Does Weight Loss Surgery Work?

This is a question Dr. Ladd Atkins, D.O., bariatric surgeon for Lap-Band® Center of Oklahoma gets asked quite often.

Dr. Ladd Atkins specializes in bariatric, advanced ­laparoscopy, cosmetic, and wound care surgery.

There are various types of weight loss surgery. Which type of surgery is right for you depends on your health, doctor’s advice, weight loss goals, and what is covered by your insurance plan. The Lap-Band® Center of Oklahoma uses only the LAP-BAND® Adjustable Gastric Banding System by Allergan. According to Dr. Atkins, “It is by far the safest weight loss surgery device on the market today.”

Dr. Atkins explains that the LAP-BAND® System is much safer than stomach stapling or gastric bypass surgery because it’s minimally invasive, using laparoscopy. This process is the least invasive way to use surgery to reduce the amount of food the stomach can hold. “It’s less invasive than gall bladder surgery,” Dr. Adkins explains.

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.

The ideal patient has a BMI (body mass index) of 30 or ­higher with at least one comorbidity (secondary disorder or ­disease), which typically includes type II diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis. The patient generally wants to lose 80 to 100 pounds and is motivated to lose the weight.

The benefits of having the surgery include 50 to 80 percent excess weight loss, high success rate, it’s adjustable, can reverse type II diabetes, quick recovery time, and is totally reversible. The surgery is usually done on an outpatient basis but sometimes involves an overnight stay. Patients are up and walking within hours of the surgery.

“It is our goal for the patient to succeed,” states Roberta Wagle, bariatric coordinator. “After the surgery, I follow up with the patient regularly, set up support group meetings, and answer any questions they have.”

Follow-ups are essential to achieving one’s weight loss goals and are generally done four to six weeks apart. According to Dr. Atkins, “Your follow-up meeting is always with me and generally involves measuring your weight loss against your goals and a slight adjustment of your LAP-BAND®, if needed. We want to get you into the ‘green zone’ (optimal band adjustment area). Patients that are well-followed and well-adjusted have an 80 percent or better chance of achieving their weight loss goals. We want you to feel like you’re part of a family on your weight loss journey.”

Success stories abound. One story involves 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. Brent had read about the LAP-BAND® System and decided the time was right in October of 2009. “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 now goes to the Lap-Band® Center of Oklahoma for periodic adjustments and attends the bi-monthly seminars, when time permits, to share his experience with others. Free seminars are held the second and fourth Thursday of the month to ­introduce the procedure to prospective patients and answer their questions. “If you are seriously overweight, at least go to the seminar,” says Brent.

The LAP-BAND® System by Allergan is FDA approved for patients with a BMI of 30 and above. It is the only adjustable gastric banding system to have received that approval level.   For more information or to reserve your seat, call Lap-Band® Center of Oklahoma at (918) 392-2806. It is part of Pinnacle Specialty Hospital and is located at 2408 E. 81st St.

For more information, contact

Lap-Band Center of Oklahoma

www.lapbandcenterofoklahoma.com