carrying groceries is easier;
even breathing is easier.Taking care of my son
These days, I hardly ever feel
puffed out. My relationship with
food has completely changed,
too. As well as making healthier
choices, my appetite no longer
controls me. Now, I rarely feel
like eating more than three
entrée-sized meals a day. And
my diabetes has completely
resolved. My blood glucoseDr John Jorgensen, who
is head of department at
St George Private Hospital,
Australia’s highest
volume bariatric
hospital, says the
perception of obesity
and surgery needs to
change. “Many people
perceive bariatric surgery
as a cosmetic procedure,
but really, it’s about saving
lives, because without
surgery people with
severe obesity have
a four-fold increased risk
of premature death from
complications such as
diabetes, cardiovascular
disease, sleep apnoea
and arthritis.”
Labelling obesity and
diabetes as the ‘giant twin
challenges’ confronting
Australia’s health system,
Dr Jorgensen also
points out 45 different
medical and scientific
organisations, including
the International Diabetes
Federation, have recentlydeclared that bariatric
surgery is considered as
a standard treatment for
morbidly obese people
living with diabetes.So, what can
patients expect
after surgery?
“Many come to hospital
with diabetes and either
leave hospital without
it, resolve it in a few
weeks or months or, at
the very least, are able to
significantly reduce their
diabetes medication,” he
says. “The surgery also
helps to reset the brain’sweight set point and
hunger drivers.”
Professor John Dixon,
head of Clinical
Obesity Research at
the Baker Heart and
Diabetes Institute in
Melbourne, says diet
and exercise only work
long-term in about 4-10
per cent of people who
have severe obesity.
“Weight is a bit like
blood pressure,” Professor
Dixon says. “As we age,
the body gradually
increases its ‘set point’
for weight, and this is a
powerful brain driver for
hunger, because the brain
registers the ‘set point’ as
the highest weight the
body’s ever been.
“It’s normal for people
to have 5-10kg of what’s
called weight ‘drift’ as they
age, but when weight
starts high at a young age,
we know that trajectory
is much more likely to
continue throughout life.”What about
the safety of
bariatric surgery?
“The 2017 Bariatric
Surgery Registry showed
a growing increase in the
number of Australians
placing trust in bariatric
surgeries, with 22,000
Australians undergoing
bariatric surgical
procedures that year,”
says Dr Dixon.
“The safety profile
of bariatric surgery is
very good, with more
than 99.8 per cent
of patients on the
registry surviving their
surgery and only 2.5 per
cent having an adverse
event that required a
return to theatre, ICU or
readmission to hospital.
“This needs to be
weighed up against the
almost certain high risk of
obesity co-morbidities like
diabetes, sleep apnoea,
hypertension, arthritis
and premature death.”Expert advice: bariatric surgery
levels are all within the normal
range and my last HbA1c test
result was 5 per cent.
But knowing I’ve done
something positive for my son’s
future is the best feeling. After
my 10th birthday, my parents
were regularly in and out of
hospital with different health
issues, some of which were
weight related, some not.
Apart from wanting to be
as healthy as possible for as
long as possible now I’m a mum,I didn’t want Nathaniel to have
to spend his childhood the same
way – visiting me in hospital.
Knowing I’ve done all I can
to make that a reality feels
incredible. ■W
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