• BY APRILL BRANDON - ABRANDON@VICAD.COM
• Originally published October 11, 2009 at 12:48 p.m., updated October 12, 2009 at 12:04 a.m.

• TYPES OF BARIATRIC SURGERIES

  Gastric bypass: Limits how much a person can eat at a time. It also redirects the food to bypass most of the stomach and the first section of the small intestine, thus limiting how many nutrients ...

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TYPES OF BARIATRIC SURGERIES

Gastric bypass: Limits how much a person can eat at a time. It also redirects the food to bypass most of the stomach and the first section of the small intestine, thus limiting how many nutrients and calories the body can absorb.

Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding (Lap Band): An inflatable band is placed around the upper portion of the stomach, which restricts the amount of food that can be eaten. It also extends a person's feeling of satiety.

Sleeve gastrectomy: The left side of the stomach is surgically removed, leaving the remaining stomach about the size and shape of a banana.

*Information from www.mayoclinic.orgTHE ISSUE

With 34 percent of adults classified as obese in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity has become one of the country's biggest health problems.

One way the medical field is fighting back against the epidemic is weight-loss surgeries. In 2008, about 220,000 weight loss surgeries, such as gastric bypass, were done in the U.S., according to the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery.

Vicki Wilson-Lavelle had always struggled with her weight. She even jokes that she came out of the womb wearing plus sizes.

She had tried low-carb diets, cutting out fats and buying every new diet book as soon as it was on the shelf. By 2007, she weighed 435 pounds.

"I tried everything under the sun to lose weight, and nothing worked," Wilson-Lavelle, 43, of Victoria said. "So I researched gastric bypass surgery for two years and decided to do it. And it was the best decision I could have made. My only regret is I didn't do it sooner."

Within six months after her November 2007 surgery, she had shed 100 pounds. To date, she has lost 208 pounds.

"I don't need an oxygen tank to go shopping with my 17-year-old daughter anymore," she added. "It used to kill me to go to the mall. I couldn't walk or breathe. There are so many things people take for granted that I wasn't able to do before, even something as simple as tying my shoe."

For morbidly obese people struggling to lose weight, weight-loss surgeries, such as gastric bypass, have become their last chance at hope. Typically, gastric bypass can result in an average sustained net loss of 85 percent of excess weight, with lapband and sleeve gastrectomy surgeries resulting in a net sustained loss of 65 percent, said Dr. B. Dean McDaniel, director of Citizens Bariatric Center.

Equally important is the resolution of associated disease. For example, diabetics at Citizens undergoing weight-loss surgery have a 92 percent chance of coming off all medications, he added.

Not everyone is a candidate for the surgery and it's not for anyone looking to lose a few or even 20 pounds.

But for those who are candidates, which is typically someone 75 pounds or more overweight with associated weight-related medical conditions, the success rate after the surgery is high, Citizens registered dietitian Kendra Blaschke said.

"A lot of my patients, metabolically, can diet and exercise all they want and they still won't lose weight. These are the patients we want," Blaschke, who works with bariatric surgery patients before and after the surgery, said. "This is not a first option to lose weight. For most people, it's their last option."

Blaschke added that she hasn't seen anyone gain all their weight back after surgery and for patients who do gain some weight back, the team at the bariatric center helps get them back on track. Every patient goes through nutrition classes with Blaschke, who helps them make lifestyle changes. They meet with a therapist for added support.

Although it saves lives and, in the long run, cuts down the costs of obesity-related health problems, there is still a negative stigma attached to bariatric surgery, McDaniel said.

"In my opinion, it's difficult for most of us to accept the disease concept with something that should be under our control. If the treatment for appropriate weight control is healthy eating and exercise, then why should we need surgery?" he said.

However, the National Institute of Health has concluded through studies involving thousands of patients who sustained weight loss in severely obese people is very rare, he added.

Only 2 percent of the population was successful losing weight without bariatric surgery if they were more than 75 pounds overweight.

"To lessen the controversy, we need to appreciate that a mild overweight condition is very different from a severely obese disease," McDaniel said. "We are not talking about the person who wants to get that extra 20-30 pounds. With severe obesity, there appears to be a breakdown of our hormonal mechanisms which prevent us from returning to normal weights, even with the best efforts."

As for Wilson-Lavelle, the proof of what a godsend bariatric surgery can be is in her newfound lease on life.

"It restores your hope and faith in living again," she said. "It gives you a second chance at life."

Related: Con: Weight-loss surgery can be dangerous, unnecessary

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