HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -
Randy Lee was a hefty man just a few years ago. He was physically active, but he had other problems associated with his weight.
"I weighed 404 pounds at the pinnacle of my weight,I guess, andI got winded walking to the mailbox, but that really didn't stop me. I ran a triathlon at 330 pounds. I developed diabetes, high blood pressure," said Lee.
Lee said he tried to do it himself through diet but failed. And he knew it was dangerous to carry around that much weight. He went to a seminar to learn about weight loss surgery options. He passed on it the first time, and a year later decided to go for it.
Dr. Ravindra Mailapur performed Bariatric surgery on Randy.
"You have to be about 80 to 100 pounds above your ideal body weight to qualify,"said Mailapur.
He said you can also have a body mass index (BMI) of 35. It is one of three choices offered to people thinking about weight loss surgery.
"Gastric bypass does two things. It restricts the amount of food you can eat and causes mal-absorption so you don't absorb all the food you eat. Sleeve Gastrectomy is purely a restricting operation. It restricts the amount of food you eat," said Mailapur. "And the third operation is the Lap Banding, which puts a band in your stomach and creates or makes a small compartment above the band, can be done with a laparoscope."
By using a laparoscope, that means asmaller incision and quicker recovery.
"All the operations, you can pretty much go back to work on an average of five to seven days," added Mailapur.
See the article here:
Weight loss surgery: One man's journey
