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Letter to Oprah from Michaela McSheffrey |
| Dear Oprah, As a long time viewer of your show, I have garnered more knowledge and information from your show than I could put into a book. One of the things I have learned from the show and from you is to educate myself and to grow from the knowledge garnered. You have taught millions of people to grow from within and be all they can be. What a wonderful legacy for you and for your viewers! The world is a better place for your efforts and abilities. You are gifted and have shared your gifts with all of us who watch your show. You say you have the greatest respect for teachers. You are the ultimate teacher! You have just chosen a different venue. That being said, I cannot come to grips with your apparent lack of understanding about gastric bypass surgery, and the impact this surgery is having on our society. The statistics for this surgery being a solution for obesity as well as a solution for Type 2 diabetes are startling. Gastric bypass is in no way an easy fix solution for obesity. The majority of the hospitals performing this surgery are teaching hospitals that require a long process to determine eligibility. Most patients undergo months of education regarding the surgery and lifestyle changes they are about to encounter as well as psychological and medical evaluations. Obviously, I have undergone gastric bypass. After years and years of weight losses and gains, I was a borderline patient based on my BMI, and I could have elected to go another route. My hospital, Massachusetts General, gave me the choice. The determining factor for me was when I found out that weight loss surgery could minimize the potential for breast cancer because estrogen was not produced as rapidly when weight was taken off. With both my mother and grandmother having postmenopausal breast cancer, I am at risk. I decided to limit my risks by having gastric bypass surgery. Do I think I took the easy way out? In no way! There is nothing easy about the gastric bypass journey. It was a decision that was best for my long-term health. My blood sugar was rising as well as my blood pressure. My vitals were going in the wrong direction for a 62-year old woman. I educated myself as much as I could with books, the internet, doctors, support groups, etc. I was overwhelmed with the data I uncovered regarding how important this surgery is for Type 2 diabetes. The results are that 80% to 85% of the patients with Type 2 diabetes no longer have diabetes once they have gastric bypass surgery. With the Lap Band surgery, the number goes to 73%. The results were recently published by the Journal of the American Medical Association. You should have your staff research the statistics for people who have lost weight through conventional weight loss programs after five years. The results at five years are startling. I have been told over and over that at the five year point only 3% to 5% of the people keep their weight off. Right now, weight loss surgery has the most successful long-term results for obesity. Will it be the solution in thirty years, who knows? What we will be witnessing is more and more of these surgeries being performed as the criteria of a BMI of 35 is used for people with Type 2 diabetes, and they are given the surgery as a solution for their diabetes. You have done two shows on gastric bypass surgery that I am aware of. One was on addictive behavior that replaces food addiction, which your staff chose to show twice. The other show was on gastric bypass surgery for teenagers. Both shows showcased extremes. The average age for this surgery is 47, and not everyone replaces food addiction with other addictions. Not everyone had a food addiction to begin with. There are many good, decent working people whose lives were in danger if they did not have this surgery. The surgery has changed their lives forever. Please do yourself and your viewers a favor and research the results, as well as the process for this surgery. Do a show with the professionals in this field who are at the forefront of the surgery. Dr. Francesco Rubino, Director of the Metabolic Surgery program at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center would be a great guest. He was mentioned in a recent article in the New York Times about the benefits of gastric bypass surgery. An article in the Feb.17th issue of the Boston Globe mentioned Dr. George Blackburn who is the Director of the Center for the Study of Nutrition Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. I believe Dr. Blackburn was a guest on your show many, many years ago. There needs to be recognition of the work of the thousands of medical professionals who are working together to create a new beginning for the 205,000 weight loss surgery patients each year. The medical establishment is learning something new every day about this surgery to improve the lives of patients who would not have a future without this surgery. Gastric bypass surgery is not going away in the near future. The increase in these surgeries from 1998 to 2004 show an increase of 800 percent. There were 205,000 of these surgeries performed in 2008. With these increases, we could have upwards of two million people who have had gastric bypass surgery in a few years. With Medicaid now paying for the surgery, we will see many poor minorities having gastric bypass surgery as a means of dealing with their obesity. Interestingly, many nurses at Massachusetts General Hospital have had the surgery as well as one of the physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Your body language when you are dealing with people who have had gastric bypass surgery is most obvious and it is evident you do not like or believe in this surgery. Please open your mind to why this surgery is changing the lives of 205,000 plus obese people each year. Dr. Phil did a show in which he discussed how difficult the surgery is and how beneficial the results are. Oprah, please research the benefits of gastric bypass surgery so you can be informed about the merits of this important surgery. Best regards,
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