I Want To Live: Gastric Bypass Reversal Paperback – November 15, 2002

Great book.

Love This Book!

This book was brought for my mum and she told me the book is brilliant. Very happy.

I just finished reading this, and am so glad that I did. I haven't had WLS, but I am a large woman, and I have to admit that the ads on TV make it seem so great. Despite serious misgivings about it, I was beginning to be tempted. Now, there's no way. By sharing her story along with those of others Dani Hart may have saved me from one of the greatest mistakes I could make. Other women in my family have expressed interest in the surgery, and I'd like them to read the book - Not to sway them, just to make sure they have enough information to be truly informed.Now, the cons- the book is poorly written in that there are so many spelling errors and simple grammatical mistakes (repeated words, missing words) that you'd think it had never been run through spell check. However, Dani points out how the surgery affected her mental capacities, so I think that explains most of these errors, as well as the tendency to repeat anecdotes, facts, and events in widespread chapters.I am so grateful to Ms. Hart for writing this book!

My wife had Vertical Banded Gastric Bypass Surgery 7 years ago. After two years she started having problems keeping food down. The problems only got worse to the point where all she could keep down was water. The insurance company was unwilling to do a reversal but was willing to pay for a Gastric Bypass of the sort described in Dani Harts book. It was her book that helped us decide not to get the bypass but rather to find a doctor who could perform a fold over button-hole of her stomach to fashion a complete working one. She is back from the Hospital and able to keep down normal food for the first time in 5 years with out throwing up. God bless you Dani Harts.

A friend sent me this book after I had gastric bypass and was very ill, almost to the point of dying. I read it cover to cover and had tears in my eyes the whole time because her experience was so much like mine. The author herself is a wonderful lady who heard about my case and called me up to see how I was doing while in the hospital. This book isn't meant to be a scare tactic when it comes to weight loss surgery. There are so many books promoting it, it's probably good to have a book that shows that a few people like her and I get sick from this surgery. Nobody, including the doctor, told me about the extreme problems that gastric bypass can cause, even if it only happens to a few people, and I wish that I had read this book before going through with the surgery.

While I don't doubt that Dani had the horrible complications she discusses in her book, there are some things in the book that make me question her credibility. For example, many of the people who tell their "experiences" with WLS had surgeries many years ago. In fact, several of the surgeries these people discuss are no longer being performed by doctors. Dani doesn't mention that these surgeries have changed and/or are not being performed anymore. Why wouldn't she tell the readers this if she really wanted to be giving accurate information? Also, some of the things Dani said just don't have the ring of truth to me. For example, she basically asserts that there is a conspiracy to keep WLS patients in the dark about potential dangers and complications of the surgery (not just by doctors...but by patients who have already had the surgery.) That is just ridiculous. What benefit would people who have been harmed by the surgery get from keeping others in the dark? Dani claims that prior to her surgery, she had contact with a woman who had had the surgery. Dani says that the woman purposely kept all the negatives of the surgery from Dani so that Dani would have the operation. Once Dani begins to have complications, she confronts the woman. Dani claims that the woman told her that if Dani kept talking "negative about the surgery" the woman would "slap her face"? Huh? Sorry. I just don't buy it. I mean, when since 2nd grade has anyone ever talked like this?What is unfortunate is that Dani makes some very valid points about the complications following WLS, but I was so turned off by her lack of credibility in other areas, she lost me.

Sorry to hear that Dani had such a difficult time and had to get a reversal, but this is a unique extreme situation. There are lot more success stories then reversals. I had the operation in December and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I certainly don't think it's easier to live with morbid obesity then it is to take a chance and improve your life. I guess some people will relate to Dani's story, but majority of the patients who had successful gastric bypass will not and it's a shame to deter anyone considering the operation.