Al Roker is Thin

Is it me or is gastric bypass becoming the chic new thing? Every magazine or newspaper I open has an article about it. I find it scary. I saw a show on Discovery Health (or one of those channels) called Christy's Story about a woman who gets a gastric bypass. She ends up thin, but she also ends up abusing alcohol and drugs because she never took careo f the underlying issues of her obesity - namely childhood abuse. Her substance abuse starts making her daughter turn to food for comfort and gain weight - frightening. It was a very good example of how being thin isn't some magic wand that solves all your problems.

I love how the underlying assumption of weight loss is always "health concerns" but then when it comes down to it, people only talk about how they can't fit into clothes, etc. Has nobody come up with the brilliant idea that health and weight are not necessarily attached? That maybe, just maybe, if you exercised a bit and normalized your eating, you could be healthy AND fat? Hmmm...apparently not. I'm starting to wonder if some Bariatric Surgeon's professional association has a hand in getting all these recent articles about GPS published. Sounds like somebody's promoting it pretty hard. At least they'll never get me. :o)

It sounds to me like gastric bypass surgery is becoming the new magic pill. Years ago, things like Slimfast were considered magic pills by many, but obviously have turned out not to be since then. What many people don't understand, sadly, is that there is no magic pill regarding health or weight, and there may never be one. And don't get me started on the ethical issues of this type of surgery. Someone should write a book on them.

I wish I could remember what magazine it was- might have been Rosie O'Donnel's- had an article a few months ago giving "both sides of the gastric bypass story". It featured one woman who was very happy with her results although a year or so after the surgery she had clearly gained back some of the weight she'd initially dropped. Her health issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure had resolved themselves after her weight loss. The other was about a woman who was *miserable* and having horrible effects and constantly felt sick and said no way would she have done it if she'd known how it would turn out- that the doctors really glossed over the possible dangers. The "magic pill" concept really does lend itself to minimizing the potential negatives-- although to me just the whole concept is negative--blech!! Crazy...

I picked up the People Magazine issue with Al on the cover because I wanted to know his story. It is quite what I expected, though even sadder. It infuriated me to hear comments from Katie Couric about how Al just looks "better and better" as he is losing weight. And to know that his wife has always made an issue of his weight just makes me sick. What I want to know is if Al is a paid spokesperson for this surgery. I'll bet he is.

The thing that's most infuriating about Al Roker's story is how he had *no* negative health effects due to his weight. His blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar levels and everything were entirely normal. But despite all that, his weight made his wife paranoid that he would just fall down dead one day. And so, ecen though he'll probably end up having more real health problems after his surgery than he ever did when he was fat, he's convinced he had to do this to save his life. The misinformation is just devastating.

I think Al Roker's story best illustrates the underlying problem in this country with regards to food, health and the medical profession. Here is a person who was raised on a certain diet (foods cooked in lard and bacon drippings, for example) that he continued into his adulthood. My question is, has any medical professional, any diet clinic, any weight loss program of any kind taught him what a healthy, balanced diet is? At any point in his life, has anyone competently taught him about nutrition? He's said that his problem was his eating. His weight wasn't the result of a genetic predisposition nor a gland problem. This is where the medical profession failed him and fails so many people in this country. Instead of dispensing common sense and good advise, doctors frequently reach for the drugs and/or the knife. There's a greater profit margin in perfroming a surgery than advising a patient on how to eat better. Bariatrics is especially worrisome as this branch of medicine is not held to the same skill requirements as most other branches are. From what I've read on the subject, a person can acquire a degree/certificate/license in bariatrics in a year or two as opposed to the six to eight years required to be a licensed GP, for example. So does Al continue to reach for the unhealthy foods he's been eating all his life? I assume so, just less of it. But what of the body's need for nutrients? He wasn't providing his body a healthy diet before and he still isn't. (As far as I've read.) I'd be curious to know what effects a healthy, high fiber diet might have in an egg-sized stomach w/ less digestive enzymes should he now decide to eat better.

Here is another article (from People magazine) where he just *brushed* on the "fat and jolly" subject: http://people.aol.com/people/magazine/coverstoryexcerpt/0,11369,387411-1,00.html And then there's his very own online journal where he discusses GBS, too: http://roker.com/journal_archive_display.cfm?datedata=11-08-2002&direction=next I would love to hear an ongoing account of how Al does with his WLS. It will be interesting to hear what he says a year, two years, three years, etc. from now. It has only been 8 months and I would imagine that most people who, A.) lost 100 pounds and B.)were in a totally different sized body would have positive reactions from this. I honestly like Al's take on the surgery. Although he is a celebrity, the way he talks about things sounds pretty down-to-earth for me. I mean, he kept this whole thing a secret at first, instead of making it a media issue. But, after losing so much weight, how could he ever have kept this a secret forever?

Peggy said, "I'm starting to wonder if some Bariatric Surgeon's professional association has a hand in getting all these recent articles about GPS published." Yup. A few actually. Two of 'em are called the American Obesity Association and the Obesity Law and Advocacy Center. Both are very good at appearing compassionate and, if not fat-postive, then oh-so-concerned about the welfare of fat people. However, their sponsors are overwhelmingly folk with money to make off fat people (Jenny Craig, and the American Society of Bariatric Surgeons, and Shape up America, etc. etc. etc.) Their rhetoric is all warm and fuzzy, but they slip in continually assumptions about all fat people being disabled, and are pushing pushing pushing to get (so-called) weight loss surgery covered by insurance companies, as if it were either safe or effective. For more (creepy) info: http://www.obesity.org/subs/contributor_list.shtml

Wow, Kell, that's an awesome find.

He will throw up if he over eats. And, for Al, overeating now means an extra two or three spoonfuls of cereal. And if he throws up often enough he may get esophogeal cancer. Just one of the many negative heath problems one can expect in the post surgery life.

Hi - I just wanted to note that even though Al may or may not have had health problems, the decision to get the surgery was his to make, regardless of whether he wanted it done for cosmetic reasons or health reasons. GBS is a tool, it is not a solutions to problems, health related or otherwise. This is like elective cosmetic surgery: some people get nose jobs to look better, others have it done to breathe better. And Paul, why do you state "gastric bypass is turning former champions of the fat acceptance community away" - if Al was, in fact, a champion, he would not have considered the surgery. The fact that he had it done implies that he was never a "champion." We have to be careful not to imply that someone becomes our "enemy" just because they decide to lose weight [whether done via surgery, dieting, or whatever.] Just my 2cents.... this is my first post, BTW, and I love your site. Best of the net, in my opinion.

Lisa: and Paul, why do you state "gastric bypass is turning former champions of the fat acceptance community away" - if Al was, in fact, a champion, he would not have considered the surgery. Your point is well taken. Al Roker wasn't (to the best of my knowledge) a champion of fat acceptance, and thus I admit I'm wrong on that. My concern is more pointed at Carnie Wilson. She had been a fat acceptance advocate before her infamous surgery. I don't think weight loss makes someone an enemy, though.

Not everyone decides to lose weight, either. I seem to have lost a few pounds over the last month, but that's probably more related to stress in real life, though. However, regardless of whether one is fat or thin, I don't believe anyone should be hated for physical characteristics they can't help. Discrimination sucks. Having been discriminated against, I can understand why someone would seriously consider this type of surgery to end the hatred projected onto them by others. But it is one thing when an adult does it knowing all the consequences that could happen as a result, and quite another when the medical profession misleads them into believing its a magic pill that it isn't, or when parents elect surgery for a minor under 18 who will never again be able to enjoy healthy food.

The thing that gets me about this particular case is that, from everything that been published lately I get the impression that Al hadn't been suffering discrimination in the form of taunting or teasing for quite some time. At least not since he had gotten famous. They made quite an issue out of stating that neither his agent nor a single one of his bosses had ever so much as suggested that he lose weight. He was *adored* by the public even at his heaviest. *AND* except for weak knees, he was even healthy! And yet everybody who 'cared' about him was convinced he was about to fall down dead. And that, so he said, was why he decided to have the surgery, out of an overwhelming concern for his health despite the fact he's completely healthy. *That's* what I'm talking about when I talk about misinformation, the assumption that he must be terribly unhealthy just because he's fat even when test results say quite the opposite.

Melissa, you made a fantastic point. And though I do not think "bad" of Al for having the surgery, I do admit to feeling a little sad when the fat community loses a great "role model." That might sound kind of weird... But, here's Carnie Wilson, Al Roker and now Missy Elliot all losing weight and, not that I don't understand their reasons for doing so, it's just a shame that there aren't more chubby people out there who are just chubby. Period. And move on. But, in an industry like Entertainment, the pressure to be thin is probably so immense. I wouldn't want it.

I am tormented by being a wopping 340 pounds at age 37. Three growing kids ages 16, 13 and 7. Suffering from severe sleep apnea (can't even hold down a job), no love life because I snore like a pig and wake up constantly in the middle of the night, I am dark in visible areas that look like I don't wash, I can barely put clothes on (especially socks), my feet and knees hurt constantly, if I skip meals and eat one meal I'm okay but my insulin shoots up. Hypergly---- or diabetes is down the road the doctor says. I try not to eat too much this too much that and don't really get to exercise because of my financial situation. Medicaid is my only insurance and I have researched high and low to find a bariatric surgeon who accepts medicaid. I do not want to have surgery to lose weight. But nothing else works. One who does not have the willpower or the strength but still wants to live will opt for the surgery. If only you walk in a fat persons shoes...

GG Black, why do you assume that no one here walks "in a fat person's shoes?" Many of those commenting here are in the midst of their own issues with their weight. That doesn't mean that they have to accept mutilation of their bodies with a number of horrifying, often permanent after-effects as a reasonable way to lose weight. Nor does it mean needing to accepting losing weight as the only way to be healthy. Nor does it mean accepting the idea that it is lack of "willpower" that keeps fat people fat. Nor does it mean accepting the defeat that is regularly handed to fat people by those with an anti-fat bias that says "nothing else works" and "so what about the consequences, this is your best option." In fact, I for one, and I'd imagine a bunch of the BFB regulars reject all of those notions completely out of hand, even when we are struggling with finding time to exercise and having been given scary prognoses from doctors -- doctors who may well be relying upon some of that "commonly accepted truth about obesity" which is actually not truth at all, and aren't even making those predictions based upon the individual patient's presentation. If you have a condition which is throwing your body's insulin regulation off -- or even if you don't -- no one with any kind of background in nutrition will tell you to skip meals. In fact, they'd tell you to eat more often, having smaller meals more often with an emphasis on healthy foods, especially fresh fruit and vegetables, fiber, whole grains. And they'd tell you that you must find time to exercise, a half-hour spent walking can be enough, it doesn't have to be some fancy program in a costly gym or with equipment that you have to run out to buy. You can get fit and still remain "fat" but chances are that you'll lose weight in your efforts toward gaining fitness. The first thing you've got to shape up is your attitude -- you won't get anywhere so long as you're sure that all of the cards are stacked against you and you can't win.

Dreana, you say that the first thing GG Black has to do is shape up her attitude. I disagree. The health issues listed are real: sleep apnea, problems with knees and feet - these problems will not go away with a simple attitude adjustment. Some people's health is affected by weight - not everyone's, but some. And clearly, GG's health would improve with weight loss. Although the medical establishment does put way too much emphasis on obesity as the 'cause' for many health problems, the truth is that some existing problems can be alleviated by weight loss. Doctors have told me time and time again to lose weight, but I feel wonderful, no problems to speak of, and see no reason to do so just for cosmetic reasons. But if someone is in pain, and weight loss woud help them, they should be encouraged to lose. Your 'attitude adjustment' statment is simplistic and somewhat unbalanced. JMO.

Lisa -- I was specifically speaking to the "Nothing else will work" defeatism and the "no one knows my pain" (i.e. "If only you walk in a fat person's shoes") isolationist attitude. If you go into life thinking that you're all alone and without options, you're not going to get far, no matter what. That kind of hands-in-the-air negativity is spirit killing. It doesn't do anyone any good at all.

Al Roker was on the cover of Parade magazine this Sunday (that little newspaper insert) and what bothered me most was that the headline says something like: "Good food and exercise have helped Al drop 100 pounds!" not one mention of the fact that he also had a surgery that reduced the size of his stomach to an egg. The article on the inside also says very little about the surgery either. It talks about how Al changed his diet, and the surgery is included as almost an afterthought. I found it very strange.

That is strange. I wonder if it's a case of shoddy research? Or creative journalism? Or what. There were some headlines like that before he came out with his surgery, but it's no secret anymore. Anyway. Al had a NY Congressman on Today this morning who has had WLS as well. I think I'm going to have to find another morning show to wake up with, today has become WLS Today it seems and I just can't support that.

Thanks Kell. I had a feeling that someone iffy was involved. I have seen some of the websites of those organizations and they were sticky sickeningly sweet with their concern for fat folks. Now I know the score :)

I saw the Parade article, too. I was glad to hear (and I hope it's true) that he has changed his eating habits as well. But what a difference from the People magazine article... And, by the way, GG Black, I'm fat :)

I saw the same cover of Parade Magazine and couldn't believe the headline, which essentially says that Al Roker lost 100 lbs through health eating. What a sham.

Just more of my five cents. Yes, some people are seriously disabled or ill in ways that are somehow related to fatness, in a big cause & effect & coincidence dance that we are nowhere near even beginning to understand. Current medical research isn't real good at thinking in terms of dynamic, reactive systems. Same story for AIDS, CP, epilepsy, fertility, [your ailment here]. Weight loss surgery is based on the premise that fat people are fat because of their eating habits. Using even the proponents own numbers, this is true at most about half of the time. The myth of the fat glutton has never been proved by anyone, and some people have maintained weights over 500 lbs. on 700 calories a day. About half of weight loss surgery survivors never lose weight, or lose weight and regain it. Somewhere between a third and half require additional surgery to correct potentially fatal problems after the surgery. And, we don't have accurate fatality or complication numbers because those deaths get written off as "obesity related" instead of as direct results of the surgeries. Regardless of whether someone wants to lose weight, the surgeries are worse than worthless. The only reasons these surgeries happen is because they make people money, the fulfill the societal need to torture and punish the current, most hated scapegoat, and because those doctors who get off on randomly maiming bodies can do it to us and get away with it. I'm all for therapies and dietary changes that make people healthier, even those that may be specifically aimed at weight changes. However, like any medical procedure, they must leave the patient healthier than before, and not carry so high a death or failure risk that the patient is more likely to be healthier if they do nothing. Weight loss surgery meets neither of these criteria.

There is some misinformation in this discussion that should be cleared up. It has been repeated many times that no mention was made in the People story of Roker making changes in his exercise or lifestyle. It has also been said that Roker had no health problems associated with his weight. The People magazine article not only explains the risks of GBS (mentioning that the fatality rate is 1 in 200) but also does a good job of explaining the process in unflinching detail and in layman's terms. It is presented as what it is: a surgery that no one goes into lightly. As for Roker's health before surgery and his new commitment to exercise, THIS is what the story actually says, quoted from People.com: "Coupled with a workout regimen that involves a combination of cardio, weights and strength training five days a week, Roker is savoring the joys of his newfound agility. "I can carry Nicholas up the stairs without any problems," he says. "I can give Leila a piggyback ride."... Previously plagued with aching knees and breathing difficulties, he says his presurgery life was filled with daily denials. "It's taking me 10 minutes to get up four flights of stairs, but that's normal, isn't it?" he recalls saying to himself." The movement to promote acceptance of many different body images has been an important step in our enlightenment as a society. Many of us believe that Carnie Wilson was beautiful before AND after weight loss. Her decision to have GBS does not diminish her as a role model because she has always emphasized and illustrated that TRUE beauty shines from the soul, not the body. Can't we disagree about the benefits or risks of WLS and still love, support, and embrace those who make the difficult decision to undergo these procedures and show them compassion and understanding?

Um, no. Because: These "choices" did not happen outside of the camera eye. They're publicized, tauted, praised as part of an ongoing campaign, conscious and unconscious, to keep fat people down, to maim us, to use us, to kill us if necessary -- anything but just leave us the hell alone. The magazines involved are, of course, just going for another bit of profit generated from this century's set of side show freaks, but their presentations serve to lobby the public into believing that good fat people become thin no matter what, and bad fat people live their lives fat. Nowhere in these articles are people who make the "difficult decision" to maintain their health, that is to remain fat, by not engaging in these procedures (or taking the latest drug) praised or applauded or presented as role models. As for compassion and understanding, compassion maybe. Anyone who would undergo anything this intimate, this laden with emotional and physical and ethical importance, in front of a clueless set of media buzzards definitely deserves our compassion, and pity, since he or she is obviously compulsively, obsessively insane in their pursuit of two-dimensional attention and approval. Understanding's harder, since this behavior is aberrant, pathetic and socially irresponsible. They are giving us our life maintenance orders. They are trying to make us, in three-dimensions, repeat this behavior. These dubious "achievement" is seen as praise worthy because there is no set of circumstances in this culture where any fat person can ever been seen as equal to or better than any thin person, regardless of that seeming concern with "health". "Health," in that mindset, is conforming to society's demands, even if one winds up maimed or dead in the process.

I had posted here earlier about my struggles with Southwest Airlines, but that is another story. I am currently grappling with the prospect of having the gastric bypass surgery. I came to this decision after a lot of consultation with my doctor and my family. The issue for me was health. I have gained about 100 pounds in the past two years or so and the extra weight has caused some very noticible problems. I have an annual physical exam performed just to keep tabs on things and this last year some things started happening that hadn't happened before. Now, I do believe it is a combination of things: age, inactivity and weight gain, but I have shown increase in blood pressue, glucose levels, and cholesterol levels. In addition, I now have problems with my right knee and both ankles and was diagnosed as having severe sleep apnea. I'm only 28 and I believe, that in my case, if I was able to reduce my weight and increase activity, that I will be able to stop or possibly reverse some of the health problems I am currently experiencing. It has been a tough decision to decide to go with gastric bypass, but I feel like it is my only option at this point. I too watched the Al Roker interview about his procedure and one thing he said really struck me ... "it kind of feels like a failure, because I wasn't able to lose the weight on my own." Prior to looking at the surgery as an opion, I was on a strict ADA diet and went through a three-time-a-week non-impact exercise regimen ... all to no avail. I did lose 30 pounds, but 30 pounds on a 300+ pound man is a drop in the bucket. It bothers me because I was, at one time a standout high school and collegiate athlete, but once I graduated colleged and moved on from the twice daily workouts ... my body gradually moved into a morbidly obese state. It saddens me that I will resort to gastric bypass, knowing that my body will be forever changed, but it is a decision that I made ... not a decision society made for me ... I have never been a conformist and I'm not going to start now, but I do want to try to head off potentially deadly health problems and this procedure might be the answer. I guess I want to close with saying that my choosing to have this procedure, doesn't mean that I am turning my back on obese people (I say obese, because apparently everyone is overweight according to current standards) and I'm not doing it for vanity. I would never put my life in danger for something as petty as vanity. I know this procedure isn't for everyone and hopefully medical science will come up with a better solution to obesity, but for now this is the best option for me. Just wanted to put a few words down ... I will keep you updated on how things work out.

Yes, but: The bypass idea is predicated on the ideas that fat people overeat, and therefore need to have consumption controlled by bodily limitations (similar to the old jaw-wiring business), or that semi-starvation is the only way to "help" fat people. There's nothing intrinsic to the cutting out of the digestive system that helps someone move to the "goal". So, since you're saying a standard sort of "ADA" diet and physical therapy haven't worked, why not go on the semi-starvation regime without having the surgery? That way, if you run into problems (related to calcium loss, esophegeal erosion, worsening of blood sugar problems, heart arhythmias, etc. etc.) they can be somewhat mitigated by returned to a standard intake level. You won't have that option if you get the surgery. (And, if your answer is that you don't have the "will power" to stay on the semi-starvation regime without surgery, I must remind you that it is far more likely than not that you will need far more "will power" following by bypass simply to remain alive and margainally functional.)

"side show freaks," "obsessively insane," "aberrant," "pathetic," "socially irresponsible," "clueless set of media buzzards," Gee, Kell. So much for the Community prohibition against "name-calling." Another posted "Guideline" we'd all do well to keep in mind is "The Golden Rule." As the Guidelines state, it can be "quite practical." The challenge I made in my post (aside from pointing out that members have misrepresented the content of the People magazine article about Al Roker to the point of fabrication, proven by quoting actual content from the story--and I notice you were silent on that matter) was to stop trashing every person who chooses a surgical option in their attempt to lose weight, and treat them with the same respect one expects from those who disagree with one's opinion. By "trashing" I mean exactly the kind of hateful language you used in your response. No one who has had, or is considering gastric bypass surgery needs this kind of hostility directed at them, when their very decision to undergo a surgery containing some danger underscores how much they've already struggled to lose weight. And by "opinion", I mean that your assessment of GBS contradicts that of many physicians, and groups like The American Obesity Association. As Omar illustrates with his post, no one goes into a procedure like this frivolously, and most who do have experienced discrimination at some point, worry about their health, and have already tried other methods to lose weight. What they need from us, whether we support GBS as an alternative or not, is compassion and understanding. "Understanding", because we know the shared histories (discrimination, diets, medications) that lead people to view GBS with hope. "Compassion", because to know this and ignore their pain and their struggle, is callous and self-serving. Disagreeing with the practice of gastric bypass surgery doesn't require the vilification of the patients who choose it. We would all do well to remember "The Golden Rule" more often.

The American Obesity (sic.) Association is funded by the very companies, associations and individuals who will profit most if weight loss surgery is ever accepted by the mainstream as legitimate, or funded by insurance or government programs. In other words, if the pogram succeeds. I stand by my contention that the mainstream media is obsessive, inane, aberrant, pathetic, and thinks of fat people (and pretty much everybody else) as freaks, and wouldn't know a clue if it bit their publicist on the arse. (Most of the time, they also do a crummy job editing raw footage, but that's another message board.) As for people who are considering whether to have the surgery, my question remains the same: why not try a year or two at the same level of semi-starvation that would be imposed by the surgery, without actually having the surgery itself? I'm asking this question as part of an effort to help keep people from killing themselves. If that's not you're "golden rule", I don't know what is.

I have to say.....that a few years ago I would have sounded like many on this message board. I have always been heavy....at my first heaviest weight, I was 444.....I lost 180lbs via a liquid protein diet, and I learned to eat properly and exercise. I maintained that weight for over 8years. Then my mother got sick, and I dealt with stress the same way I had dealt with stress 8 years before....by eating. I gained back all the weight and then some.....so that my second highest weight of all time was 450. I gained it back rapidly...within 2 years.....imagine.....it's like gaining 7 lbs a month for 2 years. Only this time I was older...and my body couldn't handle it. 12 years ago, I wanted to fit into nice clothes, go on dates, and just plain look better and 'be normal'.....whatever that is.....but now.....it was a matter of life and death. I could barely walk, and trust me, I don't sit much on the job, how I managed to work is beyond me.....amazing what one can force oneself to do in order to pay the mortgage. I had constant pain in my hips, knees, and ankles. I could only go up and down the steps once a day....I was so stiff in the morning it would take me hours to get up and go..one of my fears was that if my house burned down, I would never get out.......it just took me too long to move. Everything I did required that I give myself at least an hour extra to figure out how I was going to get there. I was short of breath with even mild exertion....one night I realized that when I was reading, that strange noise I kept hearing was me wheezing. I know I had sleep apnea, I had difficulty falling and staying asleep, I snored, and I needed to sit up on 4....count 'em....4 pillows. My lower legs were so purplish and discolored from decreased circulation, if I cut myself....the sore would take forever to heal. I couldn't fit in chairs at work, school or the doctors......so I basically stopped going to school.....one less place to not fit into. It went beyond not being able to buy clothes in a 'regular' store. And guess what? My blood pressure was normal....and so was my blood sugar....yet I had all these symptoms......and I just knew.....without a doubt.....it felt different this time.....when I realized I had to do something......I feared for my very life......I knew I would not be alive in 6 months to a year if I didn't have this surgery. It hasn't been an easy road for me.....I have lost 150 lbs since May...but I had a lot of complications. I am not on a bandwagon to promote this.....I do however open myself up to whoever wants to discuss it, because I feel that I offer something that most people who have had the surgery don't......honesty. It's been difficult.....it's been tough......I wouldn't want to ever go through it again. The treatment I received in the hospital simply because I was an obese woman was appalling. I have no grand illusions. Although only 7 months post-op, my weight loss is plateauing. I am still a big woman. I am okay with that. I am now almost the same weight that I was 12 years ago. It's more than I could have ever hoped for. I will always be big. I don't mind. Most women would want to kill themselves if they looked like me......I want to celebrate. Celebrate the fact that I"m alive.....and I didn't die....we can't all be thin. I never went into this thinking I would be. I took a drastic step to save my life. There are alot of people out there like me. If I 'only' weighed in the 200-275 range when I started, I would have never even considered this. But there are alot of us out there who weigh in the 400 lb range.....and every single moment of living was painful, and difficult beyone anyone's wildest imagination. I feel that certain celebrities do this procedure a disservice. It's not a panacea. It's difficult to say the least. Your food issues remain. And you'd better work on them.....or they will come back to haunt you. I thought I escaped them once, and I didn't. So this time, I am grateful that I got a second chance to reexamine these issues and try to manage them better this time around.

GIVE THE MAN CREDIT. HE DID WHAT HE THOUGHT HE NEEDED TO DO. YES THERE ARE MANY RISK TO THIS SURGERY, BUT THERE MAYBE HEALTH FACTOR HE ISN'T TELLING THE WORLD. SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO WAY YOUR PRO'S AND CON'S AND MAKE A DESCISION. PROPS TO AL

I had the surgery myself almost two years ago - lost 150 lbs. I believe it saved my life. My blood pressure is normal, my migraines are almost eliminated, the sleep apnea is gone, and the joint pain and stiffness are a thing of the past. I can swing on the swings with my son and go on amusement park rides with him - a big change from barking orders from the couch because I was too fat to get up and too depressed to bother. No, it is not a magic pill. Even at 5'11" wearing a size 12 (down from a size 28) I still feel fat and hideous some days. I can't control how I feel, but I know I am healthy. I am currently in my fifth month of pregnancy - under careful medical supervision - and am expecting a baby girl. I can't tell you how much eaiser this pregnancy is without all the extra weight. I had to be induced four weeks early with my son because my blood pressure was over 200! I don't want to die - and thanks to the gastric bypass surgery I've got plenty of time left!!! Julie

I think it is silly of many of you to assume that people get baraitric surgery just for public acceptance. Obesity is a serious issue. This isn't an issue of doing what's in style or chic. People want to live to see there kids grow up, walk around without getting tired and just do simple things that others take for granted. It truly upsets me when I hear people say that this is the easy way out and to try the good ol diet and exercise. Well, sometimes diet and exercise aint enough. So before you go dissing anyone who has had this surgery or plans to have it, walk a mile in their (my) shoes.

Yes, because clearly no one here has experienced what it's like to be fat....

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