Weight-Loss Options

Gastric Bypass Surgery

The Roux-en-Y laparoscopic gastric bypass can help many severely overweight (100 pounds or more) people lose their excess weight, maintain their weight loss, and enjoy a dramatic increase in quality of life.

Gastric bypass surgery reduces the size of the stomach by using a staple line to partition the stomach into two parts, with a very small "pouch" above the staple line. This tiny pouch can hold about one ounce, about the size of your thumb. The pouch is then hooked up to a segment of small intestine.

After surgery, food will travel down your throat and enter the small pouch. The food exits through a small opening into the small intestine, then travels down this new pathway, eventually entering the large intestine.

This may give patients control over their hunger so that they're satisfied with a small amount of food. In addition, they should be free from hunger in between meals.

Adjustable Gastric Band

While the Roux-en-Y procedure for gastric bypass surgery is considered the gold standard in the bariatric industry, the adjustable gastric band (AGB) procedure gives severely obese patients a choice when considering their options to dramatically improve their health. The Center for Weight Management offers both the LAP-BAND® System and REALIZE™ Band.

The AGB procedure doesn't require stomach cutting and stapling or gastrointestinal re-routing to bypass normal digestion. Instead, a silicone ring is placed around the upper part of the stomach and filled with saline in its inner surface. This creates a new, smaller stomach pouch that can hold only a small amount of food.

Once in place, an access port fixed beneath the skin of the abdomen allows your surgeon to change the stoma size by adding or subtracting saline. The diameter of the band will be modified to meet individual needs.

With the gastric band in place, you will feel full sooner and longer than usual. This results in less food consumed at one time and makes it easier for you to participate in healthy eating and lifestyle habits.

Non-Surgical (LEARN)

If you are not interested in surgery, but are looking for a program that will guide and assist you in your weight-loss journey, the Center for Weight Management offers a 15-week medically-supervised, comprehensive weight management program for motivated weight-loss patients.

LEARN (Lifestyle - Exercise - Attitudes - Relationships - Nutrition) teaches key weight-management principles which help program participants develop unique techniques for applying these principles to their daily lives.

The LEARN membership site enhances participation in the program. If you are a LEARN member, log on at www.weightmanagementmn.com/LEARN/ to interact with other participants and experts, ask questions, and learn how to become successful in your weight-loss journey. For more information, call Amy at 218-237-5757.