Durban - Picture an obese person and someone gorging themselves comes to mind. However, the global epidemic is far more complex.
For Umdloti-based Sean Lapin a quad bike accident in 2003, in which he cracked his shoulder, changed his life forever.
Lapin, now 44, endured six years of pain and botched surgery.
“I spent five Christmases in hospital and counted about 33 surgerical procedures in those years.”
He believes copious amount of drugs and stress brought on diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol and 183kg he found himself carrying.
“I watched a lot of DStv and so arrived at the idea to have a gastric bypass. I opted for stomach stapling rather than the loop.”
According to Dr Craig Campbell, a surgeon at Life Entabeni Hospital in Durban, the most commonly performed operation for morbid obesity worldwide is the Roux-en-y gastric bypass.
“This operation is performed with keyhole (laparoscopic) surgery. It has two components; firstly to reduce the size of the stomach to a very small pouch and secondly to shorten the small intestine by bypassing a segment of small bowel.
“The small stomach pouch reduces food intake and increases the feeling of satiety. The bypass segment of intestine reduces the absorption of nutrients, particularly sugar. This has a significant impact on diabetes.
“The expected weight loss is about 60 percent of the excess body weight. About 90 percent of patients will have resolution of their diabetes, 70 percent resolution of their hypertension and a high incidence of cure for their sleep apnoea. Cholesterol profiles improve significantly as does joint pain associated with osteoarthritis.”
Campbell says, “As the operation can result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies, life-long supplements are required.” There are also anaesthetic and operative risks, increased by the patient's obesity and the often present hypertension and diabetes.
He says,”Risks specific to the operation include leaks from the join between the stomach pouch and the intestine and bleeding and deep vein thrombosis.
Lapin says, “It took five months to persuade medical aid to pay for the op, but they were eventually convinced by the fact that it would save them money in the long run.”
In just six months he is now more than 50kg lighter. “No more medication and insulin injections,” he says, were well worth the month-long liquid diet.
He did experience side effects such as‘dumping syndrome’ – nausea and diarrhoea – once he began eating solids.
“I battled to find a dietician who knew much on the subject or a support group locally. So learning what I could and could not eat was up to me.”
Steak, surprisingly, is no problem at all – in the right quantity. His triggers include scrambled eggs, lettuce, most cheeses and pineapple.
Interestingly, he doesn’t have any cravings, but believes this is because he did not have a problematic relationship with food to begin with.
He is a firm advocate for the procedure, saying “I remember always being tired. Now I can chase after my son.”
The Mercury