First of all, from a bariatric perspective, the procedures that I offer my patients are the gastric band, gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, and the revisional surgeries. I had the lap band done in 2008, and everything was going pretty good for about the first year and a half. In 2010 it got really really bad where I couldn’t hold much food in. When a patient comes to me with this complaints, I usually recommend that we convert them to another operation. And the most common operation I will convert them to is either gastric sleeve or the gastric bypass after the band has been removed.
Dr. Frenzel’s commercial had popped up maybe a week or two prior so I headed to the website, he said he was available for an appointment right away. One of the issues that could come up if you try to convert them from a band to sleeve is your exchanging one restrictive procedure for another restrictive procedure and not adding another component of weight loss.
We discussed the very types of procedures that could be performed, and we decided on gastric bypass. And that is what he performed on me, and to removed the band. The patients just need to be thoroughly educated on the options. The gastric bypass in my opinion, the weight loss is going to quicker and at the end of one year and five years the results will still be better than the conversion to the gastric sleeve.
The patient still has to do their 30-40% part though to keep the weight off. Meaning they are going to have to eat healthy, they’re going to need to exercise, see a nutritionist, and follow up with me. It is a whole spectrum of things that come together it’s like a puzzle. All the pieces have to come together to be successful. A surgery is one piece of that puzzle.
I just feel that now I’m ready to climb that mountain, run my first marathon. I didn’t know that all of this was possible prior to my procedure. I was literally just trying to exist. I know my family needed me and I know I need to work to maintain the things that I have in life.
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