FAQs

B.M.I. or body mass index is a number that we calculate to give significance to the relationship between your height and weight. It means something very different for a 7 foot tall man to weigh 300 pounds as opposed to a 5 foot tall woman weighing 300 lbs. This number helps us to account for these issues and to put people into categories that indicate how sick the extra weight is making them.

This number will be calculated for you by Dr. Seger or Dr. Duperier in your office visit, but you can figure out roughly what it is based upon your ideal body weight and the type of operation that you choose.

Most of the risks of weight loss surgery are similar to any other surgery on the abdomen. Bleeding, infection, need for corrective procedures, hernias, wound problems are all very low risks.

Leak after a gastric bypass or a sleeve operation is a 1% risk. A leak with a band operation is extremely rare since no new connections or resections are being done. The risk of death with a gastric bypass or sleeve is 1/500 in the United States. It is 1/5000 to 1/10000 with the band. Risk of slippage or shifting of the band is about 3% over the life of the band. These can usually be surgically corrected without need for removal of the band. The risk of an erosion of the band into the stomach is 1%. This, while rare, does require removal of the band. There are also risks of ulcers or swallowing problems. There is a risk of a blood clot forming in the legs or in the pelvis. If a blood clot breaks free and lodges in the lungs this is called a pulmonary embolism. This is uncommon, but is something all surgeons worry about as it is difficult to manage. Failure to lose weight, while rare, is risk as well. It usually involves a compliance problem however. There maybe other risks of these operations that we don’t yet know as weight loss surgery is a new field of medicine, and some of the operations are very new. This list is a partial list of risks, a more complete description is available at our seminar.

While the operations are a very important piece of the puzzle that will help you get more healthy, they are by themselves incomplete. You will soon have an incredible tool at your disposal to help you fight a disease that has been to this point overwhelming. In order for you to achieve success, you must know how to best use that tool. This is where the team comes into play. The dietitians and psychology staff will help you to understand how food choices and behavioral changes have in the past led you into trouble, but in the future will lead you to success that you may have thought impossible. Most insurance companies will require that patients meet with these individuals before approving the surgery. We feel that the team approach is critical to you getting the most out of your surgery.

You can discover this by calling your insurance carrier directly, or you can come to a seminar and we will find out for you.

This depends almost entirely on the requirements of your insurance company. Many carriers require extended physician monitored diet appointments for 3 or 6 consecutive months. As soon as you are approved, we will be ready to proceed. If you do not have to go through your insurance company, the time can be very short (even a week or 2).

This is different depending on which operation you choose. Our dietitians will go over in more detail the diet plan at your initial visit. In general, most patients are on liquids for a couple of weeks followed by a progression to soft and then regular food.

Adjustments are done in our clinic with the help of fluoroscopy (x-ray). We place a small needle through the skin into the port. This does not hurt most patients. The band is then adjusted by adding or removing fluid as you drink some barium (contrast dye) to adjust your band to the level that is right for you.

After we get approval for your surgery, you will receive a call form our office to set your date! We will also arrange one final pre-op visit where Dr. Seger or Dr. Duperier will go over any last minute questions and tell you how things are going to go the day of your surgery. You will also be given instructions on a liquid protein based pre-op diet that will help you lose a few pounds before your surgery and make your operation easier.

You will need to be at the hospital 2-3 hours before the operation. You should have nothing to eat or drink after midnight the night before the surgery. You may take needed medicines with a sip of water the morning of surgery. We will go over your medicines with you at the pre-op visit. When you get to the hospital you will check in and get a gown and an IV. We will go over together and sign the permit for surgery. The nurse and the anesthesiologist will then give you some medicine to relax you and then take you to the operating room where you will be put under general anesthesia. Once the operation is done, the doctors will speak to your family or friends. You will be in recovery room for about an hour, and then moved to your room on the floor. If you are a band patient you will moved to a staging area and then allowed to go home a few hours later after we are sure that you are drinking fluids and that your pain is controlled well with the liquid medicine. Sleeve and Bypass patients will arrive on the floor and be given 2 main jobs. The first is to get out of bed and WALK! The second is to take deep breaths using a special machine called an incentive spirometer. These will help you to recover and assist in preventing potential complications like blood clots and pneumonia.

The day after surgery you will be given a liquid diet. If things are progressing, later that day we will remove the IV fluids completely! You will continue to walk as much as you can. The more you do, the better you will feel.

Most patients will be allowed to go home on the second or third day after surgery.