FAQs

The amount of weight you lose, and how fast you lose it, depends on which weight loss surgery you have, and how dedicated you are to your exercise and diet plan. Those who have the gastric bypass may lose up to 70% to 75% of their excess body weight.*

*Each person’s weight loss challenges are different.There is no guarantee of results and vary for each individual.

Overall, both sexes respond well to bariatric surgery, but men tend to drop excess weight faster than women do.*

*Each person’s weight loss challenges are different.There is no guarantee of results and vary for each individual.

This depends on your insurance provider and the criteria they require, as well as the tests and requirements that the Mercy Weight Management Center team finds necessary.

Yes. You must stop smoking at least two months before starting the program. If you need help doing this, the support team at Mercy Weight Management Center can help you with a proven smoking cessation treatment. Need help getting started? Here are some tips to quit smoking and a schedule of Mercy’s many smoking cessation classes.

Your hospital stay will depend on the type of weight loss surgery you have. Generally, hospital stays are 1-3 days. Gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy procedures both average a recuperation period of two to four weeks.

Most insurance companies require an evaluation by a mental health professional to evaluate your understanding and knowledge of the risks and complications associated with weight loss surgery, and to assess your ability to make permanent lifestyle changes after surgery. This evaluation also helps to identify and treat any underlying emotional disorders that may hinder lifelong success.

Yes. All insurance companies require supervised nutrition counseling prior to bariatric surgery, which can last anywhere from three months to one year. Postoperatively, the way you can eat changes dramatically. Learning to adapt to this can prove to be very challenging. At Mercy Weight Management Center, our bariatric dietitian, Theresa Tate, is an integral part of our team, and she can help guide you every step of the way.

Ideally, you should contact your original surgeon because he or she knows your medical history, and therefore can best evaluate your complications. If you have moved away from your original surgeon, or vice versa, the bariatric surgeons at Mercy Weight Management Center would be happy to meet with you for a private consultation.

In the initial postoperative period, some medicines may need to be crushed or taken in a liquid form. Eventually, most pills (including oral contraception) are easily swallowed and small enough to easily pass through your new, smaller stomach pouch. If you do have problems, however, our bariatric support team will be here to help, in partnership with your primary care physician.

You can return to normal sexual intimacy as soon as your wounds have healed and you are no longer experiencing pain. (This takes most patients about four to six weeks, with some people also reporting a drop in sexual desire during that time.)

Women should wait at least 12 months after surgery before attempting to become pregnant. During one of your clinic appointments, it is important to discuss with your surgeon your plans for pregnancy.

Exercising on a regular basis is extremely important to achieving your goals and maintaining your weight loss. The Mercy Weight Management Center support team will help coach you on the types of exercise you should be doing and how soon after surgery you should start doing them.

While exercise will be great for strengthening your "new" body and furthering your weight loss, it is unlikely that exercise alone will remove the large flaps of loose skin that are left behind after you lose your excess weight. Most patients will need plastic surgery to remove their excess skin. At Mercy Weight Management Center, we work with a plastic surgeon who specializes in bariatric reconstruction surgery.

While salt intake is not directly affected by bariatric surgery, excessive salt intake may cause other medical problems. Your salt usage should be discussed with your primary care physician, as well as your surgeon.

Eventually. It usually takes about six to eight months before most patients can enjoy spicy food comfortably.

No. We strongly recommend that you give up soda for good. The carbonation in regular and diet soda can expand your new, smaller stomach pouch and cause you extremely uncomfortable gas pains if you drink it after surgery. You may be reassured to know, however, that many of our patients tell us that their tastes change along with their post-op diet, and they "just don’t miss it anymore."

Alcohol will affect you more quickly than it did before your weight loss surgery. In general, we recommend that you don’t drink for the first year, and drink in careful moderation thereafter.

Your eating plan will include two or three "healthy" snacks a day between your main meals. The health coaches at Mercy Weight Management Center will help guide you in choosing healthy snacks.

We recommend that you take a multivitamin for the rest of your life. Depending on the type of surgery you have, you may also have to take calcium supplements, vitamin D, B12 or others. Our bariatric surgeons will let you know for sure.

Yes. Drinking a lot of water effectively rids your body of waste products and promotes weight loss by filling your stomach, helping you feel fuller longer. It’s important that you do not drink water with meals after bariatric surgery, however, because doing so can wash food out of your stomach pouch.

If you are able to stick to a healthy diet and daily exercise program after surgery, people who were at least 100 pounds over their ideal body weight (with a comorbidity such as heart disease) before the procedure may enjoy a significantly longer life because of bariatric surgery.*

*Each person’s weight loss challenges are different.There is no guarantee of results and vary for each individual.

Weight loss surgery may improve or resolve health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.*

*Each person’s weight loss challenges are different.There is no guarantee of results and vary for each individual.