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Here is an interesting news with video from a woman that need a revision on her Gastric Bypass. The procedure chosen by the doctor was the "Stomaphyx".
The report also claims that 20% of the gastric bypass procedures needs a revision because they fail. I truly don't believe it. Read for yourself here.
I get a lot of email from my readers. A few weeks ago I got touching story about Kris. She agreed to write her story for all of us to know, her feelings and complications in life, before and after Gastric Bypass. This is Kris:
My name is Kris and I am a food addict and alcoholic. I have become quite familiar with that saying because I attend 12-step meetings approximately 4 times a week. I had roux-en-y gastric bypass on Dec. 26, 2000. I had no physical complications post surgery, but the emotional/psychological implications have taken a toll. I lost 1/2 of my body weight (I started at 300 and went down to 145) within a relatively short amount of time. Before I knew it, I was spending money wildly and went bankrupt. Next came the relief of alcohol. I was not an alcoholic prior to gastric bypass, but addiction transfer and depression had taken control.
I was a college graduate, professional woman, and successful at almost everything I tried. I could not understand how I could become a completely out-of-control drunk after being arrested for OWI/DUI on June 23, 2006. I drank daily for three years. I drank until I blacked-out. In the morning, I swore I would never drink again until the afternoon cravings controlled my every thought. I thought that I had just lost all self-control after a visit with my WLS surgeon in December 2005. I asked him if my WLS had anything to do with my alcoholism—he denied any connection. Furthermore, I experienced all over body PAIN, even though I was dedicated to taking supplements. By September 2006, I would go through periods of such excruciating overall body pain that I had difficulty walking and completing normal daily activities. My head was in such a fog, felt dizzy and nauseated all of the time, and had such difficulty concentrating, I felt as if I was going crazy. Doctors did not seem to have much concern about the pain. They said that it was probably fibromyalgia.
In August 2006, I entered substance abuse treatment, but continued to have intense cravings for alcohol, began putting on weight, and still suffered from horrible pain and no self-control. I have periodically relapsed with alcohol within the past 1.5 years. In October 2007, I started seeing a psychiatrist. I, of course, went through all of the lengthy psychological exams, and was diagnosed with alcoholism and mild depression. He immediately put me on 20 mg of Prozac. In December 2007, to help control the continued alcohol cravings, added a drug called ReVia (an opioid-blocking drug, which is also approved for reducing the cravings of alcohol). Amazingly, I no longer had any body pain within one hour of taking 50 mg of ReVia, and the depression also lifted much more than the Prozac alone. However, after 18 hours of pain/alcohol craving relief, the effects of ReVia would begin to wear off. ReVia (at 50 mg) is only approved for short-term use. Since I knew that there was some way to relieve the pain and alcohol cravings, I began to research what was going on in my body.
My personal belief is that since the vagus nerve is cut during RNYGB surgery, there are long-term psychological effects. I have also put most of the weight I had lost after surgery back on since working on trying to control other impulsiveness problems, thus my PCP didn’t feel the need to run blood tests because I should be getting all of the appropriate nutrients from food.
While searching for an answer as to why I do not feel pain while taking ReVia, I ran across a study on the effects of alcoholism and thiamine (Vitamin B-1) deficiency.
Please see:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000339.htm http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/31/4/421.pdf
I am not in the medical field, wasn’t getting much help from my PCP, but also knew that I needed to be my own advocate if anything was going to improve. I then continued researching thiamine deficiency, and also found that gastric bypass can also cause thiamine deficiency. (Some of you may have been educated about this fact during surgical prep/follow-up, but this was all new to me.) I had always kept up on my daily multi-vitamin, calcium citrate, B-12, B-100 complex, and iron.
On February 16, 2008, I began taking large doses of GNC B-1 and Big 100. Within 24 hours, I started to feel “normal” again. I now have full 24-hour pain relief, can once again concentrate on something other than food and alcohol, and do not feel nauseated all of the time. I also lost 10 pounds in three days (from fluid retention). I now only take recommended doses and continue to feel good. Needless to say, I will be making an appointment to have my full lab tests run within the next week. Hopefully, these positive results will continue.
The most important thing that I learned is that it is not hopeless. Continue searching for answers, and make sure that you are your own advocate!
A few days ago, I got a nice email from Katharine, and she asked me to publish the following. Please
help her out as much as you can and also contact her directly, or leave your comments in the blog.
This is a good opportunity to cast your voice and experience, and who knows, you might be on TV ! :)
Hi All,
I work for the TV production company that produced The World’s Heaviest Man, the Discovery documentary about Manuel Uribe. We are now working on the follow up to that show with Manuel and would like to feature other people who are suffering from obesity who have been inspired by Manuel’s story. It would be great to hear from anyone who might like to be involved. Please email me! Let me know: how you heard about Manuel, what weight you are, your age, where you live and whether you have plans for surgery or other treatment. Also add any other information that you think is important.
[email protected]
Thanks so much and I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Best wishes,
Katharine
Snacking is part of our lifes, before and after weight loss surgery. I just love to snack around, but I have learned to snack wisely. A few hours ago, I was shopping at my local grocery store, and I ran into a bag of Seapoint Farms Dry Roasted Edamame, lightly salted. Let me tell you, they are amazing !
You should know that after gastric bypass and any weight loss surgery, the intake of extra amount of protein is most important. This high protein, low fat snack is ideal. Also, it is dry to the mouth, so you eat them one at a time, and you will get full faster than you think.
High protein. Low carb. Rich in isoflavones. 70% Less fat and 40% more protein than peanuts. If you can't find it in your local grocery store, Amazon has it here at a very good price.
Seapoint Farms Dry Roasted Edamame, Lightly Salted, 4-Ounce Bags (Pack of 24)
The EndoBarrier, or gastric sleeve, is getting a lot of attention lately. It is considered as a procedure not as drastic (nor effective) as a full blown Gastric Bypass Surgery.
Is placed endoscopically through the mouth and lines the first two feet of the small intestine. It prevents food from being absorbed while it's in the sleeve.
Early results from the study show patients who got the device lost more weight than those who didn't, although not nearly as much as patients who get a gastric bypass or LAP-BAND.
A 10 percent reduction in weight increases the chances a patient can get a laparoscopic surgery, rather than an open incision, which has more risks.
Do not confuse the EndoBarrier Gastric Sleeve procedure with the Gastric Sleeve Gastrectomy. The later is a totally different and more aggressive procedure.
Ok, the time has come for me to personally tell you all about Gastric Bypass in a real life scenario. I had my operation 2 years ago, and I will be writing all about it, so you will be able to know what to expect, and believe me, there are many things you didn't know, and there are many things I didn't know that I experienced.
I will be writing lots about my first two years, but I just wanted you to know, that if you are really morbidly obese, and you really feel sad, down, ugly and desperate, this surgery can change your life. It changed mine.
Two years after gastric bypass is a good indicator of how things will do for you. It is also a milestone in the procedure from a medical point of view.
Yes, I not only lost weight, I also lost my hair. Probably the most noticeable side effect you will experience. I will show you pictures and I will tell you about it.
I have snacked, I had alcohol, I blacked out, I ate too much, I experienced dumping, I did things I should not have done... but guess what, i am human. You will learn.
I am not here to tease you, i will give you all my experience, believe me, there is no better way to learn about gastric bypass then to based it on experience.
So, today I will just tell you that this procedure is a journey, it is an experience and it is not a solution, it is a helping hand, a very good helping hand.
I have pictures of me, before and after, taken every 6 months... Impressive.
Well, i will go to sleep now... and yes, that picture you see here it's me.. a few weeks ago... So, don't miss my next post, because you will see me as I was 2 years ago.
Stay tuned!
For those, like me, who enjoy the technical part of Weight Loss Surgery, get ready. There will be a live broadcast of two bariatric procedures at 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday, January 15, on ORLive. The procedures are a laparoscopic gastric bypass and a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy What is so interesting about this is that I have received many questions about the Sleeve Gastrectomy procedure lately, and I was about to write about it, and then this came in.
Dr. Robert Marema, FACS (who happened to me the mentor of my doctor in Chile), will perform the gastric bypass procedure and Dr. Michael Perez, FACS, will perform the gastric sleeve procedure.
I have seen past broadcasts and this is a unique experience to understand those procedures.
Also I wrote about Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy here, a technique that is getting lots of attention lately.
With the holidays already here, get ready to gaine some extra Christmas and New Year pounds! But don’t worry, thanks to the Web 2.0 revolution, you can loosed them online. Here as a good list of online websites that will help you. This list was compiled by TechCrunch. Thanks!
Fat Secret is designed to help overweight people leverage a network of friends and online resources to lose weight by building a support network around you to monitor your progress.
Users first state their current and goal weights, and are urged to report in daily with their updated weight. This data builds a graph that is included on their profile page showing progress over time. Each user is also provided with a blog/journal and can add other Fatsecret users as friends.
The site is a directory of diet plans that combines user ratings and professional nutritionist analysis of various factors like ease of implementation, speed of weight loss and allowable alcohol consumption. The company says it is based on two ideas: that dieting is hard and that community is one of the biggest factors in successful weight loss. There was information available on 47 different diets when we first reviewed the site. To search for a diet, users move 12 sliders to indicate which diet and food factors are most important to them. The site recommends which ones could best fit their needs. Users can also contribute off-site links related to any diet.
Traineo is a health and fitness support site where users report their weight, diet, and exercise daily to a group of friends who help monitor and support one another….Instead of inputting how many ounces of cheese you ate in your burrito, and how much cream you put in your coffee, Traineo allows you to just give an estimation of how you think you ate each day. Based on your age, weight, and goal, it tells you how many calories you should aim for and, at the end of the day, you tell the program if you ate poor, average, fair, or great.
A social network that provides a space for people with a wide variety of medical, psychological and life conditions to discuss their struggles and the treatments they are undergoing.
The highlight of DailyStrength is that users are asked to describe medical and psychological treatments they have undergone. They indicate what conditions those treatments were for, whether they were effective and provide a narrative about the experience. That information is then aggregated by condition and treatment - so it’s easy to see what a large number of people have done in response to a condition or what it’s really like to undergo a certain treatment.
I have always believed that when you actually “see” success with your own eyes, you will get more motivated to triumph for yourself. So, take a look at this CNN report. Click on the pictures and you will see a lot of before and after pictures. And always remember that motivation is one of the first weapons you have to fight your weight, and one good tool to start thinking about weight loss surgery!
No matter what you have heard about Fast Food and dieting after Gastric Bypass surgery, there is nothing bad in having a burger and some fries. Of course, it gets ugly when you do it every day, or do not balance your diet.
You will also have to look into how will tolerate that extra fat, so you will have to take it easy before you get that quarter pound down. In my particular case, I just started snacking around my friends Big Macs, a few months after I had my operation. Then I finally found my “Fast Food Comfort Level".
I found this useful blog post that shows the facts about fat, sodium, carbs and other food variables you should consider before driving thru your favorite junk station.
Once again, the Evil in fast food is not in that particular meal, but in the frequency you let Ronald McDonald’s get in your car. Enjoy! (Visit Here)
Here I found an interesting and well written article about Gastric Bypass and the Lap Band procedure. Harvard University chief of minimally invasive surgery Dr Daniel B Jones explains the advantages and disadvantages of both surgeries, how they work and the risks.
And as I always say, no matter what method you choose, you have to understand that the surgeries are a treatment not a cure and long-term success depends on other life choices you make, including eating habits and exercise. (Read article here)
Here is one of those studies I really don’t understand… But it is worth reading if you are planning to have, or had Gastric Bypass Surgery. The study by the University of Pittsburgh looked at nearly 17,000 Pennsylvania residents who underwent bariatric surgery, between 1995 and 2004 and was published in the October issue of the journal Archives of Surgery.
It reveals that coronary heart disease and suicide helped fuel the rise in the risk of death among patients after weight-loss surgery. Approximately 1 percent of patients died within one year of surgery and nearly 6 percent died within five years.
It is likely that this continued excess mortality after bariatric surgery could be reduced by better coordination of follow-up after the surgery, especially control of high risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia [high cholesterol] and smoking, as well as efforts to prevent weight regain by diet and exercise and psychological support to prevent and treat depression and suicide. (Read more here)
Not only does laparoscopic gastric banding produce substantial weight loss in severely obese adolescents, but it also alleviates illnesses that go along with obesity, according to research presented at the 93rd Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons (ACS).
Evan Nadler, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of Minimally Invasive Paediatric Surgery, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, United States, and colleagues studied 25 morbidly obese youths, aged 14 to 17 years, who underwent laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding procedures.
Study subjects were evaluated for several measures of weight and body composition and also for comorbidities prior to surgery and again 1 year after the procedure, as part of a planned 5-year study.
Laparoscopic banding, in which an adjustable cuff is placed around the upper stomach through a small incision, has gained popularity as an alternative to conventional gastric bypass surgery due to apparently reduced mortality and morbidity.
In an oral presentation on October 8, Dr. Nadler said the 1-year follow-up results showed significant improvement in comorbid conditions as well as marked loss of body fat and overall weight.
Prior to surgery, 10 boys and 15 girls had a mean weight of 320 pounds, with mean fat mass of 136 pounds and mean body mass index (BMI) of 48. Android or central fat was 56% of total fat on average.
A total of 77 comorbidities were recorded preoperatively, or more than three per patient, Dr. Nadler said. Dyslipidaemia, diabetes, and musculoskeletal problems such as back pain and osteoarthritis were the most common.
At the 1-year evaluation, mean body weight had declined to 222 pounds, BMI to 35, and total fat mass to 100 pounds, of which android fat was 51%. Excess weight loss (weight greater than the ideal for a person's height and bone structure defined as excess) was 48%. All these declines were statistically significant (P <.01), Dr. Nadler said.
Perhaps as important was the fact that 40 of 60 comorbidities evaluable at follow-up had resolved entirely and 10 had improved, Dr. Nadler noted. The researchers could not evaluate changes in 11 cases of steatohepatitis and six cases of miscellaneous illnesses. Dyslipidemia, diabetes, hypertension and musculoskeletal conditions were most likely to improve, he said.
He noted that, on average, patients lost nearly as much lean mass as fat (28 pounds versus 36 pounds fat). He said it was most likely a physiologic response to the lost overall body weight. "We saw no negative impact" attributable to the lean mass loss, he added.
Among all children who may be considered overweight, surgical procedures should not take the place of dietary changes, exercise and other less invasive approaches to weight loss.
But in the morbidly obese population, from which the study sample was drawn, "these children are already too sick for those things to work," Dr. Nadler said. The long-term consequences of extreme overweight are so serious, and indeed life-threatening, that surgery, if effective, is entirely appropriate, he indicated.
Hmm… I am starting to worry; this topic is popping up again, not only in my mind, but also in some blogs and media: Neuropathy and Gastric Bypass Surgery. This blog post is an interesting real life experience post about this irreversible disease. Although I was aware of this possible side effect as I wrote in this post, it is now that I am more alert than ever, because new studies are starting to emerge with not so good news.
Before you read this post, keep in mind that after Gastric Bypass Surgery, it will be always easier to drink than to eat... but do not underestimate the liquid calories!
Are you drinking yourself fat? "Liquid candy" to detractors, sweetened soft drinks are so ubiquitous that they contribute about 10 percent of the calories in the American diet, according to government data. Highly concentrated starches and sugars promote overeating, and the granddaddy of them all is sugar-sweetened beverages. (Read more)
Here we go again.. It’s all over the news, and since here in the US it’s all about Marketing, it will make us open our wallets once again. And as always, nothing conclusive to report from a scientific point of view. But well, let’s enjoy this anyways, so just read on:
Danish pharmaceutical company NeuroSearch reported on Sept. 17th that its drug tesofensine enabled overweight patients to lose an amazing average of more than 28 pounds in a 24-week Phase II clinical trial.
Neurosearch, which accidentally discovered that tesofensine promoted weight loss during studies of the drug for treatment of Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease, said it now expects to start Phase III trials for tesofensine during the first part of next year.
Tesofensine is a triple monoamine re-uptake inhibitor which blocks the re-uptake of the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and nor-adrenaline in the brain with no direct effect on the monoamine receptors.
Tesofensine’s impact on the three monoamine systems is believed to induce weight reduction through both a reduction in appetite and an effect in the metabolic center in the brain leading to an increased metabolic rate that helps the body burn fat.
Neurosearch said that in its trial, 204 patients who weighed on average between 220 and 230 were divided into four groups who either received a placebo, a .25 mg dose of tesofensine, a .5 mg dose or a 1 mg dose.
While those in the placebo group lost an average of just under 5 pounds, those taking a .25 mg dose of tesofensine lost an average of almost 15 pounds, those taking a .5 mg dose lost an average of almost 25 pounds, and those taking a 1 mg dose lost an average of more than 28 pounds.
"In the two highest dose groups (0.5 mg and 1.0 mg), treatment with tesofensine led to an average reduction in the patients’ BMI of 4," the company reported.
Neurosearch said one-fifth of the patients dropped out during the study, with the highest numbers discontinuing either in the placebo group or the group receiving the highest dose.
"The most frequently reported adverse events were mostly mild to moderate, and included dry mouth, sleep disturbances, nausea, constipation and diarrhea," the company reported. "No clinically relevant cardiovascular adverse events or changes in either blood pressure or pulse were seen, according to FDA criteria."
Dr. Arne Astrup of the University of Copenhagen, who led the study of tesofensine, said he was "thrilled" to see the tesofensine trial produce a weight-loss of approximately 22 pounds more than placebo without major safety concerns.
"If tesofensine will prove to live up to this weight loss effect in 12 months’ Phase III trials, thereby opening a whole new dimension in obesity management that can effectively compete with gastric surgery, this drug will definitely set a new standard in obesity treatment," Astrup said. (Source “Diet Drug Report”)
As the number of obesity cases continues to soar in the United States, the number of bariatric surgeries performed annually for weight loss increases steadily. But surgeons are now beginning to see another wave of patients whose success with the surgery has started to wane.
At Ohio State University Medical Center, surgeons have performed the first incisionless procedure in the United States for weight gain following gastric bypass – which makes it possible to escape the high rate of complications associated with traditional revisional surgery.
The incisionless technique has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, using principles of revisional surgery to help shrink the size of the stomach. But the technique, “endoluminal tissue approximation,” is accomplished totally with a tube passed through the mouth – and no surgical incisions.
Key advantages of the new device, known as the StomaphyX, include: no incisions or scars; less pain; a lower rate of complications compared to the traditional revisional bariatric surgery; and a much quicker recovery, making it an outpatient procedure, according to Dr. Dean Mikami, a general surgeon at OSU Medical Center. Mikami helped to develop the new device and is the first surgeon in the U.S. to perform the procedure.
A flexible endoscope is passed through the mouth and advanced to the stomach, carrying a fiber-optic camera and a tubular surgical tool. Then tissue of the stomach is pulled by suction into the tubular device. Approximately 12 to 20 “H-shaped staple-like” fasteners are placed strategically in the stomach, to create pleats in the tissue and reduce the size of the stomach’s pouch.
“The incisionless surgery helps to re-create the patient’s smaller stomach, causing early satiety and further weight loss,” said Mikami. “This is currently the only endoscopic or nonsurgical way to reduce the size of the stomach after gastric bypass surgery.” The procedure also results in a smaller opening of the stomach’s pouch; a decrease in the stretch of the stomach, so that it can’t hold as much food; and a slower emptying of the stomach.
A total of 22 “endoluminal revisional bariatric operations” have been performed at Ohio State’s Medical Center since April 2007. All patients are doing well, according to Mikami. The average weight loss has been about 10 pounds at one month; 15 pounds at two months; and 20 pounds at three months.
The first patient in the United States to receive the new procedure was referred to Ohio State and received the incisionless operation on April 12, 2007. She had gained approximately 50 pounds since her gastric bypass. Since the StomaphyX procedure was performed, she has lost 26 pounds, or 38 percent, of her excess body weight.
“It is estimated that over 1 million people in the last 15 years have undergone gastric bypass surgery. About 10 to 15 percent of that group two to 10 years out may need a revisional procedure to reduce the size of their gastric pouch for further weight loss or to treat a post-operative bariatric surgery syndrome such as dumping. You’re looking at close to 200,000 patients who may need this type of follow-up procedure in the U.S. alone,” said Mikami, who has helped to train all of the surgeons in the United States – approximately 25 physicians so far – who have learned the procedure.
“As a bariatric surgeon, I treat a growing number of clinical severe obese patients,” said Mikami. “I know the joys of those patients who are cured of their diabetes and hypertension – and no longer require medication. It’s like they receive a second life. Now, the new device has actually given them a third chance at life – in a much safer way than could be offered in the past.”
The patient population for StomaphyX can range in age from 18 to 70. Mikami describes good candidates as those who have undergone gastric bypass for obesity, have re-gained some of the weight they had lost, are compliant with their diet, continue to exercise regularly, and do not have early satiety during meals. The StomaphyX procedure can give patients a tool to help them achieve their weight-loss goal and keep their obesity-related problems away.
“Incisionless surgery, or natural orifice surgery, is currently at the forefront of surgical procedures,” said Mikami. “This could perhaps also lead to the development of new ways to adjust the stomach, even before weight gain occurs. We are definitely on the leading edge of surgical technology.” (Source)
Thanks to our reader “Cheryl” for sharing the good find: “Brookhaven Obesity Clinic Inspection Report”. I just wanted to publish it here because so many people are debating and asking questions about this New York based Rehab & Health Care Center. This is an official New York State Department of Health report card, so, I guess you can’t go wrong. (Link here)
I often get emails from readers asking me to write more about the Lap-Band procedure, and sometimes you guys feel I talk too much about Gastric Bypass (Roux-en-Y). Yeah, you are right. So here is a nice little real life story about a 35 year old woman who decided to go with the Lap-Band. As you read along, I am pretty sure, you will discover that her motivations and her issues before the operation might be the same as yours.
Two new studies in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) show another long-term benefit of Gastric Bypass Surgery and in my opinion the most important of all: a lower risk of death.
Researchers compiled data on 15,850 severely obese people, half of whom had undergone gastric bypass surgery between 1984 and 2002, and half who were from the general population and had had no surgical intervention for obesity. Overall, researchers found, the surgery patients were 40% less likely to die from any cause during a mean 7 years of follow-up, compared with the obese controls. What's more, the mortality rate attributable to obesity-related disease was 52% lower on the whole in the surgery group: after gastric bypass, patients were 92% less likely to die from diabetes, 59% less likely to die from coronary artery disease, and 60% less likely to be killed by cancer. (Read the full article here)
Body weight depends on a multitude of factors, and, as you might imagine, both lifestyle and genetics play critical roles. The key to weight control is balancing energy intake with energy expenditure, a relationship that is often referred to as the energy balance equation.
This article in Scientific American Magazine, perfectly explains how the energy expenditure process works in our body. This is such an interesting article, I think it’s a must for your to read, even after Gastric Bypass surgery.
(Before I start, yes the picture to your left makes sense... read on and you will know why....) :)
I am so confused… So many people ask me if it is ok to take weight loss pills like Alli or Xenical after they had their surgery. What in the world is going on?
The fact that they ask me this insane question is that something is totally wrong with their mind. And I am sorry to say, I don’t want to sound rude, I WANT to be rude!
If you had any weight loss surgery, you already took the ultimate trip, the last resource to lose weight. So, why do you need pills after that?
I know what the problem is, and if you are one of the ones, who asked me, shame on you! : You have not followed the 25% rule: Gastric bypass is just 1/4 of the way to permanent and healthy weight loss. The surgery itself is not like David Hasselhoff in Baywatch saving your life (oh! What was I thinking, I mean: Pamela Anderson saving your life… sorry!)
If you really want this to be a lifelong success, you also need to exercise, to change your lifestyle and to re-wire your brain. There you go… that’s it. Nothing else to it… And I do not remember writing “taking weight loss pills”
If you still want to devour some Xenical or Alli after you read this, then this is what David Hasselhoff would say to you: “America got Talent, baby!
(... did the picture on your left make sense after your read my post? ...)
It is impressive to see how people change after losing weight. The story of David E. Smith is not very clear (some say he had gastric bypass, others say he lost weight because of personal motivation). It is incredible to see his transformation in pictures. Regardless of what he did, he lost weight and this should be a motivation for all of us.
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