Cindy’s Questions on “Failure”
Cindy-don’t see many responses to your discussion request about “the
surgery failing the person vs. the person failing [the?] surgery.” I
think it’s a very good discussion topic, especially, after
considering some of the recent posts. You know most of us have garages
or at least a closet with tools in them. So we should all be able to
relate to the tool analogy. We should first chose the proper tool for
the job at hand. If we don’t know what that tool is then we can
usually go to an expert to get some advice. In some cases there are
several tools that can be chosen. Each tool will do the job. One may
do the job more quickly than another, be easier to use, or be readily
available if not already in your garage or closet. You can then select
which tool is best for you. The best tool may not be available in your
area-so you may have to complete the job with the tool that is
available. If you decide to use a tool for other than its intended
purpose, you risk damaging the work or the tool or being frustrated. A
screwdriver is not a hammer, etc. Tools are neutral. They just sit and
wait for us to use them. Occasionally, no one knows why, but they just
decide to disappear on their own. They behave well when used properly.
They don’t behave well when used improperly and can even become
dangerous. Once in a great while, a faulted tool is produced. The tool
on the outside looks fine, but in use it breaks or can’t complete its
function. Those have to be taken back to the dealer and exchanged for
one that works. The great majority of tools produced, however, meet
their specifications and work well when used correctly.
To address your question, can the surgery fail a person-yes, if its
faulted. Yes, considering the recent message on the fistula that grew
between the pouch and severed stomach. Don’t think that’s the
surgery’s fault, but it is the body’s reaction to the surgery. Do
surgeons make mistakes. Yep, they’re human. Can the body’s reaction
to the surgery cause a co-morbidity to become terminal? Think that’s
been discussed in the group recently too. However, these events, as a
percentage, appear to be very low. If one is faithfully and truthfully
following all the rules and guidelines and there is a prolonged delay
in weight loss, that’s the time to see the doctor.
Can a person fail the surgery? This is where I think the big problems
are. Recent posts have alluded to failed expectations, even though a
surgical method was blamed. We know from our discussion/support
group, our physicians, our nutritionists that portion control, food
selection, the proper eating process are keys to the success of the
tool. Yet some folks persist in testing the limits of their pouch
size and finding the sugar/dumping threshold. They try to live outside
the rules. They expect their bodies to behave as they have always
behaved after the major surgery-despite all warnings to the contrary.
Then they become angry and frustrated with the tool. The tool is not
the problem. A normal tool is normally neutral. How we use it makes
all the difference.
Grif
7/24/01 Open RNY est 435lb
12/1/01 330lbs