Girlfriend wants surgery, can it be safe and how the heck does it work?

Sorry to all of you, but my girlfriend has thoughts of having surgery and I have no clue how to react to this. She tried to explain it in her words, but she's still learning about it herself. I found out about this website from a friend and thought I could search a bit myself, since it shot fear through me. I care about her, but this came out of the blue a few weeks ago and man, I am at a loss. Help if you have advice!

I suggest both of you start with reading the book, Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies. It will give you a good place to learn and answer most of your questions. Like all of the For Dummies books, it is a very easy read.

Since there seem to be so many surgeries for this, that book might be a good place to start. Simplified is what I need, real down to earth explanations. Appreciate your help. I just don't understand why she wants to do this. She's not that overweight and I like her the way she is.

If she is not at a BMI of 40 or BMI of 35 with problems like Type 2 Diabetes, then she may not qualify for weight loss surgery. Some people do just want to be extremely small and will do anything to get there. What does her doctor say?

Don't hold me to it, but I heard the number of 47 body mass index and she has been type 2 for 3 years. She saw her doctor (pcp) recently and he told her she should look into weight loss surgery for her health. At least that's what she told me, I wasn't there. Will they do surgery just for someone who wants to be small?

Very few surgeons will do it for vanity reasons and the person would need to have the money to pay for all of it, because insurance would not cover it.

If your girlfriend is 47 BMI and Type 2, then weight loss surgery could be the best thing that ever happened to her. Many people leave the hospital with no diabetes medicine and maintain normal blood sugar after their surgery.

In Europe, they sometimes do the surgery to people who are normal weight in order to get rid of the diabetes.

Thanks for the info, White Dove. I am learning as I go along. She definitely does not feel good and her type 2 meds are starting to increase, so maybe this is the best thing for her. I'll support what she does.

Every year that you have Type 2 your chances of it doing into remission with weight loss surgery go down. By 7 years, there is a good chance of no remission at all.

Sorry to all of you, but my girlfriend has thoughts of having surgery and I have no clue how to react to this. She tried to explain it in her words, but she's still learning about it herself. I found out about this website from a friend and thought I could search a bit myself, since it shot fear through me. I care about her, but this came out of the blue a few weeks ago and man, I am at a loss. Help if you have advice!

as to how it works, there are several different surgeries that work in somewhat different ways.

in a nutshell, the stomach is made much much smaller, so a limited amount of food can be eaten which leads to the burning of excess stored fat, which the body uses for energy. Burning the stored fat leads to weight loss.

in some of the surgeries, a portion of the Intestines are bypassed causing the mAlabsorption of food calories. With the smaller stomach and malabsorption of food it leads to weight loss and more ability to keep the lost weight off.
mall of the surgeries but one requires taking vitamin and mineral supplements to maintain good health.

edited to add: the surgeries are certainly safe except for the lap band and so many surgeries are being done thSt is no more dangerous than any other surgery. The outcome of the surgery for getting rid of diabetes and other underlying diseases is excellent.

This is a good start of information, thank you. I am really going to have to study up on this, it scares the hell out of me. I can't help but think she's going to go through a lot, her personality will change, and then when she's all slimmed down, I won't look the same to her. She says no, but I'm not so sure about that. It has to be hard to guess what will happen when we've never gone through any of it.