Medical Procedures for Weight Loss Surgery

Three patients each chose a different weight loss surgery. Two went to Mexico, one went to India, and all are still singing the praises of their medical teams and the help they had from medical tourism provider WorldMed Assist in making all their arrangements.

Concord, CA, January 25, 2009 (PressReleasePoint) -- Over the last several months, Bill M. flew from British Columbia for a gastric bypass surgery in India; Audria H. hopped across the border for lap band surgery in Mexico and Stacey O. left Florida for duodenal switch surgery in Mexico. They'd never imagined their life-long weight loss battles would eventually take them down the road to Medical Tourism, but with the help of WorldMed Assist, they each found a solution that put them on the trail of victory over their battle of the bulge.

Each procedure has its advantages and disadvantages, but for each of these patients, their personal choice became clear after careful review of their options which WorldMed Assist helped them understand.

Gastric Bypass
Gastric bypass surgery was Bill M.'s choice from the beginning of his research. He abandoned his option of free surgery in Canada and headed to India to avoid a wait estimated at two to three years. "I received some extra money in 2007, and decided the time was right to put it toward alleviating the pain from my obesity."

Gastric bypass begins with making the stomach significantly smaller, often by creating a pouch. The surgeon will then reroute the intestines by connecting them to the new pouch, bypassing the top of the intestine (the duodenum), which therefore doesn't function after the operation. Because the stomach is significantly smaller, there is a risk of "dumping," which occurs when the undigested stomach contents are "dumped" into the small intestine too quickly, causing abdominal cramps and nausea. Patients can alleviate this through careful monitoring of their blood sugar.

Duodenal Switch

Stacey O. checked out lap band and gastric bypass "but for me, neither was right. A friend thought I should see about duodenal switch surgery. When I studied the data about keeping weight off across weight loss surgeries, it looked like the way for me to go."

In duodenal switch surgery, a portion of the stomach is removed, but the remaining stomach remains attached to the duodenum (the upper part of the small intestine). The duodenum is rerouted to connect to the lower part of the small intestine, leading to less absorption of food. Keeping the duodenum in place prevents dumping, making it a preference among many patients.
Lap Band

Audria H. chose lap band for her solution because she liked its flexibility. She hit two plateaus during the year after her surgery, which she was able to move past with a minor procedure called a lap band fill.

The procedure relies on an adjustable silicone ring placed around the upper part of the stomach that is later filled with saline to reduce the stomach capacity and restrict the amount of food that can be consumed at one time. The diameter of the band can be modified as patients lose weight or if circumstances change. For example, pregnant women can expand their band to accommodate a growing fetus, while patients who aren't experiencing significant weight loss can have their bands tightened. Lap band surgery has many advantages over other weight loss operations because it is less drastic, adjustable, reversible and fast to recover from.

Sleeve Gastrectomy

Gastric sleeve is the newest entrant into the field of bariatric surgeries. It is a simpler operation than gastric bypass or duodenal switch, and does not rely on implants, adjustments or fills. It requires removal of the left side of the stomach but does not involve any rearrangement of intestines. The remaining stomach is sealed with staples. This procedure can successfully be used on its own but is also usedas the first stage of bariatric surgery for super- obesity, where the body mass index is so high that more radical surgeries would be too risky. It can be followed by either duodenal switch or gastric bypass to achieve the weight loss advantages of restricting food absorption.
Cost

While Bill M. was motivated to travel to India to avoid Canada's long waiting line, both Audria H. and Stacey O. left their home states because they were uninsured for weight loss, and found significant savings in Mexico through WorldMed Assist. Both Audria and Stacey saved more than 50% off the prices quoted near home.

Quality Trumps Savings

Once these patients returned home and reflected on their medical travels, even more impressive than their savings was the all-around quality of their experience. Each was dazzled by the skill and attention from the medical teams, the squeaky clean, state-of-the-art hospitals, and the attention to every detail provided by WorldMed Assist.

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