Updated 10/15/2008 05:00 AM
StomaphyX
Elizabeth Ives is just one of thousands of gastric bypass patients who've had to go back for surgery more than once.
“I'd gained a lot of weight back. I'd gained 90 pounds and it was just not good,” said Ives.
But instead of going back under the knife, her surgeons had a new option for her. Doctors at Beth Israel Medical Center are now using a non-invasive incision-free technique called StomaphyX for patients in need of corrective surgery. Instead of cutting the stomach back open, surgeons perform the surgery through the mouth using a fiberoptic endoscope. Once the scope hits the stomach, surgeons are able to use it to staple the pouch and make it smaller.
“We took a procedure that took up to several hours to do and with the StomaphyX, we developed a procedure that took 45 minutes. We took a procedure that entailed a hospital stay of several days, to a hospital stay of one day,” said Dr. J.L. Holup.
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Ives lost 10 pounds within the first week after having the procedure. She says she was blown away by the recovery time.
“The recovery time was so fast it was scary. I was waiting for something to happen. I thought one of the fasteners released or broke. Because I am not feeling the pain as much as I felt from the last time,” said Ives.
The surgeons here emphasize while this procedure is a fix, it is no magic bullet. And when it comes to weight loss, a lot of the work is still up to the patients.
“The main drawback is an unrealistic expectation of what we can offer. Patients on average will lose about 2/3 to 3/4 of their excess weight after the gastric bypass procedure, so when they regain some of that, especially after this procedure, they'll have to understand that they are not going to lose the same amount of weight they did after the first procedure. They have to use this as a tool. They have to get back on track in terms of watching their calories and showing good nutrition and of course exercise,” said Dr. Elliot Goodman.
Something Ives says she's determined to stick to.
“When you lose 10 pounds, there is a lot to be said for that. Anytime I doubt that I go to the store and I hold 10 one pound packages of margarine and I feel what that feels like,” Ives said.