SAFER ALTERNATIVE? LAP-BAND PROCEDURE HELPS PATIENTS WITH PORTION CONTROL THAT RESULTS IN WEIGHT LOSS.

Byline: SEMHAR DEBESSAI>

LA.COM 

If you ask 35-year-old Vicki Joseph what motivated her drastic measures, she'll probably say it was her young son.

That motivation almost led her to Mexico two years ago to seek an affordable option for weight-loss surgery. Almost.

At 5-foot-2 and 280 pounds, Joseph was morbidly obese.

"My health was deteriorating," she said, recalling more desperate times. "I had high cholesterol, pain in my feet. ... I was getting injections in my feet (to relieve the pain)."

A final diagnosis of sleep apnea pushed her to get deadly serious. The condition caused her to stop breathing up to 50 times an hour and raised her cardiac death risk. She figured she had to do something or she wouldn't be around to see her son graduate high school.

At her practitioner's urgings, Joseph eliminated any thoughts of going to Mexico. With some additional knowledge, she passed on the option of gastric bypass surgery, even though her insurance would have covered the cost.

"(The) statistics of people dying (from complications) were too high," said Joseph. "I had a little boy to live for."

Soon after, she was introduced to the lesser-known Lap-Band adjustable gastric banding surgery. She was intrigued.

"I tried Weight Watchers, Atkins ... (the new) Alli drug," said Joseph, but none of it worked in the long-term.

Overweight, and with a desire to live -- and not just look -- better, Joseph found herself caught in a "vicious circle" of weight gain: taking medication that hindered weight loss and battling a depression that encouraged it.

Joseph found that the Lap-Band procedure solved -- at least for her -- what those other methods couldn't. It wasn't a matter of discipline, she explained, "it was a matter of feeling satisfied."

Dr. Helmuth Billy, a surgeon practicing in Ventura and Thousand Oaks, said the appeal of the Lap-Band procedure is that it isn't about food deprivation but about practicing portion control when patients have "never been able to (do it) on their own."

The procedure is considered a safer alternative to the highly publicized gastric bypass procedure chosen by celebrities such as TV's Star Jones and "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson.

The Lap-Band is a rubberband-like device that's surgically placed around the upper part of the stomach. This tubing creates a smaller space (almost like a second stomach) that the food enters before proceeding to the rest of the stomach for digestion.

With a smaller space to fill, initially, the brain gets the message that the stomach is full sooner.

The procedure does not require stomach cutting and stapling, or gastrointestinal rerouting, to bypass normal digestion.

The rate of weight loss depends on the grip of the tube, adjusted by filling (or extracting) "normal saline" fluid in the tube, accessible just beneath the skin.

Billy said it's safe, explaining "if it leaks out, the body just absorbs it."

Of course Lap-Band, made by Allergan of Santa Barbara, isn't for everyone. Patients must have a BMI (body mass index) that's considered obese, or greater than 35. A healthy BMI is between 20 and 25.

Approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2001, this bariatric service has been on the menu of options at Billy's practice for years. Still, he is adamant with patients that post-op maintenance is necessary for complete, life-changing results.

"The responsible practice is to emphasize diet and exercise," he said, also stressing the importance of follow-up appointments and consideration of each patient's unique weight-gaining circumstances.

And if a patient fails to maintain? "If you over-indulge, it's like pouring into a funnel," Billy said. "Patients learn that quickly because those are unpleasant feelings."

For Joseph, there's nothing unpleasant about her life now, she said.

"(My life is) excellent," she said. "There's no comparison."

If others are skeptical about her weight-loss pursuits, Joseph doesn't mind too much. She's 100 pounds lighter since the surgery and continues to incorporate healthy eating habits into her daily life, with smaller portions able to satisfy her body and her mind.

"If you're not feeling that hunger feeling all the time, sure it's easy to lose weight," said Joseph.

After what seemed like a lifetime of dieting, she was well aware of what, and what not, to eat.

"It was definitely a matter of feeling satisfied," she said.

Semhar Debessai, [phone]

[e-mail]

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) THE LAP-BAND

CAN THIS DEVICE HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT?

(2 -- color) Vicky Joseph, above, who lost 100 pounds after having Lap-Band Adjustable Gastric Banding Surgery.

DAVID SPRAGUE>LA.COM

(3 -- color) no caption (Lap-Band)

Box:

BYPASS vs. BANDING

>S.D.