical measures?
• well informed about the surgical procedure and the effects of treatment?
• determined to lose weight and improve your health?
• aware of how your life may change after the operation (adjustment to the side effects of the surgery, including need to chew well and inability to eat large meals)?
• aware of the potential for serious complications, the associated dietary restrictions, and the occasional failures?
• committed to lifelong medical followup?

Do you:

• have a BMI of 40 or more? BMI is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms, by your height squared (kg/m2)
• have an obesity–related physical problem (such as body size that interferes with employment, walking, or family function)?
• have high–risk obesity–related health problems (such as severe sleep apnea or obesity–related heart disease)?

Remember: There are no guarantees for any method, including surgery, to produce and maintain weight loss. Success is possible only with your fullest cooperation and commitment to behavioral change and medical follow–up—and this cooperation and commitment should be carried out for the rest of your life.