NORTHSTAR NEWS

Couple Closing in on Goal Weights After Having Lap Banding Procedure

06/26/09

By Kim Davis | FOR THE AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Reprinted with permission from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Friday, June 26, 2009

Rob and Brenda Tapley of Muleshoe have been overweight most of their lives. 
"I don't think there's a diet we haven't tried over the years," Brenda said. "You name it, I know I've tried it." 
Rob added, "And they've all worked ... for a while. And then the weight comes back, plus some." 
But the couple hope a surgical procedure called laparoscopic gastric banding has changed that. 
Both Rob and Brenda had been researching weight loss surgery as a last resort for months. 
"My 'aha' moment was realizing that I was closing in on 60 years old," Rob said. "And I really wanted to be as healthy as I could be ... and I knew my health wasn't where it should be."

Rob, 59, was 100 pounds overweight and was battling a hiatal hernia, high cholesterol and high blood pressure - all of which he was taking prescription medication to keep under control.

Brenda was in constant pain from two knee surgeries earlier in life and was facing the threat of hip surgery because of her extra 65 pounds.

"We were both very clear on why we needed to lose weight," she said. "And it had nothing to do with cosmetic reasons. It was important for us to get healthy. Pure and simple."

Their research on weight loss surgery brought them to the office of Dr. David Hall in Lubbock.

The procedure
Hall explained laparoscopic gastric banding, or lap banding, as a minimally invasive surgical procedure that requires a few small incisions in order to place an adjustable silicone ring that goes around the upper part of the stomach, limiting the amount of food a person can eat.

"The ring has a flexible balloon along the inside that can be filled with saline solution to make the lap band tighter," Hall said. "Tightening the lap band decreases the amount of food a patient needs to feel full and increases the amount of fat the body burns as an alternative source of energy. Since the lap band simply cuts back on the amount of food ingested and promotes a feeling of fullness, it allows weight to be lost in a more natural manner than that of other weight-loss surgeries."

Losing weight
The Tapleys had the procedure one day apart in September at NorthStar Surgical Center, where each was released within only a few hours after surgery.

"It was amazing how quickly we were able to be in and out for something like this," Brenda said. "We stayed in Lubbock for a few days for follow-up appointments with Dr. Hall to be sure we were responding well to the procedure, but each of our stays at NorthStar was absolutely painless, and the experience was as good as I could have possibly imagined."
Hall explained that like dieting men and women, men tend to lose weight at a faster rate because of their higher metabolism and lower percentage of body fat.

"It was a little frustrating at first to see Rob taking off the weight so much quicker than I was," Brenda said. "But, I guess I was used to it, because he always lost weight quicker. No matter what diet we had ever been on in the past, that was always the case."

Now, Rob is less than 15 pounds from his goal of being under 200 pounds. Brenda, too, is less than 15 pounds from her goal weight. Their "before" pictures look like two different people.

Being healthy
Brenda is no longer in jeopardy of needing hip surgery, and her knees no longer hurt. Rob no longer takes any medication for cholesterol or hiatal hernia, and the dosage of his blood pressure medicine has been cut in half. His hope is for that to go away as well.

Hall is equally hopeful, and after more than 5,000 weight loss surgeries, he knows the benefits of a healthy future. 
"More than half of my patients over the years have full-blown diabetes before weight loss surgery," he said. "And only 1 percent continues with diabetes after surgery."

Though diabetes was not a threat for Rob or Brenda, their healthy future and new-found energy has made it all worthwhile.

"It's a whole new world for us, but we had to do it together," Rob said. "Every heavy person has a love affair with food. It's that simple. We couldn't have gotten through this without each other."

Brenda added, "We're lucky that we're each other's best friend. We do everything together, and I'm so glad we did this together. Our energy level is through the roof, and our health is so much better. We both have a long life to look forward to."