Weight loss surgery 101

Over the past few days I have had a number of people ask what a "fill" is. Honestly I find myself over the past few months trying to explain the different types of weight lost surgery otherwise known as bariatric surgery

First you need to be candidate for weight loss surgery the basic requirement is to have a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40.  Individuals who also have the following may be candidate if their BMI is as low as 35: sleep apnea; high cholesterol; heart disease, diabetes.

 Depending on your insurance there are other factors or requirements as well such as being on an unsuccessful weight loss program(s) with a 2 year history of obesity. You should also be required to have a psychological evaluation as well. (Yep had the exam. No I am not crazy but it was a very interesting 600 question exam.)

Also depending on your insurance and the clinic you go to, only some of these procedures may be available to you.

 Below are videos on the types of surgeries. Youtube and WebMD can describe them better then I can.

Types of surgery:

Gastric Bypass:

Gastric Sleeve

Gastric Banding

Duodenal Switch

Incision free

At the clinical group that performed my surgery the Duodenal Switch and the Incision Free procedures were not presented as options, not that they would have interested me. Gastric bypass was not an option for me 1) it was too invasive with too long of recovery 2) with my heart condition my primary doctor would not have approved the surgery. I debated on doing the sleeve, but the recovery time was too long.

Even though I have not lost weight in the past two weeks, I still believe the band was the right choice.You will notice I call it a Lap Band, that is actually the name of the manufacture of device.

A patient may have up to 8 CCs of saline in the band but not all at once! The adjustments will be done over a number of months (since the average between appointments is 6 weeks). I know its hard to imagine without knowing what the device actually looks like;

Above is what a basic band device looks like. You have the ring that attaches around the stomach and the port, that is stapled to the muscle wall, used to insert or remove saline.

Above are two brand of the banding device, shown with or without saline added.
Now the final video is a band fill. Yes they still a needle in your side (if that is where your port is, I have a friend who's port in in her chest).

I hope these videos and images have answered a lot your questions and I am sure they have generated even more.

As always I want to thank everyone for their support in the last few months and now as I make more and more changes in my health towards the better. Having such a great support network has been more help then any of you could imagine.