Khaliah Ali, the daughter of former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, weighed in at 335 pounds, 100 pounds more than her father’s ideal fighting weight. Lap-Band® surgery helped Ali lose that 100 pounds and keep it off.

Unlike Ali, most people battle obesity far from the glare of the spotlight, but this doesn’t mean they have to go it alone. Littleton Adventist Hospital now offers a new state-of-the-art bariatric (weight loss) center designed to surround the patient with a support system of experts.

Talk to any member of the Littleton Adventist bariatric team and they’ll tell you the program embraces a sensitive, personalized approach. The program coordinator, Karin du Raan, R.N., points out that the new unit at Littleton Adventist Hospital is built specifically for the bariatric patient.

“It’s all about personalized care with a focus on safety, success and patient satisfaction,” du Raan says. For example, if a patient chooses Lap Band® surgery, du Raan meets with them on the day of surgery and guides them through the entire process. As an added convenience, admissions can be done in the patient’s private state-of-the art room, instead of at the front desk.

Lap-Band® surgery is a minimally-invasive Laparoscopic procedure (via micro-TV camera) in which a band is placed around the upper stomach to create a smaller stomach pouch. This pouch fills with food more quickly, making the patient feel full. As a result, he or she eats less and experiences lasting weight loss over time.

The actual surgery takes under an hour and the majority of patients go home on the same day. Candidates for the surgery are typically between 80 to 100 pounds overweight and often suffer from obesity-related health conditions. To date, three million people worldwide have undergone the surgery, which has an eight-year history of proven success.

Unlike gastric bypass, Lap-Band® surgery doesn’t require stomach cutting or stapling and the band can be adjusted by adding or subtracting saline to the pouch, which is accessed through a small port placed just under the skin on the abdominal wall.

Patients can expect to lose an average of 80 to 120 pounds over a two-year period. The weight loss occurs safely and steadily over time, which is why the program focuses on extensive pre- and post-operative follow-up and long-term support from a multidisciplinary team.

“People need to work at it. It’s like a marriage,” says Kelly Elliot, the bariatric dietitian for the program. “The Lap-Band® only controls how much you eat, not what you want to eat. Patients can eat ice cream or meatloaf or whatever they want and they won’t feel sick, like they would after gastric bypass surgery.”

To help patients learn healthy new eating habits, Elliot offers comprehensive pre- and post-operative nutritional counseling, including monthly support groups at Littleton Adventist Hospital. Guest speakers also provide valuable education on a range of topics, including exercise, compulsive eating and psychology.

The new bariatric center was developed by two highly-experienced and widely-respected bariatric surgeons, Dr. Frank Chae and Dr. Richard Tillquist. Both surgeons have more than 10 years of experience in bariatric surgery, including gastric bypass and Lap-Band® surgery.
 
Dr. Chae, who was also involved in pioneering research for the Lap-Band®, says the bands are significantly more effective than medicine or traditional weight loss programs. The surgery can also prevent, improve, or even cure a number of health problems associated with severe obesity. For example, it offers a 70% cure rate for obesity-related diabetes, according to Dr. Chae.

For those battling the misconceptions and physical conditions associated with severe obesity, it can literally be a fight for their lives. Now, with the opening of the new bariatric center at Littleton Adventist Hospital, patients have a team of experts in their corner.
 

By Suzy Devers