According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 66 percent of all U.S. adults are overweight or obese. Faced with conditions of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, many Americans are shopping for bariatric surgery to help manage these conditions and, in some cases, cure them.
What should a consumer look for in a bariatric program? Here are five tips from Nick Nicholson, M.D., medical director of weight loss surgery program at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano, an American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence®.
Take your time choosing a program.
Weight loss surgery is a not a magic bullet but requires life style changes to be effective. A good-quality program will tell you up front about the different options for weight loss surgery and the post-operative work – exercise and changes in diet – required for each option. Weight loss surgery is not an emergency, take time to thoughtfully consider at least two programs.
Be flexible.
Consult with a surgeon or surgeons who perform more than one type of weight loss surgery. As a consumer, you can select gastric bypass, adjustable gastric banding or the gastric sleeve procedure. "One procedure may be more effective for you than another, so explore all options," urges Dr. Nicholson.
Numbers do matter.
Numerous studies have shown that complication rates from weight loss surgery are highly dependent on the surgeon's prior experience. Because previous experience is tantamount to success, ask your surgeon how many of each proposed operations he or she has performed.
Chemistry matters.
In many general surgical cases, you have limited interaction with your surgeon. Not so with weight loss surgery. You may see your surgeon at least four or five times in the first year. Be sure that the surgeon and support staff is genuinely interested in you and your success.
Support matters, too.
To succeed, weight loss surgery requires hard work from you. What support can you expect post-surgery? Does the program offer support groups, psychological support, exercise or physical therapy? Are dietitians involved to help you develop better eating habits and food plans? "I frequently tell our patients that 90 percent of their long-term success is in their hands, not mine," says Dr. Nicholson.
Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano is a 128-bed acute care hospital committed to serving North Texas residents with personalized care and advanced technology on a beautiful campus with hotel-like amenities and all private rooms. Services include treatment for advanced spine deformities at the Baylor Scoliosis Center, neurosciences, orthopaedics, medical and radiation oncology, surgical weight loss, women's services, gynecology, urology, gastroenterology, pulmonary, sleep disorders, pain management, diabetes management and more. Baylor Plano offers patients access to digital imaging and is the first hospital in north Dallas and Collin County to offer minimally invasive robotic surgery for gynecology and prostate procedures through the FDA approved da Vinci® S Surgical System. The hospital has won several quality awards including the Texas Health Care Quality Improvement Award of Excellence and is designated a Nurse-FriendlyT hospital by Texas Nurses Association.
As part of Baylor Health Care System, Baylor Plano offers patients access to innovative treatments and clinical trials performed through Baylor Research Institute in such areas as oncology and cardiovascular services. The Baylor Plano campus is the home of THE HEART HOSPITAL Baylor Plano, the first dedicated heart hospital in Collin County. For fiscal year 2007, Baylor Health Care System will report $390 million in community benefit, which includes providing care for charity patients and patients enrolled in government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, as well as the un-reimbursed costs of medical education, research and community programs.
Contact: Susan Hall, (214) 820-1817 or Janeen Browning, (469) 814-2107
Email: susanh@baylorhealth.edu or janeenbr@baylorhealth.edu
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About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White is empowering customers to live well by reimagining traditional healthcare — creating more convenient, personalized and informed experiences. It serves more than three million customers through 53 hospitals, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple; the Baylor Scott & White Research Institute; 1,300+ access points; 59,000+ team members; and its leading digital platform — MyBSWHealth. The system's award-winning employer solutions include Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and Levanto — a company offering digitally enabled health products. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White's mission is to promote the health and well-being of all individuals, families and communities. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com