This is sparking quite the debate among doctors (and many other people) — ABC News has the story of a 12-year-old girl who had liposuction after struggling with her weight for years. At 5-foot-5, Brooke Bates weighed 220 pounds. She says she tried many diets, but none of them seemed to help. Doctors classified her as morbidly obese, and because her blood pressure was extremely high, they said she was at risk for a stroke. The liposuction removed 35 pounds of fat and fluid from her body and she now weighs 153 pounds.
But was liposuction really the only answer? Many doctors question whether serious cosmetic surgery like liposuction is safe for someone so young. And I can’t help but wonder what will happen if she regains the weight – another liposuction? What about healthy eating and exercise? What do you think?
Well, she must have lost a lot of weight in addition to the lipo according to the provided numbers.
There are, of course serious risks with fat emboli when doing lipo to this extent.
In patient “bread and water” in a locked cell would work.
I have to say, thank goodness that I haven’t wasted my career as a surgeon sucking fat out of people!
I don’t know what to think – I am so sad about this! Part of me wonders why the parents didn’t do something about it. Didn’t they see the little girl gaining weight? Did they take her to the park or outside to play? Did they take her to McDonalds? Did she gain weight by eating healthy and it was just a physical problem which caused her to gain weight?
The article doesn’t really give a lot of background as to how she got to where she was so I’m trying hard not to blame the parents…but I am so so sad!
I am speechless!
I bet she re-gains all the weight back in less than 2 years. I don’t feel sorry for lazy people. It’s a quirk of mine.
Dr. J – I noticed the numbers, too, but the article didn’t say anything else about that. I wonder if she’s now exercising and eating healthy foods?
Jen – There are a lot of questions, aren’t there? I want to know more, too… like how long she tried to lose weight before the liposuction. Did they really give a healthy lifestyle time to work? Or were they just looking for something quick?
There was tantalizing little information in that article. I always wonder when people say the tried everything and nothing worked. I tried a lot of things, too – but I had to fix the mind before the ‘thing’ worked, you know?
This surgery really took the knowledge and learning part out of the equation for her. She got the fast result that our society expects and demands, but at what price?
Can she keep it off? I certainly think she is healthier not having that weight on her, but without understanding the underlying cause of her weight gain, it is going to be extremely hard for her to keep it off unless she and her family are willing to make the changes necessary for it to happen.
Lori – Great point about fixing your mind first. At this point, let’s just hope she and her family make the changes they need to keep her at a healthy weight.
I agree with previous posts-there isn’t enough information to know if this girl really abused the surgery. Was she on a healthy diet and highly active but had a thyroid problem? Did she have a physical disability that prevented her from being active?
At the same time, I see overweight kids all the time. Just the other day I was at the store and there was a guy who was probably 150 pounds overweight checking out in front of me. He had his two kids with him, maybe ages five and eight and both those kids were extremely overweight-but the dad had no problem letting his kids each grab whatever kind of candy they wanted from the check out aisle! I was floored. I’m going to stop myself now before this turns into a novel.