Weight-loss Surgery Reversed His Diabetes Gastric Bypass Can Have Many Health Benefits
For James Hough, the decision to have a gastric bypass came one day when he fell – and couldn’t gain up. His wife had to help him up off his hands and knees. At almost 300 pounds, Hough simply couldn’t do it. “I had been thinking about having the surgery, and this really made me determine to go ahead with it,” said the Prunedale, California, husband and father, who weighed 292 at his heaviest. Now, two years later, he has lost more than half of that, and weighs unprejudiced 142 pounds.
The operation has been life-changing for Hough in several ways. Not only is he much thinner, he no longer has diabetes or sleep apnea, both conditions which can be very serious in their impact on health.
Also, Hough notes, he no longer needs glasses except for reading.
“When I was diabetic, my glasses were definitely needed for reading and distance,” said Hough, an IT manager for a Salinas, California, medical clinic. “After losing the weight, my vision cleared up. Apparently, the excess weight made my cornea out of shape and thus (caused) poor vision.”
Hough is a very good example of how gastric bypass can have a dramatic impact for better health, said his surgeon, Dr. Mark Vierra of Monterey, California.
“James has really gotten it,” said Dr. Vierra, a gastrointestinal surgeon who has performed more than 800 bariatric surgeries since 2001. “He’s done everything absolutely good and is getting the benefits from it.”
Bariatric, or weight-loss surgery, is becoming more commonly performed as obesity has become more common in the United States.
Still, it’s a serious measure to take for the sake of health, and one that should be considered only as a last resort.
“The risks of any surgery for anyone overweight enough to be thinking about weight-loss surgery are grand greater than the risks for someone of normal weight,” said Dr. Vierra. Some of these risks include blood clots and intestinal obstructions.
Therefore, a gastric bypass must be deemed a medical necessity. Typically, the patient must be 100 pounds or more over his or her ideal weight, and likely is suffering ill effects from being obese, such as diabetes, severe degenerative joint disease or sleep apnea.
There are two procedures commonly done these days, Vierra said: laparoscopic gastric bypass, and laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding. There are several other types that are done less frequently, including Roux Y gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and duodenal switch.
Laparoscopic procedures are done with a very small incision, letting patients heal more quickly and with fewer complications.
In a laproscopic gastric bypass, the stomach is divided to create a small upper pouch the size of a thumb. The unusual stomach is then sewn to the small intestine. Digestion and absorption are virtually normal but patients can’t eat as great because they have a much smaller stomach to hold food.
In laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, an inflatable cuff is placed around the upper stomach, which can be inflated or deflated as needed in the office to either tighten the band or to loosen it.
While on the faculty at Stanford University, Dr. Vierra specialized in gastrointestinal surgery and had an interest in complicated cases. He was especially struck by patients who had regained weight following reversal of obsolete weight-loss surgery, and how this weight gain affected their health and quality of life.
He began doing gastric bypasses at Stanford in the early 1990s.
“At that time there was no such program at Stanford, so I put together a team with a fantastic nurse, a dietician and a psychologist, a group of anesthesiologists and some very patient colleagues, and we began doing gastric bypasses,” Dr. Vierra recalls. “At that time there were very few surgeons performing this type of surgery and it had a somewhat shady reputation.”
He started developing the less invasive laproscopic techniques a few years later, urged by a patient to do her gastric bypass that way, “and with that I became one of the first surgeons in the world to begin doing weight-loss surgery by laparoscopy.”
After moving to Monterey seven years ago with his family, Dr. Vierra put together a program at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, which was among the first centers on the West Coast to be designated a Center of Excellence by the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
Patients seeking weight-loss surgery must first undergo a battery of tests to determine their overall health, both physical and mental. In addition to being at least 100 pounds overweight, they must have also tried to lose weight in the past without success.
Hough’s history fit right into this profile. “I fought my weight all my life,” said Hough, 56. After retiring from the military in 1993, Hough’s weight increased steadily, and although he tried to diet and be more active, nothing seemed to work.
But weight-loss surgery did the trick, and Hough said he couldn’t be more cheerful.
“People literally don’t recognize me,” he chuckles.
It took between nine and ten months for Hough to lose 150 pounds, and in addition to the surgery, he’s made some lifestyle modifications.
Both Hough and Dr. Vierra emphasize that weight-loss surgery isn’t the end, but the beginning of a new design of life. Patients must bewitch care to eat smaller amounts of food at each sitting, to comply with their reduced stomachs. They may need to take vitamin and mineral supplements to head off any deficiencies that may occur as a result of the surgery.
“I discourage anyone from ever imagining that their weight pickle is cured – it is only in remission,” said Dr. Vierra.
Support groups are available to offer tips and friendship to gastric bypass patients, and aftercare is an famous consideration for the rest of their lives. Dr. Vierra’s patients must agree to followup appointments for at least five years.
“You have to use it as a tool,” said Hough. “It’s a lifestyle change. Success is going to gain on how you change your attitude.”
Hough now keeps active by walking, riding mountain bikes, backpacking and scuba diving – activities that would have been difficult or impossible for his former self.
Hough said he’s glad he had the surgery: “I’d do it again this afternoon.”
Related Posts
Filed under Gastric Banding by on Aug 14th, 2011. 