The Bariatric Dietitian

Discovery sessions

Making the decision to have weight loss surgery can be daunting. Unlike surgery to treat a specific health issue more urgently, making the decision to have bariatric surgery can be less straightforward.

Whilst we now understand obesity as a chronic, relapsing disease with wide ranging effects on health and wellbeing, for most people it doesn’t tend to feel urgent. Many people carry a lingering hope that they might reach a healthier weight through diet and lifestyle alone, especially when they have lost significant weight this way before. Bariatric surgery creates lasting changes to the way we eat and drink, and like all surgery, it carries certain risks, (although these are thankfully very low). All of this considered, it can feel more comfortable to do nothing than to make a decision, and to revisit the issue at a later date.

Very often it takes a health crisis such as a new diagnosis of diabetes to catalyse our decision-making. But many of the complications of obesity are more insidious than this and present as gradual deteriorations in mobility, cardiovascular health, breathing, discomfort, sleep, mood and quality of life. Even less obvious are the growing risks to future health (cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer) and longevity.

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If you are contemplating surgery but are struggling to assimilate all these considerations, you are not alone, and may find it helpful to have a discovery session:

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• Talk through all available options in detail

• Discuss readiness for surgery

• Understand how surgery works and how it could help you

• Discuss fears and concerns, hopes and expectations

• Understand how life after surgery might look

• Anticipate potential challenges (and how to manage them)

• Balance the pros and cons of having (or not having) surgery

• Expert guidance to support you in taking the next steps