Video Transcript

Dr. B:   So when did you have your surgery?

Sandy:  August the 14^th 2008

Dr. B:   And of course the main question is, how much weight have you lost.

Sandy:  Since lap band, 150.

Dr. B:   Really, to be honest with you. 150 pounds.

Sandy:  Truthfully.

Dr. B:   Wow, congratulations.

Sandy:  Thank you.

Dr. B:   So how does it feel?

Sandy:  It feels really good. What would you like to know what feels good?

Dr. B:   Well what’s the best part of it?

Sandy:  The best part is that I can buy clothes.

Dr. B:   You can shop?

Sandy:  I can shop, and I can run and play with my kids. I can remember in August, we went to the mountains. And we went up to Klemen’s Dome and the whole time my kids were saying, momma my legs hurt, momma I’m tired. And I could go, I could do the whole time and it was wonderful. And it was sad that my kids couldn’t.

Dr. B:   Yeah but great that you could out do them. Right?

Sandy:  That’s right.

Dr. B:   Well that is good. So how was the surgery itself? It was outpatient?

Sandy:  It was outpatient. I came in at six, and I was back in Tifften at the house by one.

Dr. B:   That is sweet.

Sandy:  That was real nice. I was begging them to let me out, and I wasn’t even out of surgery a whole hour yet.

Dr. B: You were good. Great, and how often do you get your fills? The adjustment?

Sandy:  I get my fills every four to six weeks. Sometimes, one time there was a three month span I didn’t get an adjustment, but I have stayed on top of it because I wanted to lose.

Dr. B:   Yeah right. The adjustments are the secret.

Sandy:  That is definitely the secret. It’s coming back and getting your adjustments. That boasts you to your next step each time each time.

Dr. B:   And just because people may not know, what does it take to have an adjustment?

Sandy:  A little sweet needle stick. Not bad.

Dr. B:   A little fluid added to it.

Sandy:  Right.

Dr. B:   Right. And it ports up in your shoulder.

Sandy:  Right.

Dr. B:   Ok. How about you’re eating, do you have to eat special foods? Or can you pretty much eat whatever you want, just not as much.

Sandy:  That’s a tricky question. Are you supposed to eat what you want or no? But, no you can pretty much eat what you want, within reason. I haven’t been able to eat bread that much. Which is a good thing, because that is something that I always really enjoyed. But now I don’t so much enjoy it, and its fine. But I can eat any kind of meat, and vegetables, and of course I try to get my protein in first, and do all the little rules. But if you want something sweet, you can still have it. But you can only have a little bit.

Dr. B:  Of course

Sandy: And that’s what’s nice.

Dr. B:   Yeah.

Sandy: And where we didn’t have control, it controls us.

Dr. B:   And that’s what makes it such a good thing.

Sandy:  That’s right.

Dr. B:   Ok. Congratulations again, you look fabulous.

Sandy:  Thank you. I feel wonderful.

Dr. B:   You really do look good. 

Video Transcript

Dr. B: So you are about 8 to 9 months after Lap Band.  How much weight have you lost?

Kim: 62 pounds.

Dr. B:  And the surgery was as outpatient surgery

Kim:  Yes Sir.

Dr. B: And how was that?

Kim: It was great.  I was your first patient for the one-hole procedure, the single incision.

Dr. B:  There are a lot of people asking about that, would you do that again?  What would you say about it?

Kim:  It was great.  I had it Thursday and went back to work on Tuesday, though I could have gone back to work on Monday.

Dr. B: Do you think that the single incision is worth it?  Because I’m not sure myself, and I would like to know what you think.

Kim: I think it is.  I did not have much pain. It was really easy to just get back into life.  Great! Wonderful!

Dr. B:  Are you happy with it?

Kim: Yes.  I thought I could not eat some things for the rest of my life… But I can eat anything. 

Dr. B: Well you know that is a very important point.  A lot of people don’t really understand that.  So you don’t have to limit your diet per-say.

Kim: But now since I had the Lap Band when I eat sweets… it’s kind of turned off my sweet tooth.. So now when I eat something sweet, I just don’t want that.

Dr. B:  So it helps you control that. 

Kim:  Yes.

Dr. B: That’s really good.

Kim: I hear people say that it does not help them.  But it helps me.

Dr B: Yes, there is a lot of variation from patient to patient.  That’s why I think is so important that patients hear other patients talk.  What about activities?  Can you do anything that you could not do before?

Kim:  Reading story books to my girls and I don’t get out of breath. Playing with them.  We play and run.  They like to be my trainers, doing exercise.  We exercise together.

Dr B:  So you have an exercise routine.

Kim: Yes, we exercise together.  I am teaching them to exercise too. 

Dr. B: So what kind of work do you do?

Kim: Dental Hygienist.

Dr. B: Has it changed anything at work?  Does it help you at work much, do you think?

Kim:  I think so.  Right after lunch after I eat something and I would be cleaning my first patient, I would be breathing heavy. And now I don’t breath heavy.

Dr B: Can you sense there how people interact with you?

Kim: I do. I do. 

Dr. B: That’s one of the things we don’t like to talk about.  People don’t really like to talk about this but since you are in the medical field.   Do you think that people regard you differently?

Kim: I had a patient before, an older gentleman that told me once, “you  just keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger”.  I think people are more friendly and outgoing with you when you are smaller than when you are bigger. 

Dr. B:  It’s a shame but it I think it is true.

Kim:  It is true. It is true.

Dr. B: So that’s an important part of what you are doing because you are dealing with the public everyday.

Kim:  I even mentioned to my husband, I will probably get a lot more patients now that I am slimmer and he said you think so? That is something.

Dr. B: I hate to admit it but I think it’s true.  And I think that most people don’t like to talk about it but it is an important part. Ah, I mean, big folks are discriminated against

Kim:  Yeah… Yeah… Even if you do a good job cleaning teeth, you know, if you look good, I want her to clean my teeth. 

Dr. B:  Yeah… That’s right.   How about the Lap Band fills? How often do you get the fills?

Kim: I get them about every 3 to 4 weeks. And, doing great..  I just got a fill last week and every one said, you are going to get a fill just before Thanksgiving? And I said yeah!

Dr. B: So, you go over to the Bariatric Center to get your fills?  Is it Amy or Michelle?

Kim: Michelle last time, but Amy does it too. They are all friendly.

Dr. B: How long does it take for you to get a fill?

Kim: Maybe you are in and out it takes about 15 minutes.

Dr. B: Your port is up here in the shoulder.

Kim: Mine is down here (pointing to the mid section)

Dr. B: Oh, that is right, I forgot that. And is it easy to get to?

Kim: Yes.  They just have to lay me down to do it instead of sitting up. And it doesn’t hurt to get the fill.  They don’t ever hurt me.

Dr. B: Pretty easy to do.

Kim: Oh Yeah. Real easy

Dr. B: Alright then, congratulations. 

Kim: If I had to do it again, I would say I’d do it right now. Don’t take my lap band away.

Video Transcript

Dr. B: When did you have your surgery?

Jody: December 19^th 2009

Dr. B: So December 19^th you had your outpatient surgery?

Jody: Yes sir

Dr. B: Ok. How much did you weight at that time?

Jody: At that time I weighed 497

Dr. B: Wow, that’s a lot. How much weight have you lost?

Jody: In total since the surgery about 105 and I lost 50 before that.

Dr. B: So you lost about 150 pounds getting ready for the surgery and after having the surgery. Well good - that’s good, do you want to lose more?

Jody: Yeah

Dr. B: So you think LAP-BAND can help you do that?

Jody: Yeah

Dr. B: So you haven’t reached the end point yet?

Jody: No I haven’t reached anywhere near the endpoint yet.

Dr. B: That’s good. So high blood pressure and diabetes, where are you now with those two?

Jody: I’ve cut my blood pressure medicine in half, and I’ve cut my glucophage in half for my diabetes. I am completely off my anti-depressants now, and I’ve cut my cholesterol medicine in half.

Dr. B: Wow that’s really good. So you can see where the future is if you keep going in this direction?

Jody: I actually cut my thyroid medicine in half too.

Dr. B: Good. So you’re really making good progress, and tell me again when did you have your surgery?

Jody: December 19^th 2009

Dr. B: So not even a year. You know, you get our newsletter and so you see a lot of people who have lost a lot of weight everybody thinks that is successful.  See you’re a success even though you;ve got more weight to lose. And that is what people need to understand its more about your health than it is about the way you look although the way you look helps let me tell you. What kind of work do you do?

Jody:  I’m a corrections counselor, and I would say and don’t tell Charley out there but the best analogy I can come up with is like it’s a prison you can’t escape from. Except when you finally decide to do something about it that’s when you make your escape and everybody can understand that. When you say it like that people say oh I can see that. When you use that kind of analogy people can understand that. It’s something no matter how hard you try unless you decide to do something about it you can’t escape from it.

Dr. B: That’s a good point, and I’m glad you made that for me because I’ll tell you right now I get more pleasure out of hearing people say that then seeing girls walking in those tight jeans and stuff, I do. Again thank you I appreciate it.

Lap Band Surgery: March, 2009
Weight Loss: 104 lbs.

I have had an issue with my weight ever since I could remember. I am a young guy and certain problems started to happen, that were beyond me. Things like high blood pressure, diabetes and sleep apnea were things I thought only older people had, that is until it began to happen to me.

I was 21 years old at the time I was going to school to be an Emergency Medical Technician. This is when I started to learn a little about myself and my problems. About a year before I joined the class I was diagnosed pre-hypertensive. I gained 40 pounds year, added on to my already over-weight status. I was with some of my EMS friends one night at the station and one of them said “Charlie what is your face doing so red?” I told him I didn’t know, I had a headache all day, and didn’t really notice anything else. Well my friend said let’s check your blood pressure I got in the ambulance and was hooked up to the monitor. I could not see the monitor but I could see my friends face and he gave me a pretty ominous look .I ask him what it was and he said it was 190/116. I was advised to see a doctor the very next day because it was so high and did so with confirmation that I have high blood pressure.

That coupled with blood sugar problems and not being able to walk for very long without having to sit and rest and waking up in the middle of the night feeling like I was choking was scaring me. Not to mention all of the fat jokes and taunts that I received on a daily basis for about 6 years that really pulled my self esteem down enough where I just felt hopeless. I tried to exercise, tried diet pills, and it even got to the point where I was trying not to eat at all, then I would get so hungry I would pig put. Nothing worked and I felt like this was just the way it was going to be for the rest of my life, however long it lasted. I felt at this point my future looked pretty grim.

I saw a commercial one day on TV about this guy in Albany, GA that had this procedure called lap-band. I said what the heck I’ve tried everything else, why not go talk to him. That man was Dr. John Bagnato and from the minute I met him and talked to him about the lap band I was HOOKED. He was a super nice guy and knew his stuff. His staff was also absolutely wonderful, they were sympathetic and caring to a degree I had never been shown. I had my lap band placed March 2009, and so far it has been the best decision I have made in my life thus far. Dr. B’s staff have been there with me the whole way on my journey. The ladies at the treatment center are absolutely awesome also. They are the ones you get to go see for your checkups and fills. It was just an all around great experience and continues to be because of the amount of support and kindness you get from these wonderful people.

If you are contemplating lap band surgery, and you meet the criteria, I strongly encourage it. It will be the best decision you will ever make. I have no regrets at all! You won’t either. These people work miracles I have no other word for it!

Video Transcript

Alright, I want to give you some insight about port placement. As you know to make the lap band work you have to access the band and add fluid to it through a port which is placed under the skin.

Most surgeons place the port in the abdomen we choose to place our ports up here in the shoulder. We use a very small low profile port, it’s very cosmetic, the incision is made under the arm you can’t really see that. It is much more convenient to get the fills. If it’s more convenient to get the fills and less costly you get more fills and if you get more fills you get more weight loss.

The ports are also less likely to flip and move because they are in the upper part of the chest where there is hardly any movement as opposed to the abdomen where every time you bend or move, the port has a tendency to wiggle.

The port placement in the shoulder allows us to have easy access. We have a clinic set up at the hospital where you can get your fills; it usually takes about 15 minutes.

Lap Band Surgery: August, 2008
Weight Loss: 100 lbs.

Video Transcript:

Dr.B: When did you have your surgery?
Betty: August the 12^th, it was a year ago.
Dr. B: Wow, so your only about 15 months after surgery?
Betty: Yes.
Dr. B: How much weight have you lost?
Betty: A little over 100 I think.
Dr. B: Wow you look fabulous
Betty: Well thank you, I’m 60 years old. I feel better than I have for the last 20 years
Dr. B: That is something
Betty: Yeah I sure do.  I can get out and go and do things, it’s just like I’ve had my life back.
Dr. B: How has it changed your life?
Betty: I’m able to get out and do things that I wasn’t able to do before, I couldn’t hold out. I can get out and hold out and walk I can get out work in my yards. I have more energy for life you know, I have a better outlook. I’m just not as depressed. When you are fat for a while you’re kind of down on yourself you don’t figure there is a way out  - but you gave me a way out.
Dr. B: I’m glad you took it. You did a great job.
Betty: I’ll tell you what it has been a lifesaver to me, it really has.  Problems are gone.
Dr. B: I was just getting ready to ask you about that. How are your health problems?
Betty: I was a very bad diabetic, I was talking insulin on a sliding scale during the day a number of shots and at night I was taking 40 units of Levemir,  plus 3 different pills. I’m off all that.
Dr. B: Off all of it?
Betty: Yes and I’m also off all of my blood pressure medicine. I’m just doing wonderful.
Dr. B: That is so exciting to me. It really is exciting. Because you look great and I can tell you when I know your diabetes is gone and your high blood pressure is gone, that really is great. Goodbye diabetes!
Betty: That’s right. I tell you what of course now even when I am eating all the foods that I do eat I always check the sugar level in it to make sure I’m not getting any more sugar than I should be getting anyway. It’s been a lifesaver physically, mentally, and socially. I have more clothes than I’ve ever had in my life. I’m a shopaholic now. 
Dr. B: Good. Whatever turns you on right!
Betty: But I’ve got to stop that and get it under control!
Dr. B: How about getting your fills? How often do you go?
Betty: I go every 4-5 weeks.
Dr. B: Is it hard to get fills? Fairly easy?
Betty: It’s easy it doesn’t hurt it doesn’t take but a little bit, the staff is so nice they’re like family. They really encourage me when I go.
Dr. B: Good. The surgery itself, how was the outpatient surgery it?
Betty:  It was fine; I’ve not had any problems. I’ve done really well.  I would recommend it to anybody. A friend of mine he has just recently had it done. He’s lost 50 pounds and he told me I had this done when I saw what it did for you. That made me want to go have it done, and he is also doing really well.
Dr. B: That’s why I wanted you to come here, because people really need to hear from other people.
Betty: Yeah. Well I tell you it’s worth it. When you get handed back your life, to where you had a life that you haven’t had for like twenty something years, you get out and do things. My kids are proud of me; they are just amazed, they make me feel really well. They say mama you look like the old mama we had.
Dr. B: That’s great, makes me feel good hearing your story. So what are you able to eat what you want or not as much? Or are there foods you have to stay away from?
Betty: Beef is a little problem for me, but fortunately tuna fish which has a lot of protein I am really well with that. I eat a lot of fish, protein shakes, and vitamins. But you don’t want to eat a whole lot. I like seafood and I do ok with that. Recently had an oyster roast and I couldn’t keep but three down, and I normally eat the whole pile, but I had eaten earlier. It’s nice to be able to sit down and eat normal.
Dr. B:  Yeah. Let me ask you this, this is kind of an odd question, do you have a sense where food may have been controlling your life then after your now in control of the food.
Betty: Yes.
Dr. B: It kind of flips right?
Betty:  It flip-flopped it did because now it’s like you said I have control over the food instead of it having control over me. There are foods that I used to crave and I don’t anymore which is good because a lot of it was sweet. And I didn’t need that as a diabetic. The diabetes was controlling me because I couldn’t control my appetite. And now I’m in control of it and over it and done with it. It just seems really good.
Dr. B: It is remarkable.
Betty: It saved my life and a lot of money on prescriptions.
Dr. B: That’s great. Well congratulations and thank you so much for taking the time to talk.

Single port surgery is performed using a telescopic rod that is connected to a video camera for the doctors to see as they begin working on an individual’s body. The equipment is inserted through a very small incision in the abdominal area.

Although Single Incision Lapband (SILS) surgery has been done in some centers around the country, In March I performed Southwest Geogia’s first SILS procedure. The procedure I performed is different from what other surgeons have done because what we did is truly cosmetic. The incision I made was placed at the belly button; the scar will be hidden when it heals. Other surgeons usually make a 2 to 3 inch incision in the upper abdomen. In that location, the scar is plainly visible, through a single incision at the belly button, though, the scar is much more cosmetic.

Being the first to perform the single incision surgery at the belly button is consistent with my commitment to bringing the best and latest surgical techniques to our patients. Putting a 2 inch incision on the upper abdomen is not really a true advance. If we’re going to embrace a new approach, then we’re going to kick the can down the road, not kick it sideways and claim it was kicked down the road.