Vim & Vigor - Spring 2010 - Community Healthcare - (Page 6)

band gold of new tool tunes in weight loss success by elise sims Y ou’ve tried to lose weight again and again through diet and exercise without success. If you are considerably overweight and need some additional help turning your frustration into victory, there is a new procedure available through Community Hospital in Munster that can help you end obesity, and ultimately change your life. Lap-Band® AP Adjustable Gastric Banding System is the latest FDA-approved technology that helps you gradually lose and control your weight by reducing the amount of food your stomach is able to hold at one time. It’s a safe, minimally invasive laparoscopic procedure that can be performed on an outpatient basis with small incisions, virtually no bleeding and quick recovery time. “Some people are depressed from not being able to lose weight, even after three to six months of supervised weight loss through medications and dieting,” says Paul Stanish, M.D., FACS, general surgeon on staff at Community Hospital in Munster and St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart. “But, after the Lap-Band® procedure and coaching, they see food and their health in a whole new light. When our patients say, ‘I no longer have diabetes. I no longer have high blood pressure. I used to be on 10 medications. You’ve changed my life,’ you know this procedure has significant impact, and it’s very rewarding.” how it works An adjustable gastric band, also known as a Lap-Band, is an inflatable silicone device that is positioned around the topmost portion of the stomach during a laparoscopic outpatient procedure to treat obesity. The band creates a smaller stomach opening and pouch, which limits the amount of food that can be consumed at one time and increases the time it takes for the stomach to empty. “We provide coaching on eating habits and exercise, and patients who take our advice and use the band correctly, do very, very well,” Stanish says. During the procedure, which takes a little more than an hour, the Lap-Band and connecting port are positioned through five, small incisions in the abdomen. First, the inflatable Lap-Band is placed at the top of the stomach by the surgeon using special long instruments and four small incisions. Then, the filling port is placed in the upper left quadrant of the belly through a larger, 2-inch incision. Most patients go home a few hours after the procedure, but those with sleep apnea are generally kept overnight for observation. After a six-week recovery period when swelling subsides, a saline solution is introduced through the port, which inflates the Lap-Band pocket liner and tightens or adjusts the opening at the top of the stomach. There is an average of four such adjustments per year. “Our experience has been that, in about one year, we’ve seen about 60 percent excess weight loss in our patients.” 6 vim & vigor • sp rin g 2 010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Spring 2010 - Community Healthcare

Vim & Vigor - Spring 2010 - Community Healthcare
Contents
Community Message
Award-Winning Care
Get Well Sooner!
Band of Gold
Confirming the Count
Excuses, Excuses
Easing the Pressure
Prostate Predicament
On Mended Knees
Imaging IQ
Caregiving: A Survival Guide
Form Factors
Wake-Up Call
Getting to the Bottom of Back Pain
From Growing Pains to Patient Gains
To Clot or Not to Clot

Vim & Vigor - Spring 2010 - Community Healthcare