Have you ever wondered what happens when bariatric surgery doesn’t go as planned—or when life throws new challenges your way after weight loss? In this episode, April, Natalie, and Jason openly discuss the realities of obesity, the emotional toll of weight recurrence, and the hope that revisional surgery can bring. Together, they explore how bariatric surgery is not a one-and-done solution, but rather a lifelong medical tool in the treatment of obesity. If you or someone you know is facing the possibility of revisional surgery, this empowering conversation will remind you that you are not alone—and that obesity is a disease, not a personal failure.

Tune in, and don’t forget to join the BariNation community to attend community meetups, watch exclusive bonus content and support the podcast for as low as $5 per month!  You can also contribute to BariNation and become a Drive To Thrive Supporter with a one time donation. 

IN THIS EPISODE:

• (00:29) April announces their panel at ASMBS focused on lifting shame and stigma around revisional surgery
• (01:49) Natalie shares how losing over 150 pounds after revisional surgery transformed her life
• (05:59) Three ways to reduce the obesity stigma: build trust, offer peer support, and provide ongoing education
• (09:42) Jason discusses weight recurrence as a valid medical reason for revision 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Revisional surgery can be life-changing and profoundly empowering. Both Jason and Natalie shared how overcoming shame and stigma around having a second or third bariatric procedure opened doors to a fuller life, including travel, physical activity, and self-confidence. These benefits came after initial procedures failed, showing that it's never too late to reclaim your health.
• Shame and stigma remain major barriers to revisional care. Many patients internalize the failure of a previous surgery as personal failure. Still, weight regain or complications are often due to the chronic nature of the disease of obesity, not personal shortcomings. Honest conversations with compassionate practitioners can break through these emotional barriers.
• Patients need supportive practitioners and community — lifting shame and stigma takes a team. Surgeons who listen, educate, and normalize revisional options play a crucial role in patient success, and platforms like BariNation help amplify those voices.

RESOURCES:

• BariNation Website 
• Don’t forget to join the BariNation community to attend community meetups, watch exclusive bonus content and support the podcast for as low as $5 per month!  You can also contribute to BariNation and become a Drive To Thrive Supporter with a one time donation. 

BariNation - Email

ASMBS - Website

ABOUT:

If the BariNation podcast helps power your bariatric journey, become a monthly podcast supporter and help us produce the show! Visit www.barinationpodcast.com and help us support people treating the disease of obesity with humor, humility, and honesty.

We need your help to keep the BariNation Podcast in production. Your one-time or recurring donations help us ensure this free support remains open to everyone. Click Drive To Thrive - Donation to learn more and give. THANK YOU for your support!  

Jason Smith: [00:00:00] Hi. Welcome to Nation, where we support the bariatric community with humor, humility, and honesty.

Natalie Tierney: Our goal is you leave us today feeling hopeful, inspired, and ready to live your best bariatric life.

And it is all about lifting shame and stigma around [00:01:00] revisional surgery. And funny enough, we have two revisionists on the screen with us today. We're really excited to, to have this voice and to have this presence there. Um, and to speak on a topic that means so much to us, [00:01:15] not just because Jason and Nat are revisionists themselves, but we have so many members of our community and listeners of this podcast that are revisionists.

Natalie Tierney: Oh, okay. I'm not used to that. I have been able to do a lot in terms of just everyday life, I think is, is the biggest one. But, [00:02:00] um, really traveling has always been a huge passion of mine. Uh, but being 400 pounds, right? I. Couldn't fit in a seat. It wasn't comfortable. My body, it took a toll on my body. Um, I would swell a lot.[00:02:15]

A better experience in general. Um, and it's very near and dear to my heart. My grandma traveled a ton and I always [00:02:45] wanted to be able to do what she did, meeting people and seeing new places and having all of those experiences. So for me to be able to, to travel, uh, within the US over the last almost five years has just [00:03:00] been incredible.

Such an experience. Yeah.

A third atric surgery for you to really be able to access this, this travel joy [00:04:00] in your life.

So instead of removing my stomach, they kind of rolled it up and sutured it into a sleeve shape. Um, and then [00:04:30] I gained all my weight back. And then some, I went all the way up to 403 pounds. That was my highest recorded weight. And, uh. That was a point in my life where I was like, okay, I gotta figure this out.

And then I. I realized the body that I was in and I thought, man, I can't do that if I'm this way. I can't live a long life, almost 90 years old being four, [00:05:15] three pounds. So yeah, it was definitely a turning point. Uh, decided to have VSG that September of 2020, and it was the best decision I could have ever made to, to leap over the shame and stigma, like you said.

If you're watching, I have a little poster that says Leap of Faith. It was the best group of faith that I could have ever taken, so, yeah.

It is right, building trust with [00:06:15] your patients, it is connecting them with a peer support community. And then it's that ongoing education. Those three things are things that practitioners can really lean into. To help their, their patients, their, uh, their friends [00:06:30] move, move through that. And I know that both of you guys really tapped into those things as you were moving through your revisional process.

Jason Smith: Yeah, no, absolutely.

Being in, in [00:07:15] Hawaii and, and waking up with a six hour time difference. So waking up what would've been two hours earlier than I normally wake up to go to the gym, to go to the gym while I'm on vacation, still have the strength, the stamina, the all the [00:07:30] things to be up the rest of that day going and, and walking.

But to be able to [00:08:00] go explore those things.

The tracks my steps. We started tracking stuff. I'm like, there was a day we, 13 day around. [00:08:30] With within the confines of, of where we were, but that was after a full workout at the gym, was almost two hours long. Getting up two hours early, doing those things and being able to still do all that, have the energy to all of those things.[00:08:45]

Or walk around the gym, walk around the resort, walk around, any of that. So I wasn't going, I didn't even know anybody named Jim when I had my vsg. Like I was, that's how far removed from the gym I was. But it really got to a point [00:09:15] where, you know, and you know, to your point, talking about practitioners, you know, who are helping us, like it was a practitioner who convinced me that I could have, that I was worthy of that revision.

There's to, because there are a lot people out there who still feel necess.

Oh, I thought that was only for people that had complications. What was your complication on weight recurrence? That was it. Like I didn't get as far with a sleeve as I wanted to. This was an option. It [00:10:15] was told to me by my surgeon that you. These, we go through the chronic disease talk, we go through the, it's never going away.

I know that neither one, you know, neither one of you're the same. You're [00:10:45] both the same. None of us want that. So I, these conversations are vitally important

Casual, but serious conversations with patients. It allows us the patient to drop that shame and stigma. I know Dr. Joe and his team work really hard on ensuring that the patient [00:11:15] education that they have for, for their practice, I is constant. They're using patient friendly language. They are on patient. Uh, platforms, right?

Because you busted through that shame and stigma. You said, Nope, I need to continue this treatment. It took a village, it took a lot of people. Um, but you were able to get it done. And at this year's conference, that's exactly what we are, [00:12:00] are presenting and I just have to take a moment and recognize it's because of.

Ey, Dr. Pesa, Dr. [00:12:30] McMahon. I mean, I could go on and on. Is. Is extensive, and because those practitioners got a little bit out of their comfort zone and decided to join us on this Patient Voice podcast, these messages are now being [00:12:45] heard by more people and more practitioners, and that is what helps lift the shame and stigma.

We're moving the needle on shame and stigma, and we are just so, so thankful for that. So friends, if this podcast resonates with you, or if any one of our podcast episode has resonated with you, please share it [00:13:15] and reach out to those practitioners and let them know that you appreciate that they have taken the time to share their story and education on the Berry Nation Podcast, it takes a team, takes a village, and we are just so thankful to be a part of it.

Jason Smith: I said it for a very long time. A lot of, I've said this before, like a very long time, and myself and, and [00:13:45] the shame and the, and the stigma just enveloped me in every way, shape, or form and was inflicted and.

Don't. They want to help you. And, uh, if you feel like they don't find another [00:14:30] surgeon, there are so many practitioners. Uh, you can go on the ASM BS website and search for surgeons in your area, um, that are ready to, to help you. But ask the questions, reach out to your surgeon. Um, I say this all the [00:14:45] time in the Very nation support community.

Our medical professionals are practitioners. They work for us, so we ask the questions. We need the support, we need the care we have to be the ones to initiate.

Jason Smith: everybody.

April Williams: Hi friends.

Natalie Tierney: Join us@ barination.mn.co.

Jason Smith: And just remember at the end of the day, you've got this. We've got you. And we'll see you next time. Bye [00:15:45] everybody.