When is a person obese?
OVERWEIGHT is considered when the Body Mass Index – BMI (weight in kilos divided by the square of height in meters) is between 25 and 30, MILDLY OBESE if the BMI is between 30 and 35, SEVERE OBESITY between 35 and 40, and MORBID OBESITY if the BMI is over 40.
When do I have to think about surgery?
If your BMI is over 35 with associated diseases, or if it is greater than 40 even without comorbidities, and you have none of the reported contraindications, then your solution is surgery.
If you have Type 2 Diabetes with poor metabolic control and a BMI between 30 and 35 we can evaluate your case and analyze the benefits of Diabetes Metabolic Surgery.
Why do I have to have surgery if I feel good?
The goal of surgery is to improve health through controlled weight loss. Obesity is the cause of many diseases that develop over time in most patients, causing a worse quality of life and shortening it. If you are morbidly obese and still have no associated diseases it is the best time to have a solution because the surgical risk is lower. If you do not make the decision now because your health seems not affected yet, wait and see how these diseases appear, complicating and shortening your life.
When I should not have an operation?
If you have one of the CONTRAINDICATIONS or do not meet the criteria for SURGICAL INDICATION, then you should not undergo this type of operations. Stating this intervention should not be trivialized, but we do not have to increase purposely 2 kg to suit into the obesity weight scale. BMI close below 35 or 40 should not be a contraindication if the trajectory is clearly upward despite controlled diets.
What is the economic cost?
The cost varies depending on the technique, although there is a fixed price – forfait agreed with the Hospital for standard procedures without extras (blood transfusions if needed, special medications, longer hospital stay, postoperative need of ICU, etc).
Is there financial aid?
While neither our team nor the Hospital are credit institutions, we can provide access to credit for the procedure, although conditions are probably similar in most banks and savings banks.
Where will I be operated on?
We carry out the interventions at the Quirónsalud Hospital of Valencia (AvdaBlasco Ibáñez 14, 46010 -. Valencia), which meets all the necessary conditions and guarantees to perform this surgery successfully. Both medical and surgical material technology, as the auxiliary and nursing staff, medical teams involved and the rooms (clean, refurbished and modern) are to our complete satisfaction and confidence.
How many days will I have to stay in hospital?
Hospital stay is usually 48 hours, depending on the patient’s recovery and distance to home.
We can coordinate and arrange with the Hospital a temporary stay in a comfortable Hotel-Resort in the seashore for both the patient and their family for the first days after discharge until enough recovery to fly back to their country of origin.
Will I have to go to the ICU after surgery?
Despite few exceptions, patients recover well from anesthesia and go to their room without staying in the UCI.
Which is the best technique?
Every patient is different, and it is important to analyze each case individually to advise one technique or another. The patient’s opinion, properly informed, is very important. The best technique is the one that best suites the needs of the patient, because it will be the most successful in the long term.
Does the weight loss last forever?
After surgery you lose weight during a year to a year and a half period, while the biggest loss occurs during the first 6 months. This weight loss is permanent, that is, forever. Sometimes you can regain some weight (about 5 kilos) in the first 10 years. Major weight gains are very rare and are usually due to lack of control in monitoring or recommended dietary guidelines.
What are the risks of undergoing surgery obesity?
The risks are described strictly in the section RISKS of this website. This surgery is not risk-free, like any surgery, although the risks are mostly associated to the health conditions rather than the surgical technique itself. The increased complication rate is usually related to the number and severity of the comorbidities, age, sex and BMI.
Our special attention since the early nineties has led us reduce the risk of mortality to the levels of the top international hospitals, down 0.5%. The strict and intensive postoperative follow-up has minimized the number of complications such as wound, urinary, or lung infections to virtually zero.
With LAPAROSCOPIC GASTRIC BYPASS or LAPAROSCOPIC SLEEVE GASTRECTOMY, deficiencies of iron or vitamins and minerals are rare, and respond well to reposition treatments. None cause major diarrhea.
Which are the benefits of having surgery for obesity?
The goal of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery is health, curing or improving obesity-associated diseases that shorten and affect the quality of life through controlled weight loss. In addition, this EFFORTLESS weight loss improves self-esteem, improve personal relationships, sex life, physical activity, working life, etc. OBESITY SURGERY changes the lives of patients. When we asked patients if they would return to operate respond to WISH they have done it before.
After the operation, do I have to undergo a strict diet?
It’s not about dieting, but to learn and adapt to a healthy, recommended dietary habits for anyone, operated or not. It is true that, initially, the amounts ingested are much lower. This should not worry the people around you, because eventually the gastric reservoir expands slightly, enabling more voluminous intakes. However, it is normal to eat everything in small quantities, and distributed in various meals along the day. For your eating nobody will ever know if you are operated.
Could I talk to a patient to share his experience?
Usually our patients are happy to share their positive experience with other patients both in the outpatient and the hospital. In fact patients often become friends.