Sharon Osbourne is planning to have her gastric band removed. A gastric band is a band placed around the stomach to make it smaller. This causes the person to feel full quicker, and therefore eat less.
According to the Associated Press:
Osbourne, who has written a memoir, "Sharon Osbourne Extreme," had surgery in 1999 to have the gastric band put inside her, but intends to shed it in December (when she returns to the U.S. from Britain). Though the band is designed to limit food intake by squeezing down the stomach's capacity, she packed on 15 pounds this year, she says, "from overeating."
"I keep trying to eat more and more ... I'm a pig," says Osbourne, who has indulged in "chocolate, French fries and junk food" instead of sticking to the nutritious diet required of gastric-band patients.
What happens when she eats too much? "You throw up...then you eat more," she says.
Hopefully she can keep her appetite in check after the band is removed. The gastric band is a nice alternative to gastric bypass surgery. The recovery isn't as difficult, the surgery is reversible (as far as I know), and it doesn't seem as risky as gastric bypass. Weight loss doesn't seem to occur quite as fast as with gastric bypass as well, which may actually be a good thing.
I have operated on several people who have had gastric banding, lost a lot of weight (80-120 lbs), and then needed a tummy tuck to remove excess skin. There are some plastic surgeons who focus solely on treating people with massive weight loss.
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