Bariatric Surgery Journey

Hello and welcome everyone. I am Santosh Swaminathan, a bariatric surgeon and director at Self Regional Healthcare Bariatric Services. These videos are here to make you feel comfortable about choosing weight loss surgery as an option for you. One of the toughest decisions to make in one's life would be the choice of choosing weight loss or even the weight loss surgical journey. Here at Self Regional, we have specially trained staff including me, psychologists, dietitians, nursing on the floor as well as in the office helping you guide you along the way in every step. Now let's go over everything you need to know about bariatric surgery and how it can improve the quality of your life.

Before we go over your weight loss options, let us discuss what it means to be obese and what are the factors leading to obesity. The main factors leading to obesity can be broadly classified into two, genetic and environmental. Genetic factors, for instance, leptin deficiency could be one of the factors that can lead to obesity. A more common problem than leptin deficiency could be mutations in what we call as FTO genes. When you have these mutations, it often feels like patients' cravings are not satisfied unless they have high-calorie or high-carbohydrate foods, which can often lead to long-standing obesity. The metabolism also in these patients could be altered and then significantly lower. Thus, when eating more as well as the lower metabolism leads to a obesity that is resistant to the traditional diets that we often undertake. In people with low metabolism, no matter the cause, obesity has far… far-reaching implications. For example, 18% of premature deaths between the age of 40 and 85 are due to obesity. Not just that, obesity, for example, can also cause a significant decrease in your life expectancy. Someone with a BMI above 40 almost has a decrease in life expectancy of about six and a half years, and for someone with a BMI greater than 55, it can be up to 15 years. That being said, obesity is also often associated with very common issues such as high blood pressure and diabetes. And as we all know, the incidence or the occurrence of diabetes is only rising across the country as well as the world. This is one of the significant reasons for the same. However, managing obesity or tackling obesity can actually help you tackle both high blood pressure as well as diabetes. Here at Self Regional, we will help you in every step of the way in getting rid of the main medical problems that we spoke about. Not to forget, bariatric surgery also has other far-reaching implications, including managing difficulties with your reflux, arthritis, obstructive sleep apnea, depression, as well as fatty liver disease. One of the major implications would be decreasing the risk of cancer. Studies have shown about 14% of cancers in men and 20% of cancers in women are related to obesity. So helping you with weight loss, whether surgical as well as non-surgical, like we spoke about, can decrease the risk of these life-threatening illnesses.

We often have heard about traditional diets as well as other food fads that people have tried in the past that patients try often for losing weight. It's often seen about 95% of patients regain the weight that they have lost through these traditional diets. What could be the reason for that? When you go through these traditional diets, your metabolism does come down with these diets. And often, the body, even after losing the weight, tries to regain or at least attempts to regain that weight that it was before starting the diet. Now, here's where something like bariatric surgery has been more successful in sustainable, long-term weight loss compared to traditional diets as well as other food fads. To be a candidate for bariatric surgery, it's typically around the age between 18 to 74, free of any alcohol or tobacco use. In addition, we often use the parameter called bariatric surgery. It's typically around the age between 18 to 74, free of any alcohol or tobacco use. In addition, we often use the parameter called bariatric surgery. It's typically around the age between 18 to 74, free of any alcohol or tobacco use. In addition, we often use the parameter called bariatric surgery. In addition, we often use the parameter called bariatric surgery. In addition, we often use the parameter called bariatric surgery. In addition, we often use the parameter called bariatric surgery. In addition, we often use the parameter called bariatric surgery. In addition, we often use the parameter called bariatric surgery. In addition, we often use the parameter called bariatric surgery. In addition, we often use the parameter called bariatric surgery. In addition, we often use the parameter called bariatric surgery. In addition, we often use the parameter called bariatric surgery. In addition, we often use the parameter called bariatric surgery. ar at this point, we'll be shortly calling it BMI. If you currently do not know your body mass index or BMI, we do have a calculator on our website that will help you calculate your BMI and see if you would qualify for bariatric surgery. This all being said, bariatric services at Self Regional Healthcare will be along with you every step of the way, even long after surgery, to ensure your success.

Now it's time to learn about the various surgical options we provide here at Self Regional. These surgical options can be done by traditional laparoscopic methods or with the DaVinci Surgical System. The four main surgical options we offer here at Self Regional are the sleeve gastrectomy, the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, the duodenal switch, as well as the SADI procedure. All these surgical options essentially involve decreasing the size of your stomach, making you feel full quickly, as well as reducing your appetite and keeping you full during the periods between meals. The typical recovery would be a one night stay in the hospital and most patients are able to get back to work within a week after surgery based on the type of work that they do. The most common procedure done in the United States in terms of bariatric surgery would be the sleeve gastrectomy. The sleeve gastrectomy involves removal of about 80% of your stomach, making it into a small tube. A small tube can accommodate about 3 ounces. That being said, not only does it decrease the amount of food you can have at one time, it also gives you the feeling of satiety or fullness between your meals. Next up would be the gastric bypass procedure. The gastric bypass involves us creating your stomach into what we call as a gastric pouch which can hold up to one ounce at a time. In these circumstances, what happens is the food goes into your esophagus. Into your gastric pouch after and then directly into your intestine. By this procedure, we can almost eliminate all the possible reflux symptoms, for example, that you may be having and is best chosen for patients with bad acid reflux. It also helps in patients who have diabetes. Last but not the least, the two other surgical options that we offer are the duodenal switch and the SADE procedure, both involving first creating that sleeve gastrectomy. This procedure is followed by cutting the first portion of your small intestine, also called the duodenum, and reconnecting it to a later portion of your small intestine, called the ileum. By doing this, we not only decrease the amount of food you can eat at one time, but also the amount of absorption. All these four surgical options involve continuing to take vitamins lifelong, as well as mineral supplements, in addition to other weight loss measures, lifestyle measures that we would typically undertake. The choice of the operation really depends on the discussion that we have and also a lot depends on the patient's decision making. That being said, we are here to discuss each of these operations individually with you and jointly make that decision. In terms of most of these surgeries that are covered by your insurance, however, if you have any questions, please give us a call and we can figure it out for you.

So, how much weight do you expect to lose after these operations? The weight loss journey for every person is definitely different. Typically, you can expect to lose about 75% of your excess body weight. For example, if a patient is 100 pounds over their ideal body weight, you can expect to lose about 75 pounds. The most weight loss happens within the period of the first year to 18 months. Now, of course, there is a small risk of weight gain after the surgery and this typically happens 2 to 10 years out of surgery. This being said, we at Self Regional are here to monitor and maintain your weight loss and help you with different interventions at different time points in case you start regaining weight. We are here for your long-term success even years out of your procedure. Now, you will see as the weight loss journey continues, you will start resolving or even getting rid of most of those medical problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, obstructive sleep apnea and so in your follow-up appointments, you will see we will make changes to your treatment as and when this happens. Now, how is our follow-up routine? You will see us 1 week after surgery, 1 month after surgery, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months after surgery and then a year and a year and a half after surgery. Now, this rigorous follow-up routine is so that we can continue to maintain as well as help you in your weight loss journey. After that 18-month period, you will continue to maintain your weight loss and continue to maintain your weight loss. You will continue to see us yearly out of surgery. Now, all these visits may be accompanied by blood work in order to maintain your vitamin and mineral levels as well. After surgery, you will have access to our support groups. Now, these support groups are extremely helpful. You can interact with other patients going through the similar journey and understand what has helped them if you have any issues. In addition, you could also help patients who are deciding about the weight loss journey and have some questions regarding the same. With any surgical procedure, there are risks and complication. However, I can assure you in today's world that bariatric surgery is extremely safe. In fact, our results are even safer than what you would have after a gallbladder removal. However, in your preoperative visit, we will go over these in detail explaining all the risks and complication during the consenting process. In case you develop a complication, our team will be with you and support you through the entire process and help you regain from it. Remember, we are always here for you and will fit you in for any urgent or non-scheduled matter.

Now that you have learned about the ins and outs of bariatric surgery at our program, you're ready to begin your weight loss journey. The first step in doing so would be to call our office to schedule an appointment. We will check your insurance benefit and what type of procedure is covered. Once you have your appointment, you will begin our lifestyle management program which involves you meeting with our registered dietitian and psychologist to help you prepare for the steps before and after the surgery. This process could take anywhere between one to three months even based on the type of insurance as well as the type of procedure. We will also help you have the discussion or even discuss weight loss surgery with family and friends after this. You will also be given a chance to join our support groups where essentially you will meet patients from other walks of life undergoing the same journey and also hear about their results as well as tips and tricks from them. I think this is a very nice and key tool because this helps you get an idea from other people what they are undergoing as well as get some insight into this process. Once the insurance authorization is sent and you have done all your lab work as well as the other tests required, you will be able to schedule your surgery. You will have one more appointment with the surgeon about two weeks before your surgery where we will go through the consent process for the surgery as well as answer all questions that you may have with regards to the surgery and the expectations post-operatively. After these steps have been completed, we look forward to partnering with you on your way to a healthier life.