Weight-loss surgical procedure has locals smiling

High-speed Internet, fast cars and drive-thrus have somewhat paradoxically caused a very sedentary lifestyle for millions of Americans, paving the way for our current “obesity epidemic.”
As the Atkins and South Beach diet trends fade, a new, more costly and complicated weight-loss fix is becoming all the rage.
Though associated with serious health risks, for people who inject insulin daily and have trouble walking up the stairs, bariatric surgery is a lifesaver.
“I tried diet, I tried exercise, a physician-monitored diet, Weight Watchers several times … I tried different over-the-counter diet pills,” said Debbie Vernon, 50, of Caswell County, N.C.  “I tried just about all of it.”
Vernon, who last year weighed close to 280 pounds, has been dealing with weight issues since her late teens. She was taking medication for high blood pressure, diabetes and asthma on a daily basis. At night, she had trouble sleeping.
“Walking to the mailbox was a
problem for me,” Vernon said.
More than that, though, as her grandchildren started to grow up, she felt that she was missing out.
Watching her husband lose 140 pounds after gastric bypass surgery in 2006, and hearing positive results from other friends, Vernon began seriously considering the surgery.

Weight loss surgery
The National Institutes of Health define three types of weight loss surgeries: restrictive procedures, which reduce stomach size; malabsorptive procedures, which alter the flow from stomach to intestine; and combination procedures.
Gastric bypass procedures, which constitute the majority of weight loss surgeries, combine elements of restrictive and malabsorptive.
The first step is making the stomach smaller by dividing it into two sections using staples.
The top section, called the pouch, will hold the food. Once the stomach has been divided, the surgeon connects a section of the small intestine to the pouch, where food will travel.
The base of the connection meets up with the remaining portion of the small intestine, forming a y-shape.

Complications
A major procedure, gastric bypass surgery involves serious risks.
Patients are effectively restructuring their digestive systems, which can also cause problems long after the actual surgery.
Some of the more serious complications listed on the Mayo Clinic’s Web site include: death; blood clots in the legs, which can sometimes lead to pulmonary embolism; leaking at one of the staple lines in the stomach; vitamin and mineral deficiency; bleeding stomach ulcers; and kidney stones.

Logistics
Insurance will sometimes cover much of the cost if a patient has proof of comorbidities, since a condition associated with being overweight like diabetes is truly life-threatening. Policies differ, and generally require patients to try to lose weight through diet and exercise first.
While growing in popularity, generally large teaching institutions perform the procedure.
Dan River Region residents have a few options. The University of Virginia Medical Center, the Duke University Medical Center, Chesapeake Regional Medical Center and University of North Carolina Health Care System all offer bariatric surgery.
As with other health problems, maneuvering through the health care system can be the hardest part.
Danville resident Kersha Beaver, 30, is getting ready to have the surgery.
Beaver was a self-described “chubby kid,” but when she got pregnant with her first son in 1999, chubby led to gestational diabetes. After giving birth, her diabetes only got worse, and she didn’t always have access to insulin.
“A lot of the reason I didn’t do the medication regularly (was because) I was in and out of a job and I didn’t have health insurance,” Beaver said. “I didn’t really know about Medicaid.”
Weighing close to 300 pounds and with a body mass index of 51.5, Beaver was approved immediately in 2004 for the surgery. Reports of serious complications and side effects deterred her, and she decided to try to lose weight the old-fashioned way.
“Fast forward to 2007. …All my health issues were starting to go downhill,” she said. “I hadn’t taken insulin in a year and a half.”
With good government insurance that covers the surgery, it was time to get serious, Beaver said.
“I … didn’t want to be (one of those people), 600 pounds being cut out of her house,” she said. “That was the image that kept popping into my head.”

Lifestyle Change
“This surgery is a tool,” Vernon said. “It helps you get the weight off. What it doesn’t help you do is keep the weight off.
“There are still the lifestyle changes you’ve got to be ready mentally to make to make it effective long term.”
Vernon said the surgery truly was lifesaving. She no longer relies on daily medication. She can walk up and down the stairs. Most importantly, though, Vernon said, she can play with her grandchildren.
Vernon and Beaver both believe one of the most important components of the whole process is having a support network.
Most institutes that perform the surgery require some amount of counseling, with professionals and other people going through the procedure, before and after the surgery.
Because Danville doesn’t offer the surgery, the women found they had to drive for hours for some support. To alleviate that, they are working on putting together a support group in Danville. People who have had surgery, are considering it, or have had a family member go through the procedure are invited to participate.
It’s a major decision that shouldn’t be made lightly, and the women hope a support group will help potential patients.
Beaver is confident she’s made the right decision and already has started changing some of her bad habits. She’s stopped drinking soda and juice and has been doing water aerobics. Beaver said she doesn’t want to set herself up for too much, though.
“If I can get through my day without having pain going up my steps, if I can park at the end of the lot in Wal-Mart and not the close one or two spots … being able to run after my 8-year-old,” Beavers said, “those things are important to me.”
The support group will have its first meeting at 6:30 p.m. May 22 in the Evergreen Room at the Stratford House. Meetings will subsequently be held the fourth Thursday of every month.
For more information, contact Debbie Vernon at (336) 512-5137 or , or Kersha Beaver at .
Contact Sarah Arkin at or (434) 791-7983.