Last week, we talked about the New Year’s resolution lots of people make -- losing weight.If all else fails, weight loss surgery is an option.
The first thing surgeon Dr. Steven Fowler reminds his patients -- the decision to have weight loss surgery should not be made lightly.
"To undergo surgical weight loss is an enormous undertaking. You don't want to go forward with that, making a light decision. It is a life-changing process that you go through,” said Dr. Steven Fowler.
The actual surgery takes just a few hours but the path to that surgery is long.
"The amount of preparation to get ready for weight loss surgery is extensive in terms of seeing the dietician, the exercise specialist, the psychologist, possibly a physical trainer and support groups,” said Fowler.
That last part - support groups - is extremely important, according to the doctor. "I can make that patient lose a hundred, hundred and fifty pounds the first year. That's kind of the easy part. But in order for the individual to keep that weight off after the surgery, it has to be incorporated in the other components in terms of diet, education, how to exercise safely and having that support group."
There are basically three kinds of weight loss surgery - the gastric bypass, the gastric band "and then something new on the horizon is the vertical sleeve gastrectomy,” said Fowler. “And that's a procedure where we're cutting the stomach, making it smaller, limiting the amount of food you eat before you feel full."
You may have heard the term "morbidly obese" but there are more clinical factors that figure into a decision about having weight loss surgery.
"Surgical weight loss is reserved for individuals who have a body mass index of 35 and higher. Another way to think of it is being approximately 100 pounds overweight. So we follow strict criteria in order to see who is an appropriate candidate."
Dr. Fowler says that the majority of patients would likely be covered by insurance for weight loss surgery.
