If you have been struggling with excess weight for a long time, you may be beginning to feel that anything would be worthwhile if it would help you to lose the weight. To try to get the scale moving in the right direction for years without any lasting effect is a profoundly frustrating and demoralizing experience, but doctors may be able to help you. There is a very real possibility that Gastric Bypass is the solution that you have been seeking, but it is important that you understand the implications before you head off to get the surgery. Getting a Gastric Bypass procedure done means that part of your digestive system will actually be disconnected. They reform a portion of your stomach into a small pouch, and then connect that to your small intestine. The connection is even made at a point a little farther down than where the stomach and intestine would normally meet. This approach has two goals. First, the small size of the pouch puts a pretty tight limit on how much food you can eat without getting sick. Second, when food passes through less intestine, you don’t digest as well. This means you get fewer calories on the occasions that you do eat. The effect of this bariatric surgery on patients is generally profound. People lose a lot of weight extremely rapidly, at least until they begin to approach a healthy range. It is still usually fairly difficult to reach an actual predicted ideal weight, and many patients end up settling down at a weight that is technically higher than what is thought to be optimal. They do, however, typically remain much less heavy than they started out. Still, it’s important to be clear about the fact that surgery isn’t...