Change Your Life for Good This Year

The Lap-Band Center of Oklahoma has a solution for those who are medically classified as morbidly obese and are ready to lose the weight.

If you are at least 30 pounds overweight and have made the resolution to get healthy this year, now is the time to get ­started. For those who deal with a ­serious weight problem, there
is a serious weight loss solution. Dr. Ladd Atkins of the Lap-Band Center of Oklahoma offers exclusively the Lap-Band® by Allergan to people who are medically classified as morbidly obese.

The Lap-Band® Adjustable Gastric Banding System is the only FDA-approved gastric banding system for patients who are at least 30 pounds overweight, with a BMI of at least 30 and one or more obesity-related comorbid conditions that include coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, hypertension, sleep apnea and osteoarthritis.

The Lap-Band® uses a process called laparoscopic banding. This process is the least invasive way to use surgery to reduce the amount of food the stomach can hold. “This is less invasive than simple gall bladder surgery,” Dr. Atkins explains.

The name “Lap-Band” comes from the surgical technique used – laparoscopic – and the name of the product used – gastric band. There are other gastric banding procedures, but in Dr. Atkins’s opinion, the Lap-Band® by Allergan is the best one to meet the patient’s needs.

The Lap-Band® adjustable gastric banding system restricts how much the stomach can hold by placing an adjustable band around the upper part of the stomach. There is no cutting or stapling needed to divide the upper stomach pouch from the lower stomach. The result is that patients take in less food. Yet at the same time, the stomach digests nutrients and calories in a normal way.

After the surgery, most patients are back to work within a week. The patient meets with Dr. Atkins every four to six weeks. The dietician, Laura Charles, R.D./L.D., who has firsthand experience, monitors food choices and makes recommendations to keep the patient on track. As the patient’s food intake changes, Dr. Atkins quickly makes adjustments to the band by either adding or removing a simple saline solution.  

Those with the greatest success pay close attention to the foods they eat and exercise regularly. Typical weight loss is one to two pounds a week. Some foods are easier to digest than others for Lap-Band® patients. As Dr. Atkins explains, “The system actually forces people to make healthier food choices. But that’s what they need to turn their lives around.”

One such success story is Brent Bailey, singles pastor at Rhema Bible Church in Broken Arrow. Brent had been overweight all his life. You name the diet and he tried it. He would lose a little weight and then gain it back, often with a few extra pounds. Exercise was out of the question because of the constant pain in his back and knee joints, as well as his right leg and foot. Brent recalls how lightheaded he became every time he stood up. He also dealt with high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea and osteoarthritis. His excess weight was literally a death sentence waiting to happen.

He read about the Lap-Band® surgery many years ago. In March of 2009, he ­decided the time was right to get serious about his weight ­problem. “In less than a month after the surgery, I was off my medications,” he says. “This was the best decision I ever made!”

Fifteen months later, Brent had lost 160 pounds. And he has never felt or looked better. Brent goes to the Lap-Band Center of Oklahoma for periodic adjustments and to share his ­experience at the bi-monthly seminars. Every second and fourth Thursday, a free seminar ­introduces the procedure to prospective patients. They meet with Dr. Atkins and bariatric coordinator Roberta Wagle. All aspects of the procedure are ­covered, including financial and insurance coverage.

“If you are seriously overweight, at least go to the seminar,” says Brent. The free seminars this month will be held January 12th and January 26th at 7:00 p.m. For more information, call the Lap-Band Center of Oklahoma at (918) 392-2806. The Lap-Band Center is part of the Pinnacle Specialty Hospital, located at 2408 E. 81st St. It’s a new year - become a new you.

 

For more information, contact

Lap-Band® Center of Oklahoma

Pinnacle Specialty Hospital

2408 E. 81st St., Ste. 600
Tulsa, OK 74137

(918) 392-2806

www.lapbandcenterofoklahoma.com