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Gateway to long-term weightloss... Gateway to a NEW YOU!
Is it possible for weight loss surgery to fail? Well, the answer is yes. Weight loss surgery is only a tool. It is not a miracle. For a person to be successful, they absolutely need to make lifestyle changes and it turns out there really are a lot of changes involving that, but I believe the two most important changes are having a healthy diet and exercise. And in fact, I believe any person that can make those changes of the healthy diet and exercise, those people are going to do absolutely wonderful after weight loss surgery. So, as you goes through this process, you really need to look at yourself and understand, are you going to be the type of person that is going to find the time to make these lifestyle changes because if you are not sure you are going to find that time to make changes, you probably would not benefit from a Lap-Band, and if you realize that you probably will not make any lifestyle changes at all, then again you may not even benefit from a gastric bypass.
How long does a process take? Well, that really depends on two main factors, the individual looking for weight loss surgery and the insurance company. The first important step is the educational seminar. Next step is getting all the appropriate medical and diet history forms to our office for our review. Third step is having the complete history and physical examination by me, and then lastly our office will do a predetermination letter that we will submit to your insurance company. Once we get an approval for surgery, typically we schedule your operation at that time and it is usually about two to four weeks after the approval from the insurance company. In our program, we simply do not have any waiting list. We are able to run things very efficiently.
I had the gastric bypass, the Roux-en-Y on April 19, 2000. My starting weight was 324 pounds. Today, I am at 214 pounds. I have lost 110 pounds. My starting BMI was 52 and my current BMI is 35. I chose to have the Roux-en-Y because I wanted this to be a permanent weight loss for me. I had a lot of foot, ankle, knee, hip and lower back pain. I was in very good health otherwise, but I was really hurting. I was not able to enjoy activities that I enjoy doing. I decided to have the weight loss surgery because I want to live till I am 100 and I want to play softball again and I want to be outside. I love to swim. I did not like how I felt in a bathing suit. Now I feel like, “It’s great, let’s go.” I chose Dr. Wagner because a friend of mine had the surgery. He is amazing. He is patient with me. He talks to me when I have questions. He was very thorough. He did an excellent job beforehand explaining this is what we are going to do and this is how we are going to do it. He also gave me a lot of knowledge into what I needed to change because for me this was a mental change. This is a lifelong permanent change and I needed to be mentally prepared and I have done that and I am very satisfied. I feel amazing. I felt wonderful.
I had gastric bypass surgery on March 31, 2005, 5 a.m. in the morning. My BMI was 66, 445 pounds. My BMI now is 28 at 189 pounds and the reason why I decided to have surgery was because life was very difficult. I was barely able to get around in life and everything, and I felt like life was fixed or directly go downhill and so I went to a couple of different seminars, ended up with Dr. Wagner’s seminar, really liked him. Decided that was where I wanted to go with. Did a whole lot of research on it. There was a lot of testing done and I have had a very good outcome. I am very happy with Dr. Wagner’s surgery and myself and had a brand new life to start with. Life is good.
I had the lap band surgery June of 2003, I was Dr. Wagner’s third patient here in St Louis. One of my tenants in the building had the gastric bypass surgery. He recommended me coming to Dr. Wagner’s seminar. I did, I fell in love with him, his staff, Sarah is just absolutely wonderful. When I got on the scale, I said something has got to be done. So, I scheduled it. I weighed more than any football player in St Louis. And now I am just thrilled with the results. I’ve lost over 130 pounds. My BMI was a 50 and now it’s a 30. Dr Wagner was just absolutely wonderful, his bedside manner was absolutely incredible. When you are that overweight you don’t have any confidence in yourself and he builds up your self-esteem. And I am very happy.
I had my surgery on November 19, 2004. I had full gastric bypass. My BMI was 52. My weight was 438 pounds. I am now at 295 pounds. My BMI is 35. The reason I had the surgery was I had diabetes severely, I had sleep apnea severely, I had high blood pressure. I was losing feeling in my feet, my legs. My general doctor called me an insulin sponge I could take 200, 300, 400 units of insulin a day and I would never get below 300 sugar count. So, I thought it is time if you want to see 50, it is time to have it done. Since I have had it done, I have been really active. I have normal blood pressure. My sugar is at 90 all the time. I do not have high blood sugar. I have got feeling back in my feet and legs. I do not have sleep apnea any more and I am enjoying life now. I am enjoying it big time.
My name is Celeste Berry. I am now 36 years old. I had the weight loss surgery. I had the Lap-Band on February 01, 2006. My BMI started out at 37 and I am now to 25. I have lost approximately 80 to 81 pounds and it has been a life-changing experience for me. My eating habits have changed and everything in my world has pretty much changed and I was at the mall and there I was trying on a pair of jeans and you know how they get that three-way mirror behind you. I was trying a pair of jeans and I could not get those jeans past my thighs and at that point I was so frustrated with myself. At that point I called the phone number right there in the dressing room and it has changed my life dramatically. So that was my turning point and before then I did not know anybody that had the surgery, so that is pretty much what did it for me between the three-way mirror, I could not get the jeans on that I wanted, that did it for me. I will recommend that anyone that is out there that knows that they need to make a change, I will recommend to you between Dr. Wagner and his staff with Sarah and everybody here. I would recommend that you go ahead and take that chance. It is a lifestyle change but you will be happy that you did it. I have no regrets. I have not had any complications and I am proud to be here today. I am happy.
I had my surgery in October of 2005. I weighed 333 pounds and my BMI was 59. I now weigh 155 pounds and my BMI is 27. I chose Lap-Band over gastric bypass after going to one of Dr. Wagner’s seminars and I just felt that it was the right thing for me to do. It has changed my life in the most incredible way. Because of the weight that I carried, I always had really bad knees and my doctor told me that eventually I would have to have knee replacements and since then I have not had to have any type of surgery on my knees. It is just an incredible. My blood pressure is down. I am almost off of my blood pressure medicine and I can do things that I have not been able to do in almost 30 years. I can keep up with my two grown children. I have a granddaughter that I am going to live to see and see her grow and my life is just incredible. It is not an easy path to take but it is one that is well worth it.
What a person can expect with their surgical experience begins about a week before surgery. At that time, the patient will come to our office. We have a number of things that they will do. They will then go to the hospital facility to get blood work done and any specialized testing. Also about a week to two weeks before surgery, patients will start a clear liquid diet. At the time of surgery, every person will show up in the morning of their operation. If you have a Lap-Band, it can be done as an outpatient procedure in the surgery center, or if you have it in the hospital, it is typically a one-night stay in the hospital. If you have a laparoscopic gastric bypass, that is typically two nights in the hospital. At our hospital, we do have accommodations. Everyone will get a private room and family members are able to stay with the patients while they are in the hospital. After surgery, our patients will come back to my office where I will see you one week after surgery. As far as deciding when you can return to work with a Lap-Band, I recommend that patients take one week off of work. Some people choose to go back sooner. If you have a laparoscopic gastric bypass, I recommend two weeks off of work and again some patients want to go back as soon as one week.
Every patient will come to my office where I will do a complete history and a detailed focused physical examination. After that process, I will talk to every patient of what I believe the risks of their particular situation is and then I will tell them what I feel is the best operation for them, whether it is the Lap-Band or the laparoscopic gastric bypass. After that, the patients will tell me what operation they prefer. We will hash out the details but the bottom-line is, I am going to do the operation that the patient wishes.
