Gastric Bypass Gone Bad - One Woman's Account

Going abroad for gastric bands or gastric bypass surgery is all the rage these days. But is it safe? British TV personality Anne Diamond recently recounted her experience with gastric band surgery gone wrong, and it's quite the interesting read.

Here's the gist of the story: Anne had trouble losing weight after the births of her kids, and tried every diet -- but all the chronic dieting did for her was pad her waistline even more. She was desparate to shed some weight and signed up for gastric bypass surgery in Belgium without even telling her family or friends, as if she was doing something criminal.

After the surgery, she found that it had no effect on her eating habits -- she could still eat as much as before, and she was still as hungry as she was before. After appearing on a British reality series and being forced to fess up, a reputable UK doctor helped her determine why her gastric band wasn't working -- it was fitted to her esophagus, not her stomach. She's since had it re-done, and it's helped her shed a fair amount of weight.

It's brave of her to share her experience with the world, but I'm kind of bothered by the whole story. Diamond seems to have this 'it's not my fault' attitude about her weight -- she says, "it's the lifestyle that's at fault - not us personally. And fat really can happen to anyone." But if her lifestyle is at fault, it's her lifestyle that needs to be changed, right? And I couldn't help noticing that she never once mentioned fitness.

Still, she acknowledges that gastric bands aren't the easy solution we imagine: "No matter what the adverts suggest, a gastric band or a bypass cannot turn you into Catherine Zeta Jones and propel you to Hollywood and a nice rich husband," she says, adding, "it can help you lose the weight that's tying you down, compromising your health and your future. The rest you have to do for yourself."