fatbutnot4eva
Loves her gorgeous family
thought i woudl put this on here just got an email about it :Ain't No Weigh!: Old clothes take center stage at fashion show
By Jennie Bounds
Blount Memorial Hospital
Seven patients who have undergone weight loss surgery had something to celebrate just before Christmas this year, and they choose to share their joy with others who were contemplating weight loss surgery in 2009 -- as well as bariatric surgeons Dr. Mark Colquitt and Dr. Jonathan Ray -- by participating in the Blount Memorial Weight Management Center's sixth annual bariatric fashion show.
Unlike traditional fashion shows, the models weren't donning the season's newest fashions, though. Instead, the clothes that these patients were proud to show off were clothes they no longer can wear. Weight Management Center bariatric coordinator and registered nurse Dana Bradley said that combined, the fashion show participants for this year's event represent a total weight loss of 746.5 pounds.
"This is an incredible amount of weight loss for our models, but more importantly, this weight loss also represents the resolution of other health conditions and co-morbidities including diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, depression and/or high cholesterol that will last a lifetime," Bradley explains.
No magic bullet
A single bariatric procedure has the potential to cure at least five diseases, according to Colquitt. "Following surgery, the cure and improvement rates for adult-onset diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, gastroesophageal reflux disease and hypercholesterolemia are remarkable," he adds. "If you can lose the weight and keep it off, then the illnesses will get better."
Bradley emphasizes that weight loss surgery isn't a magic bullet designed to erase obesity and that keeping the weight off requires permanent lifestyle changes. "It's important to understand the role that better eating habits and exercise play in the recovery process. You, as the patient, have to be fully committed to each part of the lifelong process."
The lifelong process and permanent lifestyle changes are somewhat easier to make and maintain with a comprehensive program that addresses all of a patient's pre- and post-surgical needs. "Patients are much more likely to maintain weight loss if they have long-term follow-up and ongoing support," Ray says, noting that Blount Memorial's program, which has been deemed a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, has been recognized for focusing on patients' total well-being -- including their physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs.
Three procedures
Currently, Blount Memorial offers three weight loss surgery procedures: gastric bypass, which began in 2002; gastric banding, which began in 2004; and gastric sleeve, which began in 2008. Total weight loss of the more than 800 patients who've had weight loss surgery is in excess of 50,000 pounds -- or 25 tons.
To learn more about weight loss surgery options at Blount Memorial, call 977-4673 to register for an upcoming education seminar, the earliest of which happens in the hospital's auditorium at 6 p.m. Jan. 8.
