Obesity and Bariatric Surgery: What to Know

For most people, there are few moments when they question the reasons behind their struggles to shed off some pounds, but if you are someone suffering from severe obesity, you know too well the daily struggles associated with it. The reality is that bariatric surgery for severe obesity is not something for you to consider only because you feel like giving up on yourself; it is your opportunity to start receiving proper treatment for a condition that goes much further than your willpower and dietary preferences. Severe obesity is a condition that goes beyond what you can control through diet, which means that no matter how many programs you may attempt, you will not be able to sustain any of your efforts.

What Qualifies as Severe Obesity and Obesity Bariatric Surgery Candidacy

The first step is to know where you are in regards to medicine. Extreme obesity is diagnosed as a BMI of 40 or above or BMI of 35 and above with severe weight-related diseases like diabetes type 2, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, or heart disease.

These thresholds form the basis of the obesity and bariatric surgery eligibility criteria established by major medical societies, such as the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). In BodEvolve, each patient is assessed personally by our staff, taking into consideration the BMI, comorbidity, weight loss history, and overall well-being to decide which procedure will provide the most effective and safe result.

When you have long dealt with health issues related to being overweight  and you are fed up with the idea of coping with the symptoms instead of eliminating the cause of the problem, then surgical operation can be the best next step. Get to know our entire process so you can see what the journey would be like to consult through recovery.

How Obesity and Bariatric Surgery Work Together to Produce Lasting Change

People are led to believe that bariatric surgery is just a method of making you eat less. The truth is much more complex. There is a metabolic interaction between bariatric surgery and obesity. Various processes change hunger hormones, adjust the gut to brain communication, alter the absorption of calories, and cause hormonal changes that decrease the urge to eat excessively.

That is why when patients who have had decades of severe obesity suddenly demonstrate radical and permanent results in the aftermath of surgery, it is not because they are exercising greater willpower, it is because the surgery alters the physiological conditions that made it almost impossible to sustain weight loss in the past.

The most prevalent improvements that we have seen in our patient base at BodEvolve are 70 to 90 percent of excess weight loss, resolution of type 2 diabetes or a significant improvement of the condition, normalization of blood pressure, absence of sleep apnea, alleviation of joint pains, and an unprecedented improvement of energy levels. 

Bariatric Surgery for Severe Obesity: Procedures We Offer at BodEvolve

The most significant clinical choice in your surgical career is the procedure you settle on. We have surgeons, including you, Dr. Clayton Frenzel, triple board-certified and dual fellowship-trained, and the board certified bariatric doctor, Dr. Brian Holt, who will help you choose the option that best fits your BMI, metabolic profile, and health objectives. 

• The most common procedure done in severe obesity is Gastric Sleeve Surgery. It excises around 75 percent of the stomach and leaves behind a tube-shaped stomach, severely limiting the amount of food that can be eaten as well as ghrelin – the main hunger hormone. Patients usually lose up to 60-70 percent of excess weight. Healing period is normally less than a week.
• Gastric Bypass Surgery is believed to be the best option when the patient is severely obese and has underlying metabolic disorders such as diabetes type 2, or chronic acid reflux. It forms a small stomach pouch and reroutes a section of the small intestine which generates the strong hormonal changes that extend way beyond restriction. The average of patients who lose excessive weight is 70 to 80 percent.
• The most powerful procedure that can be offered to patients with BMI (more than 50) or severely metabolic disease is Duodenal Switch Surgery. It involves a gastric sleeve with a large intestinal bypass, and results in the 80 to 90 percent excess weight loss and the best diabetes remission rates of any bariatric surgery.
• SADI-S Surgery Surgery is a more recent, single-anastomosis form of the duodenal switch with equivalent outcomes but a simpler surgical geometry and less likelihood of nutritional complications.
• Revision Weight Loss Surgery can be used in patients who underwent a previous bariatric surgery and who have regained their weight or have not achieved satisfactory outcomes. Revision surgery can help to restore the metabolic advantages and to solve anatomical problems of the first operation.
• Medical Weight Management is a non-surgical, physician-monitored program designed to provide patients that are not yet ready to undergo surgery or wish to undertake a structured medical first.

Obesity Weight Loss Surgery: What to Expect Before, During, and After

The choice of undergoing obesity weight loss surgery is not made in a one-sitting session. Patients at BodEvolve undergo a systematic assessment process, consisting of surgical evaluation, nutritional evaluation, psychological clearance, and sometimes cardiology or pulmonology clearance based on pre-existing health issues.

Surgery, in itself, is done laparoscopically, that is, with small incisions and a camera, and is much faster to recover than an open one. The majority of BodEvolve patients come home one to two days later and are back to normal within one to two weeks.

Your care does not stop in the operating room after surgery. Our program will also entail nutritional guidance, follow-up appointments, and support resources to assist you in maintaining the habits that will support your long-term results. Knowledge of physical symptoms of being overweight prior to surgery also enables patients to be aware of the changes that manifest themselves in the months that follow. See our bariatric surgery before and after patient’s results to see the real life story and to get to know about life after bariatric surgery.

The Right Time to Act on Bariatric Surgery for Severe Obesity Is Now

Extreme obesity entails carrying excessive weight that goes well beyond what is physical, and bariatric surgery for severe obesity has been an opportunity for thousands of individuals to put this excess weight down, for the long run. This is not some form of quick fix; it is an intervention method that has been exhaustively studied and proven effective in medicine, with the results showing just how important it is. BodEvolve clients have entered the facility frustrated after years of struggling with weight, and left feeling as if a new life awaits them. Regardless of whether this is the first time you are considering going under the knife, or you have considered this for many years now, BodEvolve will cater to you based on your specific situation.