Our Procedures
Now is the time to become educated and make the right choice whether it is the Laparoscopic Roux-en-y Gastric Bypass, Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy, or Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band. Failure to lose the excess weight is not a good option. Primarily you need to chose the procedure that will give you the success you need and secondarily the lowest risk procedure that will allow you to succeed. The gastric bypass has very few failures but is a more complex operation. More complex operations have more complications. It will always be that way. But surgeons like myself that do high volume bariatric surgery and are Center of Excellence designees have very low complications rates. Most gastric bypass patients go home the morning after surgery and are doing most things within a week . But keep in mind that complications due occur and it can happen with you. Gastric Banding is a far safer operation, but has a much higher failure rate. AND it requires more from the patient. More in terms of more physician office visits , more effort in terms of following some specific eating rules. The gastric bypass basically forces you to loose weight. With the band the amount of weight lost will be determined by how well you follow the eating rules. I started doing Lap Bands November 2002. One of the first few in Texas. With over 7 years experience and close follow-up of my patients I have the experience to know who will be successful with Gastric Banding. It is... the patient that is a good planner for most things in their life. The patients that live every day hap-hazardly have a difficult time with success. A patient must follow the eating rules for success. The eating rules are:
- Plan when and what you are going to eat the next day. You can eat 3 to 5 times, but by the clock.
- No skipping meals,. You must eat breakfast. At least something.
- Food can not touch your fingers unless it is a scheduled meal time…that’s anytime ever.
- No liquid calories whether it milk, orange juice, soup, yogurt, or protein drinks. NO liquid calories. All your calories need to be food that keeps you full and satisfied.
- No carbonated beverages, diet or otherwise.
- Do not drink with your meals. But drink all day long otherwise.
- Choose meat that is moist and easy to chew.
With the band and bypass you should get full on a child's size of plate, 4 to 6 ozs. The gastric bypass has the advantages of having some chemical changes inside your body make you not hungry and actually prefer healthy food.
The sleeve gastrectomy fits between the band and bypass in complexity and success. It does have some chemical changes inside the body that help. It causes you to feel full on a small volume of food, and does not need adjustments or multiple office visits like the gastric band. It has only been available for approximately 5 years, so long term success has not be documented. And rarely do insurance companies allow it. So mostly its for cash pay patients to consider.
The details of each procedure, as well as complications and expectations are supplied in the EMMI educational module available by clicking on EMMI on the home page. We would like all patients to view theses programs.