Hmmmm, here’s something I’ve never read before. Dr. Rachael Keilin is talking about how fills impact a bandee’s hunger, and how the impact of the fill isn’t necessarily immediate.
There is also a phenomenon we see fairly often, but really can’t explain well. Some people will have a delay in the “tightness” of a fill by as much as two weeks. This is why we won’t fill one day and then fill again three days later. Because there is sometimes a lag in the perception of hunger after a fill (and remember: it’s hunger control we’re aiming for, not bulimia!), we don’t want to end up over-filling patients, especially if they live out of town. Spitting into a cup is just not fun. You’re meant to have gradual weight loss with the Lap Band from eating less. You’re not meant to be on a liquid diet or pureed food diet. We want to eat more or less a regular diet, just eat a smaller amount of food so that you can lose weight.
Interesting. Now, that I’ve checked out Dr. Keilin’s site, I have to go find out what “Smart Lipo” is. Inquiring minds want to know.
This is a clip from National Health Journal with Dr. David Davtyan of the Beverly Hills Weight Loss Clinic. It has good animations - at least one of which I have seen before - including an animation of how the inner ring fills up to make the band adjustable. Dr. Davtyan is a Lap Band patient as well, and feels like that has really helped him to understand how the adjustability works best.
Poking around YouTube today, I found these three videos for Dr. Terry Simpson in Phoenix, Arizona. You may recognize his name from my blog - previously I’ve linked a podcast to a radio show he did with Cher Ewing and Jeff Cadwell for Weight Loss Surgery radio. He’s an interesting guy and I’ve enjoyed listening to him. At his website, he has a lot of podcasts that he links on different aspects of life with a Lap Band.
This first YouTube video covers eating in the weeks following a Lap Band procedure. The first few days, it’s warm liquids. After that, you can have some soft food like mashed potatos. Then you move on to solid food, and he gives a run down of what you should avoid. Lastly, he talks about how much you should eat, and the fact that you should sit down and eat it when you do. There is always plenty of good information with him.
In this video, he talks about how the Lap Band works. He has a animation of a Lap Band when the video first opens that is silent - so nothing has gone wrong with your computer.
Cher and Jeff’s guests this week are Nikki Johnson – Editor in Chief of OH Magazine, Cathy Wilson - Director of Support Groups and Joanna Fee – Events Manager. For those of you who don’t know Obesity Help, it’s a tremendous online support site with an enormous amount of information.
Last week, they had Dr. Trace Curry on, and I had really wanted to listen because I have questions for him. Mysteriously, it kept crashing my normally crash-proof Safari Browser so I didn’t get to ask. I know Cher is crazy about him and is very quick to tell people that he is an accessable and patient surgeon who answers emails. More like that, please. Anyway, I’ve linked the podcast of his chat. It starts about twenty minutes in to the show. I hope you enjoy it.
Great Lakes Weight Loss in Detroit, Michigan is having a special price on Lap Band procedures for self-pays. Through the end of May, their self-price is $9900.
Announcing Our $9,900 Self Pay Lap Band Spring Special!!!
The cost is $9,900 for a pre-operative evaluation, the surgery and all post-operative visits (including band adjustments) for 90 days.
For your pre-operative visit, if you have insurance, we will accept it (if you need a referral from your primary care doctor, you must get one beforehand). If your insurance will not cover the cost of the office visit, the self-pay price is $250, which can be applied to the cost of the surgery if you proceed. So, the average cost would be:
1. $250 for the pre-operative visit
2. $9,650 for the surgery ($9,900 minus the $250 from the pre-op visit)
3. $150 x 3 not-covered band adjustments
Average Total Cost: $10,350, including all the necessary adjustments. There are no additional hidden costs in this price!
Harper University Hospital, where Great Lakes Weight Loss performs its surgery, is the first in Michigan to receive a JCAHO certificate for their bariatric surgery division.
“The bariatric surgery program at Harper has clearly demonstrated a commitment to excellence that differentiates it from similar programs across the country,” states Brooks Bock, M.D., president of Harper University Hospital. “The Gold Seal of Approval is a coveted healthcare indicator that our bariatric surgery program effectively employs established clinical practice guidelines to manage and optimize care for the clinically severe obese. This program complies with a national set of standards, utilizing an organized approach to performance measurement and improvement activities.”
The bariatric program at Harper has helped thousands of patients successfully lose both weight and body fat. This program takes a comprehensive approach to managing weight loss before and after surgery through education, support, proper nutrition and exercise. Harper clinicians also provide effective pain assessment and management during recovery, resulting in early mobilization and a short length of stay.
It certainly looks like a good deal. If you’re interested, call Jackie at 313-966-7491.
I discovered Phoenix, Arizona surgeon Dr. Terry Simpson of Southwest Weight Loss from Weight Loss Surgery Radio. Jeff and Cher have a fantastic podcast with him which I linked previously. He was late calling in so his interview doesn’t start until about 40 minutes in. It’s well worth the listen.
He has a series of podcasts linked on his own site that I’ve been listening to. The one that really caught my attention was entitled GETTING TO GOAL - it’s all the way down at the bottom of the page. He’s got a lot to say about the habits you need to form to be successful - none of which are unreasonable or at odds with your basic biology. His practice took a look at their patients that got to their goal weight and figured out what they had in common with eatch other. The number one thing was that they had a goal weight; and the number two thing was that they adjusted their behavior to get there. For instance, Dr. Simpson suggests adjusting your calorie intake to match the calorie intake of the size you want to be and has a BMR table to help you calculate that. As an example, someone who is in their early fifties, is 5′3″ and weighs 235 needs to consume about 1800 calories to maintain that weight. If you want to get down to 120, you’re going to need to drop your calorie intake to about 1100 per day - right about where the average Lap Bandee is already.
Good news for all our Washington readers. You have one more resource for having bariatric surgery in your state. Dr. Lee Trotter is performing weight loss surgery at the new bariatric center atHoly Family Hospital in North Spokane.
Holy Family Hospital began offering the procedure in August in its new surgical bariatrics program. So far, Trotter has performed about 25 of the outpatient procedures there. The surgical bariatrics program coordinator facilitates monthly support groups and answers questions for patients before and after they have their surgery.
In addition to his Holy Family cases, Trotter has performed about 20 of the procedures at Valley Outpatient Surgery Center over the past year.
A bariatric surgery program operated jointly by Rockwood Clinic PS and Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children’s Hospital has started seeing patients for the Lap-Band procedure and expects to begin placing the device in patients this summer, says Dr. Mathew Rawlins, a surgeon who directs that program. Rawlins and Dr. Andrew Bright have been performing another form of bariatric surgery, called Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, through that program since 2000. Deaconess Medical Center currently doesn’t have a surgical bariatrics program, hospital representatives say.
More like that, please. Anyway, I’ve linked the podcast of his chat. It starts about twenty minutes in to the show. I hope you enjoy it.