Can you go to the gym yet? Can you visit Nan in her nursing home? Is it safe to go to hospital for your bariatric surgery now? In the middle of lockdown, we were encouraged to see ourselves as ‘safe at home’ rather than ‘stuck at home’. For many of us, that sunk in – and you may feel an unexpected sense of uncertainty or discomfort about society gradually opening up again. Many patients are asking us if it is now safe to come in for a planned consultation or whether it’s OK to proceed with their bariatric surgery. The answer is yes. Clinics and hospitals are now open for weight-loss surgeries. In fact, managing your weight could be one of the things that helps to reduce your risk of COVID-19.
Learning to Be Out and About Again
If you’re hesitant about mingling again, then take baby steps and prioritise the really important outings. While you have to take the kids to school, you don’t have to go on a big shopping spree through the nearest mall. While you might be keen to see some friends who live nearby and are still working from home, you don’t have to see others who are circulating much more freely than you feel comfortable with. It’s OK to draw your own lines. However, healthcare would definitely count as an important reason for going out. Even at the peak of lockdown, accessing healthcare was allowed. Our collective actions during lockdown have successfully flattened the COVID-19 curve. That means you can now start to take care of your long-term health needs. It’s time to get moving towards your weight-loss goals.
How Life Weight Loss is Working For You Now
At Life Weight Loss, we have always maintained high quality standards. That’s true of our clinical standards (with a complication rate below 0.5%) and our cleanliness standards. As advocates of good health, we are carefully following public health advice on social distancing, hand sanitising and clinic cleaning. Anyone who is even slightly sick stays home (and we ask that you do too – we’re happy to rearrange your consultation if you’re not well). Hospitals, too, have changed their procedures to manage COVID-19 risk, including limiting the number of visitors per patient. Nothing we do in life is completely safe. There is always some degree of risk involved. But we’re doing everything we can to manage the risk of COVID-19. To be honest, the riskiest part is probably the drive to the clinic!
Weight and COVID-19 Risk
Gaining and maintaining a healthy weight has always been an important part of achieving good overall health and wellbeing. COVID-19 makes managing your weight more important than ever. COVID-19 is especially dangerous for people carrying extra kilos. A UK study found that 70% of COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU with severe breathing difficulties were overweight or obese. That’s because being overweight is a constant stress on your body. Even during good times, being overweight weakens your immune system, puts you at higher risk of many other conditions and makes it harder for you to breathe. During a global pandemic, those factors considerably increase your vulnerability to COVID-19.
Regaining Control
The events of the last few months have been well beyond our control and we’re still working through the effects of it all. We know from studies into previous outbreaks like SARS, Ebola and swine flu that these situations cause a big rise in anxiety, depression and anger. Interestingly, people also start exerting control where they can, such as exercising more or improving their diet. Maybe that’s you. If you’re tired of feeling like your weight is beyond your control, then now is a great time to act.
How Life Weight Loss Can Help?
Bariatric surgery has helped many people to achieve lasting weight loss. Swedish researchers compared 2,000 people who had bariatric surgery to a similar group who did not have surgery and followed both groups up at intervals over the coming years. They found that the surgery group were:
- Better able to manage their weight over many years
- Had lower rates of heart attack, stroke and cancer
- Lived longer.
At Life Weight Loss Centre, we recognise that losing weight is a journey. Our 5-step process guides you through that journey, helping to ensure that weight-loss surgery is the right choice for you, then supporting you every step of the way. Ready to start? Please make an appointment today.
