POSE A NEW
SURGERY FOR WEIGHT LOSS!
As most of you know I
am in the midst of reorganizing my business from top to bottom and from bottom
to top. I went to the library yesterday
to concentrate on soaking up as must information as possible from the many new manuals
that are now in my life. But of course
when I sat down the May issue of Glamour magazine was on the table right in
front of me! Could I resist? You know
the answer! The article titled, The Shocking New Surgery to Lose Just 25 Pounds
grabbed
my attention. We have all heard of gastric bypass and lap-band surgeries
for weight loss of 100 pounds or more but a surgery for those wanting or needing
to lose less than a 100 pounds. The POSE (Primary
Obesity Surgery, Endolumenal) procedure, according to their website, is aimed
at those individuals looking to lose between 20 and 70 pounds. The Surgical
Specialists of Louisiana is one of only a select few sites in the United States
to make this procedure available.
The
Glamour article features a patient from Louisiana who dropped from 160 pounds
to 128 pounds (32 pounds) in about 6 months time. The surgery known as POSE is
performed under general anesthesia and takes about an hour; the surgeon puts a
scope down the throat into the stomach and basically folds the stomach lining
over anchoring it in place with sutures. By decreasing the patient's stomach
size, the patient should get fuller faster which in turn decreases the
patient's hunger. Because this procedure uses an endoscope, you do not see any
visible incisions which according to the POSE website, "should lessen
complications, shorten the patient's recovery time, lessen hunger and bring
long-lasting weight loss results."
The advantage of this
procedure rather than the more well known is that the patient does not have to
radically alter their way of eating. They are able to eat the same foods they
did prior to this procedure just less of them. However, because this procedure
has only been performed on 90 patients, according to the Glamour article, the
long-term effects remain to be seen.
You may be asking what the cost of this procedure is. According to the Glamour article the surgery is about $11,600. As to whether or not this new procedure is covered under insurance, according to the POSE website this "procedure is currently pending financial approval of insurance providers."
You may be asking what the cost of this procedure is. According to the Glamour article the surgery is about $11,600. As to whether or not this new procedure is covered under insurance, according to the POSE website this "procedure is currently pending financial approval of insurance providers."
After reading this
article, (yes it was a distraction I went to the library to avoid) I have some
concerns. I think this is a bit extreme
to lose this amount of weight. This procedure has only been performed since
2009 and on fewer than 100 patients; do the doctors really know what the
long-term results or affects will be?
I think we all know
our weight gain or loss is the result of many complex issues-- eating too much,
not enough movement in our lives, eating to control life when stress threatens
to overwhelm us. I do not see a difference between this surgery and the others
when the patients are sent home without the knowledge or skills to control life’s
issues. Exercise and learning to manage
stress have to be addressed and this isn't done with just a surgical procedure.
I did not really find any information on nutrition except that patients just
need to eat smaller portions of the food that they already eat. So I would think just as with the other
surgeries you would be able to stretch out the stomach and easily regain the
weight!
I think $11,600 (not
including the travel expense of getting to New Orleans) is a very costly way to
lose a small amount of weight. I say
hire a good Personal Trainer, get some good nutrition advice and throw in some
good old fashion sweat. You know what results you will get!
Commit to get fit,
Debra
