Dusti Adkins had tried everything. She topped the scales at close to 300 pounds and had been on all the well-known diets. She even went on a supervised weight loss program. But Adkins’ battle against obesity seemed to be a losing struggle and it was jeopardizing her health in many different ways. She had to take prescription medicine for high blood pressure and she didn’t have the energy to be active with her two children. Then, just over a year ago, Adkins made a decision that changed her life. She went to the weight loss surgery center at St. Mary’s Medical Center.
The staff at the center determined Adkins was a candidate for gastric bypass surgery, and Adkins decided to go ahead with the procedure. Now, she has lost more than 100 pounds and the difference in her body weight is amazing.
“I feel like a whole new person,” Adkins said. “You kind of feel like you’ve always been a skinny person, but you were trapped in a big body. Now it’s actually like they’ve met up and become one person and it’s like, ‘watch out now!’”
“Weight loss surgery is not a quick fix,” said Registered Dietitian Terri Norris, who works in the Weight Loss Surgery Center. “It’s a whole new life — a commitment that prompts patients like Dusti to say, ‘These are the changes I’m going to make and keep for a lifetime.’ We always say surgery is just a tool. Dusti is great because she’s done such wonderful things with this tool. She looks great. She feels great. She’s able to be more involved with her kids and her family and she’s just a really good example what somebody can do with this surgery and be very successful.”
Are you a candidate for surgery like Dusti?
Perhaps you’ve put on 10 pounds over the holiday season. Or, maybe you never lost your “Freshman 15” or got your pre-baby body back.
Is weight loss surgery right for you? Most likely not.
Many patients seek out the Weight Loss Surgery Center, but the requirements for surgical intervention are substantially stringent. These standards are for those who want to lose more than 10 or 15 pounds.
Clinically severe obesity, or “morbid obesity,” is a disease in which the body stores excessive amounts of fat, resulting in a person being 100 or more pounds overweight. Physicians look to a patient’s body mass index (BMI) to help determine the severity of his or her weight problem. BMI calculators are available on several Web sites.
Clinically severe obesity presents a wide range of health complications for patients, including high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep apnea, diabetes and certain types of cancers. The best candidates for weight loss surgery are 100 pounds or more overweight, have a BMI of 40 or more, or a BMI of 35 with other health risks and several unsuccessful attempts to lose weight and keep it off. Patients must be prepared to work diligently in the care of his or her own health.
“These are our guidelines for anybody interested in bariatric surgery and we don’t compromise on those,” said Dr. Tim Robarts, medical director of the Weight Loss Surgery Center.
Surgical Intervention
The Weight Loss Surgery Center at St. Mary’s offers two options for bariatric surgery: gastric bypass, which involves re-routing the digestive tract around most of the stomach, and laparoscopic banding, or Lap-Band®.
“We’ve just recently added the Lap-Band procedure to our repertoire and we’re definitely seeing more interest from the public,” Dr. Robarts said. “Lap-Band is safer and, in fact, it’s statistically 10 times safer than the alternative – gastric bypass.”
The Lap-Band process is described as a “restrictive procedure” and involves wrapping a band around the upper part of the stomach. Saline is instilled into the small pouch on the band and can be adjusted through a small port under the skin to meet each patient’s needs. The procedure is performed using minimally invasive techniques. Patients may leave the hospital the next day and return to work in two to four weeks.
“We are actually able to finesse the band to accommodate each patient’s individual anatomy and lifestyle,” Dr. Robarts said. “It’s safer because we’re not entering the GI tract. Weight loss with the Lap-Band is somewhat slower but, statistically, after three years, both groups (Lap-Band and gastric bypass) are on the same pace.”
Gastric bypass is a procedure by which the size of the gastric reservoir is permanently reduced and a short segment of intestine is bypassed through minimally-invasive surgery. The reduced gastric reservoir decreases the amount of food that can be eaten comfortably.
Patients with diabetes may find gastric bypass a better fit, because the disease often can be improved fairly soon after surgery. Gastric bypass requires a slightly longer hospital stay and a little more time off of work.
Post-operative success
Once a patient has signed on with the Weight Loss Surgery Center, that individual is a member for life.
Gastric bypass patients like Dusti Adkins are seen at regular intervals following their procedure — at one week, one month, four months and one year. Lap-Band patients are followed even more closely for band adjustments to bring on slow, progressive weight loss.
Patients also are encouraged to attend monthly support group meetings on the fourth Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m., even between regular clinic follow-ups.
“We like to see people for a minimum of five years afterward and, preferably, for their lifetime,” Dr. Robarts said.
The success of either surgical weight loss procedure is only as good as a patient’s commitment to see it through.
“It is possible to have either procedure and gain back the weight you lost because if you don’t follow the right diet, exercise or maintain lifestyle changes,” Norris said. “We try to get patients to understand that all of their previous failures with their weight end now.”
Getting started
“The process starts with a phone call, someone calling to request information about the center,” Norris said. “From there, we take their information and their height and weight to make sure they would qualify to be seen here.”
All potential patients at the Weight Loss Surgery Center meet with the nurse coordinator for a one-on-one consultation to review insurance requirements and to determine if weight loss surgery is right for them.
“The staff will explain in more detail what our program entails and what their particular insurance company requires,” Norris explained. “For instance, most insurance companies cover weight loss surgery, but require a patient to meet a medically supervised diet requirement. Some insurance companies require an in-depth psychological evaluation, while others want sleep studies performed. We get all of that done before we even start the rest of the process.”
Once the preliminary requirements are met and established, patients must attend an educational class about either gastric bypass or the Lap-Band procedure. Patients also are given pre- and post-operative instructions. From there, a surgery date is scheduled. Dusti Adkins is sharing her story because she wants others to get help too if they need it.
“It’s a life changing commitment,” Adkins said. “It’s well worth it. I would recommend it to anyone.”
The Weight Loss Surgery Center is located in St. Mary’s Outpatient Center. For more information, call (304) 399-4903.
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