Gastric Band and Beyond - Sharon Bates

Gastric Band and Beyond: Maximise your weight loss is a unique book designed to be a motivator, a comforter and an inspiration for those struggling with their weight. It is a modern-day survival guide that will allow you to shed the pounds and maintain your weight loss, giving you energy and a new lease of life.

There is a wealth of literature out there in the medical world about the details and outcomes of weight loss surgery but actually the operation is only a small junction on the long, tortuous road to successful weight loss. The complication rates, excess percentage weight loss and various techniques may be of interest to you but are actually less important than the questions like, "how will I cope without comfort eating?", "what will my partner think of me when I physically change?", "how will I cope with increased interest from the opposite sex?" and "what do I do about excess skin post operatively?". These are the questions that you probably want to know but are too afraid to ask your busy doctors.

How do we know this? Well, the main author is a patient, has received a gastric band, has battled with the ups and downs of post operative life and is a full time obesity nurse specialist and counsellor. She is uniquely placed to give an insight into the thoughts and feelings of patients from her own experiences and from the wealth of information from her clients that she has built up over the years. This approach and writing style is synergized with the experience of the second author who is a surgical registrar with a specialist interest in weight loss surgery. The two writing styles and approaches compliment each other and provide an excellent balance between empathy, compassion and fact.

The book takes the reader on a well sign-posted journey. The book begins with a chapter that will be of enormous comfort to anyone who has battled with the social isolation and emotional turmoil that goes hand- in- hand with being overweight. The feelings of self-loathing, guilt and fear are all explored in an empathic way and Sharon recalls her own very personal experience. The book then proceeds to explore the processes of seeking help and the trials and tribulations that this brings. Preparation for surgery is then explored. Surgery is demystified and this should relax any potential candidate. The very important long term post-operative guide to living with a band is detailed and this is where Sharon's experience shines through. The band is a tool to aid weight loss not the solution but with this book and its advice, excellent sustainable weight loss can be achieved.

In summary, this book is a must for anyone considering weight loss surgery and will be essential reading for those who have already had surgery.