this isnt art.
to me its a fairground freakshow.

I can't say I personally know anyone who has had it done, but I have seen enough TV programs to know despite the obvious advantages of such surgery, they are a considerable amount od disadvantages and risks to almost double it. I read in a magazine article once how one woman who opted for the surgery suffered major repercussions like extensive infection which almost cost her her life. It's a touchy subject; I must agree.

Weight loss surgery doesn't change the way you think about food.

(For reference, I live in the UK)

I watched a program not so long ago about a 19 year old girl who weighed 35 stone (around 490 pounds). She ate alot of crap, mainly junk food. She had an operation to make her stomach 1/10 the size of a regular persons. The recommendations say the little you can eat should be healthly and balanced anyway, so it's not like you don't have to work on it. This girl though, still ate junk foods. In 9 months she lost 5 stone (70lbs), but has she eaten the right things she could have lost another 2 stone (28lbs) more in that time. Even though she couldn't eat anything near as much as she could once, the surgery did not magically change perperception or handling of food. To see a therapist (free) on the NHS, she would have had to wait 6 months.

I attend a weekly weight-loss class (Slimming World-UK only atm). In short the guidelines of said club is; 'free foods' which you can eat as much of as you like - not just fruit/veg, there's loads. Then each day you have 4 'healthy extras' and 10 'syns'. On your first week you dread the meeting because of how much you've eaten, but are then delighted! One friend of mine has been attending for just over a year and just this week hit the 6 stone (84lb) mark.

So 5 stone (70lb) eating small amounts of junk food with a stomach 1/10 the size of a normal stomach, or 6 stone (84lb) eating well, in large amounts, and being able to fit meals out, takeaways and alcohol around it.

I'm glad I'm doing the latter.

I watched recently a document of a woman, who was really big and her stomach was reduced to an incredibly small size. So, she could eat very little and she was anemic and had malnutrition of some sort. She did lose weight hundreds of pounds, but she had excess skin and lots of fat under her skin. She spent all her savings to go under two surgeries that would remove excess skin of her belly and her thighs. Well, the belly surgery went quite okay, but she was sore for ages. When it came to the thigh surgery.. The healing didn't go as well as it could have went. Her innerthighs had a very bad inflammation, and other leg had some sort of gangrene. She did pull through, but she has enormous scars because of it.

Being a really big chick myself, I've of course thought about such a surgery. In Finland though it's not that easy..But when I saw that document, I realized the surgery wouldn't be an easy way out, not at all. So if you're really leaning towards such a surgery, really think it through.

Ok Obiesady runs in my family (now pardon me spelling, im still learning it... eye sight prob when i was younger pervented my from reading and writing)

But i met a woman who had the surgery in Vancouver. and she lost 400bls of her body fat. and it was succesful, It stayed off. She has to get off because she couldnt breathe in her sleep very well. Then her sister went under it, she lost some weight but it didnt worked very well.

Now i was about 400lbs at the time i met her. and i was so scared about being bigger and passing away in my sleep. Now the reason i was so heavy was because i was incapable of breaking down fats. so i got put on Apple Cider Vinager. it broke down the fat for and even help me digest things like Red meat. in 2 years i lost 260lbs. i was able to do sports for once i was even doing Karate and mountian biking. my energy was up. But now when i was doing a study one what was beautiful a few years ago. and i looked at a lot of images from about 1000years to 1990s and i relized what people thought was beautiful made me really sick...

i dont see very skinny people beautiful!, i like to see natural people about how they are. some have my problem and cant break down fat properly. other just have a slow metabelism, But i for one is still on Apple cider vinager, and i weight 210lbs. im more muscle on my body then fat now and im happy. Yet i still get a kick when people ask me "Why do you go out with she a fatty", i smacked around more then ten people for those words. because my girlfriend is beautiful:
[link]

It is up to you on what you want to do. this just my little story of a tiny chapter of my life.

I think its a viable option for sure but only once you have tried everything else on your own I hate how some use it as a quick fix so to speak. Kind of like how some out there use abortion as birth control (dont get me wrong I am pro choice all the way it was the best example I could think of right now). Some people are too lazy to do the things they need to do on their own while others have genuinely tried and tried and the surgery is their last option. The latter are the best for surgery imo

Hard for me to say...I realize that there is a necessity for everything at some point, but at the same time I feel that sometimes these surgeries are taken as the easy way out. More than that, I think it is a product of out if-you're-not-a-stick-figure-you're-an-ugly-whale society.

I agree that if it is something to treat a serious and debilitating or possibly fatal health issue, yes: yes, yes, yes and amen.

Otherwise, there are so many other options, and some of the stories before my post seem sort of scary. And in my mind, what should change: prejudiced and incorrect societal views, or a perfectly healthy individual who just doesn't fit the norm of media proclaimed "sexy"?

Oh...I don't know if you're on Facebook, but there's a FASCINATING group on there right now that I'm sure you'd be...interested in, for a lack of better term. Charmingly coined the "Society Against Fat Chicks"
Numerous complaints later, Facebook still thinks they're a perfectly fine group that should stick around. And we all thought we were past misogyny.

i believe surgery should be a last resort. everyone has specific circumstances.
personaly, i would love a little bit of lipo and a tummy tuck.

im not unhealthy im 18 and the majority of my peers have eating disorders.. i dont want to look like bones, still i would enjoy being thinner.

i dont think there is anything wrong with wanting to be thin, just like there is nothing wrong with being a chubby, or outright fat. as long as your happy. thats the point im trying to make. that if the surgery will lead one to personal confidence and happiness, who am i to tell them 'nah just be fat or go run a treadmil till it falls off chubby.' sometimes surgery is needed. those i know who have had it are doing well so far. but thats two people.

Wow, lots of responses on this one.

I have two friends who had WLS. They were friends before and gave each other support and advice. They went on picnics with their kids and spouses and together they ate, a lot. They were really fat and needed help, but never tried a healthy alternative. She tried phen-phen for a while until she developed a heart problem. He thought it was normal to eat a 20 pc. box of Popeye's for lunch.

She had her stomach stapled and then a tummy tuck, breast reduction and lipo. Her breast and groin drains were terribly infected and continued to drain for almost five weeks. She became addicted to pain pills and needed to take other medications to battle the resulting depression. Later on she needed scar surgery to remove the horrible keloids that formed all over her incision sites. She's cut from two inches off either side of her spine all the way around to the giant 'W' under her boobs. Oh, and after the breast reduction ... her nipples point in two different directions.

He had the pouch done. During surgery, they stitched through his bladder. After surgery they could not stop his bleeding for two days. His drains had to stay in for six weeks. Once he was able to get around, he had to use crutches which killed the nerves in his upper arms because of all the weight on them (he was almost 700 lbs. before). Because he began to suffer from malnutrition, he now has osteoporosis and broke several bones in his feet and hands. When he lost 400 lbs. he got some of the excess skin removed. His incisions are over 12 ft. long and go completely around his body at chest and hip level, plus a vertical incision from his neck to his groin and two from his armpits to his elbows. The skin that is left is totally see-through and did not do well with the sutures. Many of them ripped straight through and got horribly infected. He had systemic sepsis because of it. He almost died three times as a direct result of these surgeries.

When they got thin they eventually left their respective spouses and got together after each had an affair or two with others. Other friends of theirs call their new found outlook 'fattitude'. (It's the attitude you get when you lose weight and notice a person of the opposite sex looking your way.)

Now they are together and have both fallen back into the old terrible eating habits. They are both fat and miserable and wish they had stayed in their respective marriages. They hate each other and would never trust the other because they are both lying cheaters without any self-control.

If you need the surgery for health reasons, try everything else first and then make sure your self-esteem is in order and you can handle what lies ahead.

I'm a fat chick and I love myself. I love my big round ass, and my husband's big round ass even more. I am mostly healthy, but I love food. So what? You are a fox ... and you obviously know it, so I hope this question was purely human curiosity and not for personal reasons.

Rock on sexy beast!