Weight-loss Surgery and Psychotherapy Essential for Success
Obesity is a global epidemic and the U.S is leading the pack. In some severe cases, people are turning to surgery, as part of their weight loss journey. But, addressing the mental aspects of weight gain and loss, are just as important as diet and exercise.
Looking at Cathleen Ripley now, you would never know a year ago, she weighed more than 230 pounds. She tells us, “One day I looked in the mirror and said I’m tired of being this person.”
After years of yo-yo dieting, with no permanent success, she decided to turn to gastric bypass surgery, hoping to find the woman she knew she could be. Ripley says, “I knew she lived inside of me and it was just a matter of peeling off the layers and those layers were the weight.”
As one of 40-million people in the U.S. dealing with obesity, she decided to call Dr. Ramy Awad’s office, in Palm Springs, where she’d later become the office manager and a living example of what the surgery can do for patients. They have 3 procedures to choose from…gastric bypass, adjustable gastric banding, and a sleeve gastrectomy. Dr. Awad says, “We do all laparoscopic surgery, which is minimally invasive surgery, with cameras and it has revolutionized weight loss surgery.”
After surgery, patients experience the most rapid weight-loss, in the first six to nine months. Dr. Awad says talking to a therapist is important to dealing with the sudden changes. “It’s very important. What I tell my patients is, my part is easy. I do the surgery, but afterwards you have to live with it. The surgery is a tool that empowers the patient to gains success. That includes a support system.”
For Ripley, going from a size 3x to a size 3 took some getting used to. She says, “You’ll find out, your head and what you see aren’t always in sync. So, you see yourself shrink down, but when you go shopping you’re still looking for that larger size. So your mind isn’t where your eyes are.”
Dr. Awad refers his patients to psychotherapist, Dr. Kimberly Yang, to help them deal with their new way of life. Dr. Yang says, “We can’t generalize this person has to stop eating. For every person with the weight, they have a story and that story is a part of their narrative and each person overcomes differently also.”
Pinpointing life stressors, that triggered overeating in the first place, is key. Dr. Yang says, “For a lot of people, they’ve gotten to that point because they’ve eaten to suppress emotion they have. And sometimes they eat out of anger, pain, fear and if they have to work through this, it’s part of their ability to succeed.”
It’s a piece of the puzzle, that’s made Ripley’s life more complete.
She says, “Now I want to look for my grandchildren to play with, because I feel like I want to run and skip!”
