Did Ricardo Morán have a gastric sleeve? Yes, he told the story himself

In an episode of his YouTube podcast Sentido Común about how people judge other people’s bodies, Morán said for the first time that he has struggled with obesity for years. El Comercio quoted him: “In January 2014 I had a gastric sleeve operation, which consists of making your stomach smaller. In three months I lost 20 kilos.” He explained that he started gaining weight in 1997, reached 112 kilos, and then went through about ten years of dieting and rebound before choosing surgery.

Bariatric Surgery Birmingham, Bariatric Surgery Dublin — price and consultation.

Morán’s account has two halves, and both matter. The first is the decade of diets that ended in rebound, a pattern many people with obesity know well. The second is what came after surgery: he said his weight went up again when his children were born and during the pandemic, and that he is still working on it.

More on this topic: Bariatric surgery with support all the way to your result, Gastric Sleeve (Sleeve Gastrectomy), Gastric Bypass (Roux-en-Y), Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery in Benoni, Gastric Sleeve and Bypass in Harare.

Both main operations are laparoscopic, done through four small punctures of 5–15 mm. In a sleeve gastrectomy most of the stomach is removed and a narrow tube remains. In a gastric bypass a small stomach pouch is created and part of the intestine is rerouted, which also changes how nutrients are absorbed.

Surgery is usually discussed with a BMI above 40, or above 35 with serious weight-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes; sometimes lower thresholds apply when non-surgical approaches have failed, as in Morán’s years of dieting. Before the operation the clinic asks for:

• blood and urine tests, biochemistry, HbA1c and a coagulation panel;
• consultations with a GP, an endocrinologist, a psychiatrist and a cardiologist (and a gynaecologist for women);

Patients get up on the first day and usually stay in hospital for 1–5 days. The diet moves from liquid to soft to solid food over 1–2 months. Office work is possible after 2–4 weeks, physical work after about six weeks, swimming after 30 days. Weight loss is fastest in the first months; the final result is assessed at 1.5–2 years.

City Medical Centre performs sleeve gastrectomy, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, mini gastric bypass and SADI-S for international patients, all laparoscopically. The surgeon’s first consultation is free and can take place online; the cost is fixed in the contract. Prices are $3,600 for a sleeve and $4,000 for a bypass, and the team follows patients up during the first year. More details are on the bariatric surgery page.