I had Gastric Bypass surgery seven years ago and three more related surgeries since. I'm scheduled for a forth later this year to repair a hernia along the incision line and to try and resolve the matter of reoccurring ulcers due to staple line leakage.

I want to spare you the nightmare of not only the physical anguish you may likely go through, but the mental torture as well. You see, should you have problems resulting from your surgery, it is extremely difficult to find a surgeon willing to go back in and operate to correct another's mistakes. Most surgeons do not consider it worth the risk.

In fact, when I had a complete break down of my staple line from the original surgery, it took more than a year to find a doctor willing to help me. During this time, acid leakage from my old stomach nearly ate a whole through my new stomach causing the most excruciating pain you could imagine.

I vomited several times a day and got so dehydrated and sick that I had to have a permanent line inserted into my veins to administer fluids and pain medication at home. I was a walking zombie most of the time and life became very, very close to one no longer worth living.

The sad part of this whole matter though, is the fact that I wasn't obese or even a good candidate for the surgery. I was no more than fifty pounds over weight at the time but vanity got the best of me.

If you look hard enough, you can always find someone willing to do what's best for their bank account and turn a blind eye to what's best for your heath. I found such a person and have been paying for that fateful decision ever since.

The irony of it all is that before I had gained my weight, which is a natural and common occurrence as we age and have children, I always thought my very best attribute was my rock solid, and very sexy stomach. A stomach I had long lost site of and very much wanted back.

After my surgery, I did lose the weight but the scar was absolutely hideous. Add three more surgeries to the same area and the subsequent muscle loss and added scar tissue, and a bikini is forever out of the question!

It goes so much further, however, than vanity for me these days. I am always in pain and gripped with the fear of yet another surgery. I nearly died after my first revision because of a lung infection from the anesthesia. I was intubated for two weeks and suffered permanent memory loss because of oxygen deprivation.

I hope that I have at least "scared" you enough to do some research into weight-loss surgery, BEFORE you go under the knife. It is a decision that may haunt you for the rest of your life and one that should not be made in haste or because of vanity.

If your health is at risk, I understand how lucky we all are to have options in this day and age and this radical surgery cold certainly save your life and drastically increase your quality of living. But please explore your options and do your research.

A point about research, though. You need to find an independent source for your information. The problem with this lies in the fact that the people who know the most about weight-loss surgery are those that actually perform it. It certainly would not be in their best interest to advise you against something that is responsible for the large majority of their income, and I do not blame them one bit for not focusing on the negative side of this issue. I am certainly not implying any wrong doing and have amazing faith actually in our overall health care system, but you need the complete and unbiased story.

I would like to point you to the only source I have found for quality information that is neither biased nor incomplete. In fact, I believe that this information should become required reading for anyone considering any type of weight-loss surgery. You owe it to yourself and to those who love you to get this valuable information that could save your life.