Weight Loss Surgery

Congratulations on making the decision to explore the option of bariatric or weight loss surgery! Exercise and eating right are the best ways to lose weight. Yet in some instances those methods don’t work and some people still can’t lose excess weight — weight that can cause serious health problems. Weight loss surgery is an option for individuals who have been battling obesity.

Weight loss surgery is a permanent procedure that will require a commitment to maintaining a healthier lifestyle. The surgery will not only help you lose excess weight, but will also improve your overall health, while boosting your self-esteem and general well-being.

There are many resources that will help you better understand the procedures, determine if you’re a good candidate, gain insight on costs, and learn from patients who’ve had weight loss surgery.

To be eligible for weight loss surgery for obesity you must:

• Be willing to cooperate with the follow-up program
• Have no emotional or medical problems which would make surgery unsuccessful
• Have no untreated glandular cause for your obesity including hypothyroidism or hyperadrenalism (these are very rare)

NEA Baptist Clinic offers two different types of surgery for weight loss. Both are restrictive procedures to make the stomach smaller to limit the amount of food intake. The first operation is also a malabsorptive technique that reduces the amount of intestine that comes in contact with food so that the body absorbs fewer calories. The second operation also involves  some malabsorption.  The malabsorption is less and without manipulation of the intestine.

Please understand that we consider surgical treatment to be a very serious undertaking and should be considered only after other conservative methods have failed. You must weigh the risks of the operation against the risks associated with remaining morbidly obese. We make a long-term commitment to our patients, and in turn, expect that they make a long term commitment to their health and this program. You must understand that the surgery is only a part of the total treatment for obesity.