Gastric Bypass Surgery In Skinny By Donna Cooner

In the novel, Skinny, by Donna Cooner, the emotional and physical effects of gastric bypass surgery is accurate as illustrated through the examples of diet and personality changes. Gastric bypass surgery can have positive or negative effects on people in society. Ever's life is affected positively both emotionally and physically through gastric bypass surgery in the novel. Ever's diet and personality is completely changed forever The emotional effects of gastric bypass surgery can be negative, which is accurately shown in the novel Skinny. Gastric bypass surgery has a very large effect on the psychological factors of someone who undergoes this procedure. There is good evidence that obese people have a low opinion of themselves (Haslam).

It is said that psychological factors appear to improve with weight loss (Haslam). The effects of gastric bypass surgery allow a person to think much more highly of themselves. The way society treats obese people before and after the surgery is very different. Before the surgery the obese person is mostly ignored and made fun of, but then after they receive the surgery everyone starts to be nice to them. Before Ever received gastric bypass surgery no one would talk to her, then after she gets the surgery everyone started to talk to her. A girl named Whitney, who Ever was not friends with at all and they did not like each other one bit, started to talk to her after she received the surgery. They even go on a shopping spree together. This shows how much differently Ever gets treated by everyone once she starts to lose weight. Another example from the novel is after Ever received the surgery she had enough confidence to go and sit at the popular table during lunch, next to the boy she had a crush. Before when Ever was fat this boy never liked her or would ever talk to her. Now that she had the surgery society finally allows her to fit in (Cooner 153). Ever's self confidence goes up so much that she even tells herself she looks good. When Ever is on the shopping spree with Whitney, she goes into the dressing room to try a shirt on and she says "The shirt looks okay. Better than okay. It looks good." (Cooner 128). Ever would have never talked to herself that way before the surgery. Her psychological state changed so much from before an after the surgery. The mental health of someone having this procedure can affect the success or not success of the surgery (Haslam). If someone were to have a negative mind set going into the surgery then the outcome with most likely be negative. Otherwise, someone who goes into the surgery with a positive mind set