Damaris Cain knows what success looks like following weight-loss surgery. She can see it in the 60 pounds she has lost in a year following her surgery, and the achievements of Laura Cain in the two years since her procedure.
Damaris Cain's weight gain corresponded with her rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis in 2005. In the process of getting her RA under control she developed diabetes, high blood pressure and fibromyalgia.
Once my rheumatoid arthritis was controlled by medicine, I wanted to get the weight off because I wanted to be healthier and feel better, the 39-year-old Cape Girardeau resident said.
In March 2011, bariatric surgeon Dr. Van Wagner completed a sleeve gasteroectomy for Damaris. In the procedure about 85 percent of the stomach is removed, leaving a sleeve-shaped pouch with about 15 percent of its original capacity.
My diabetes is gone. It was really like it just disappeared. I was so incredibly happy, Damaris said. My high blood pressure is better. It has not been resolved, but within two months of my procedure, I was able to move down to a lower dose of blood pressure medicine.
With sleeve gasteroectomy the stomach is reduced from about the size of a football to the size and shape of a banana, Dr. Wagner said.
Patients don't have as much appetite, and they are simply not able to eat as much food, he said. The gastric sleeve eliminates the portion of the stomach that produces a hormone that stimulates hunger.
The change in diet was not as difficult as Damaris envisioned.
I thought that would be the hardest part, but it actually has been the easiest, she said. My taste for food has changed. Pre-surgery I would have eaten all the carbs, but now I don't even like white bread. Before surgery I never ate fish, and now I really like it.
The paradox of having a smaller stomach has made me seek out tastier food. I know my stomach will not hold as much, so I want to make sure what I eat tastes good, Damaris said.
Read the original post:
Weight loss surgery success includes improved health
