ORLANDO, Fla. – A short and relatively inexpensive weight loss procedure -- the Mini-Gastric Bypass -- is helping patients lose weight and even saving lives, according to a Local 6 News report.
The Mini-Gastric Bypass is a laparoscopic gastric bypass weight loss surgery that can easily be reversed or revised, according to The Centers for Excellence in Laparoscopic Obesity Surgery Web site.
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The Local 6 report featured Floridian Barbara Pickering as she prepared to get the surgery.
"I am so excited," Pickering said. "I am looking forward to getting my old life back. I'm excited that I'll be able to climb inclines without knee pain."
Pickering was undergoing the procedure at the Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center in Davenport, Fla., -- one of only four places in the country to offer the procedure.
"The surgery itself usually takes less than an hour," Doctor Cesar Peragli said.
"Not only is it faster, but this gastric-bypass surgery is done laparoscopically," Local 6's Nancy Alvarez said. "Surgeons like Dr. Cesar Peragli work through small cuts using special tools and a television screen."
"The advantage is you are not making big incisions, less chance for infection, hernia, less chance for prolonged healing time," Peragli said.
Also, another big difference between the surgery and other bypass surgeries is that fewer connections are made between the new stomach and the intestines, the report said.
"The second cause of death in weight loss surgery is leaks from those connections," Peragli said. "So, if you can cut those connections down you cut the possibility of having leaks down."
Peragli explains the advantages in weekly seminars that are getting more and more crowded, the report said.
Former patients like Matt Keifer return to share their stories.
"Before (Keifer's) mini-gastric bypass surgery, he weighed 322 pounds," Alvarez said. "In just over a year, he has lost almost 150 (pounds)."
Pickering is hoping for the same results.
She was discharged the day after surgery.
"There is relatively little pain," Pickering said after the surgery. "Your discharged on Tylenol, period."
"After reaching 300 pounds, Barbara is expected to weigh 140 pounds by this time next year," Alvarez said.
"I am looking forward to people seeing less and less of me," Pickering said.
"Doctors say another major advantage to mini-gastric bypass surgery is the price," Alvarez said.
The average cost is about $1,7000 while other gastric bypass surgeries range between $30,000 to $60,000.
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