An Open letter to Al Roker

Al, First and foremost I want to acknowledge you for your willingness to share with the world your eating issues and to document what it was like to go through a gastric bypass in 2002. You were one of the early pioneers and took the risk without knowing its long term impact on the body. I do understand that for you it was a matter of life or death, in that you could not stop eating and weighted more than 325lbs. Al you became known the world over as the incredible shrinking man. When you had the operation it was paid for by insurance companies. The thinking at the time was that this procedure would save the lives of the obese; especially those who have tried to lose weight and were unable to do so. Today the insurance companies do not pay ( all of them ) for a gastric bypass. The reason is that the risk of dying from it was in excess of 5%.
Since that time I have had personal experiences with people who had gastric bypasses. What most people do not realize is that the gastric bypass is a last ditch effort to save a person’s life and gives them a second chance to do what could have avoided the gastric bypass in the first place. Here is a direct recommendation that is made to people who have had a gastric bypass.

“It is important that patients who have had a gastric bypass procedure make a lifelong commitment to making the necessary changes in their diet. This includes maintaining an adequate intake of protein, taking vitamin and mineral supplements including a multivitamin, B12, iron and calcium, and avoiding sweets and fatty foods.”

The problem is that having the gastric bypass does very little to change the person. (Many people have not found a support system that will help them to make these life altering changes Since the time of your gastric bypass, I have had personal experiences with people who have had gastric bypasses. One brother and other relatives has taken the route of gastric bypass. I have been with and heard from a number of people who had a gastric bypass and were struggling with making a life change. Unfortunately without that life altering change, the person is often in even more danger. Al I know you have admitted that some of the weight has come back, since 2003 I have noticed a steady weight gain as I watched you on the Today show. To be fair however I am sure if I looked at an old segment clip and look at you now I would still see a significant difference. Al you can make another contribution to people by telling them of your struggles to maintain the initial weight loss. We can see that you have gained a significant amount of weight and it appears to be going one way. My personal experience is that some people have found a solution to a weight poblem by making life changing alteration through a 12 step program
My Brother did not die from the gastric bypass he died from an indirect cause . I am not a qualified doctor and yet my experience of being with people that have had gastric bypasses is such that it would be the absolute last thing I would do . I believe that if I did not find a 12 step food related program I would be at best 300 plus pounds and at worst having pasted away as my two brothers have. For me food is my drug of choice when I abuse it, i I pay a big price in terms of my overall health Tuchy Palmieri Author of the Food Contrarian and relationship recovery