What should be in a general speech on bariatric surgery?

I've been asked to give talk on bariatric surgery to a general audience.    I'm thinking of keeping it pretty high level:  My story, general risks, rewards, costs ($ and physical), and how to research.  Although I will have to touch on the different kinds of surgeries, I know so little about the other types that I'm just going to beg off that topic as much as possible.  I'm thinking of it as a way to awaken people to the possibility that something very special is possible and then send them off to do their own research...

What information was the most useful to you?  What do you wish you would have known?  What else would you like to see covered. 

Any other ideas?

I think the most important point and misconception about bariatric surgery is that it's the easy way out of obesity, you sign up and the weight falls off.

I'm not sure you can even get past this point with most people as it seems deeply ingrained for so many.

good point! 

I remember running across this cartoon early in my research and it being a revelation:

I feel like I've only had minor complications and came out of it all extremely lucky and it's by far the hardest thing I've ever done.

Awesome!!  Any more ideas??? 

If anyone ever intimates it's the "easy way out" I simply ask if they would tell a woman giving birth not to take the epidural because it's the easy way out?  Maybe people should wash their clothes in the river because using a machine is the easy way out. And no morphine after surgery -- too easy.  No elevators, aspirins, cars, microwaves, either.  What a ridiculous argument.  If Oprah wants to live (and die) yo-yoing that's her call.  me?  I'm happy there's a way out -- it's called bariatric surgery.

Most useful information?  appreciated a full day of orientation covering every aspect of WLS.  Most valuable was repetition because it took multiple times hearing the WLS process before it sunk in.  A suggestion for your speech---- repeat major points more than once to drive home your message.  What had I wished for?  having the opportunity to meet and listen to more WLS post-op patients.  What else would I have liked to see covered? WLS complications; learning the bad is equally important in the decision-making process as learning the good.

Oh, great points....

I had the same problem processing the information in the early days.  I remember in the beginning that it was hard to listen to long talks on this subject because it was hard to handle an awakening sense of hope.  Then I would spend time deep in my head bouncing between hope and despair and end up missing much of the information.  There were some things to look at that I threw to my hubby to look at because I couldn't concentrate on them at all.  (Much of the surgery details on dsfacts.org was like that for me, amongst other sites....)

What level of DS complications do you wish you had a heads up for?   This one is hard because I'm not sure what they are.   The ones that come to my mind are:  Lifetime sensitivity to foods (i.e. bread), strictures, poop management, leaks, blockages, vitamin deficiencies and losing too much weight.   What am I missing?   I feel like I've forgotten something obvious here.

Thanks!  This was very helpful.