Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery Follow Up
By Carolyn Johnson – ABC7 San Francisco
Is This A New Weight Loss Solution?
In May we followed a patient through a relatively new stomach reduction procedure, a Gastric Sleeve, and the patient was told to expect dramatic changes within the first three months. We wanted to see if the promises held true, so we went along for his three months checkup. Gregg Jossart, M.D., California Pacific Medical Center: “He’s a tall man, so he’ll probably lose about 70 to 80 pounds in the first ninety days, and his diabetes will probably be cured two to three months from now, and his blood pressure should be dramatically improved and that should be cured as well.”                                                                                                                                                         Bold predictions from Dr. Gregg Jossart, chief of minimally invasive surgery at California Pacific Medical Center.                                          Patient Scott Coffelt weighed in at 340 pounds the day of surgery. With small incisions, similar to those used for gastric banding or the “lap band”, doctors separated Scott’s stomach from the surrounding tissue and stapled off the majority of it, leaving just a tiny pouch. The rest of his stomach, removed for good along with the part that produces the hormone ghrelin, believed responsible for stimulating appetite. Unlike a gastric bypass, the intestines were not re-routed.                                                                                                                                                               Dr. Jossart: “You’ve lost 65 pounds in about 90 days.”                                                                                                                                      And with that weight loss came great gains.                                                                                                                                                         Scott Coffelt, stomach reduction patient: “I haven’t taken any medication since the day after surgery. Nothing for diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, any of that. all the pills are gone.”
More http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=edell&id=5556228
