Private Facility to Fund Gastric Bypass

Thu Oct 14, 3:20 PM ET

HOUSTON - Two doctors and a hospital offered a free gastric bypass to a 420-pound teenager after another medical center canceled the procedure because his insurance would not pay for it.

Doctors at Obesity Surgery Specialists said 16-year-old Brandon Bennett needs the operation for a chance at a healthy life.

Brandon is often sent home from school because of high blood pressure and an elevated heart rate, and he is too big to be allowed on rides at Six Flags Astroworld.

He had been set to have the bypass at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston this month, until the insurance issue surfaced. After the Houston Chronicle reported on his health problems, the obesity center contacted his family this week.

Pending a final review of Brandon's medical records, the procedure will be performed at Houston Community Hospital, which is also donating its services, said Laurie Cantrell, bariatric program director at Obesity Surgery Specialists.

The so-called stomach-stapling surgery, which usually costs about $25,000, is considered a last resort for morbidly obese people.

Doctors create an egg-sized pouch in the upper stomach and attach it to a section of intestine, reducing how much food patients can eat. Risks of surgery include malnutrition, stomach problems, infections and, rarely, death.

Demand for gastric bypasses has soared following successful procedures by celebrities such as broadcaster Al Roker and singer Carnie Wilson.

Obesity Surgery Specialists has performed about 230 gastric bypasses in the last two years, though none were on adolescents.

Brandon's father, Michael Bennett, said he has confidence in a surgical team experienced in adult surgery because his son, who is 6-foot-2, has the physiology of a grown man.

"I can't believe this is finally going to happen," Michael Bennett said. "I didn't know people like this existed in the world."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm..._gastric_bypass

When will people finally figure out that these drastic surgerys are completely unnecessary. What he [and others like him] needs is to give LCing a try. At over 320 (probably closer to 330-340 lbs) and a BMI of 43-45 I probably could have qualified for such a surgery if I'd wanted it. But, I gave LCing a try and am glad I did.

That's really sad. "Last resort?" He's only sixteen - how could he have run out of options already?



This statement bothers me. WLS is an elective surgery that fixes something that ain't broke, so to speak.



Amen - because that's how he's going to be eating afterward, anyway.

while i dont advocate wls i dont condemn it automatically either. i would never want to wls but this kid if you read the article is "supposedly" having serious complications from his weight like high blood episodes that send him home from school regularly. i imagine the poor kid is stuck in a vicious cycle of serious carb cravings from insulin problems, etc.

sorry to say that i feel that maybe in this case it would be warranted. it sounds as if his health is in immediate danger requiring drastic action. 420 lbs is a lot of weigh for anyone but it must be worse on a growing 16 yr old -the stress it puts on his body. from the reasons he gets sent home a lot it sounds like his blood pressure is out of control which can be deadly suddenly. i hope they do something quickly for him.

I'm sorry to have to disagree Jedswife. Whether he looses weight through gastric bypass or LC'ing, the speed at which he loose will be similar. The surgery does not make him immediately better; it simply forces him to eat small portions of LC food. Good results could potentially be achieved just as well with LC'ing, without having to butcher his insides.

But of course, doctors don't recommended Atkins for kids. It's not good for growing kids they say. Much better to chop up their stomach. Even if the long term consequences of WL surgery are unknown, it's got to be better than that "fad" diet.

It's thinking like that, that has totally turned me off doctors. I was forced to realize that, educated and intelligent as they are, they are still relying on facts "everyone knows". Everyone knows that Atkins is bad for you; therefore WL surgery is safer than Atkins. And that's giving them the benefit of the doubt. Worst case scenario is that they push WL surgery because it's so damn lucrative.

When I watched Supersize me, there was a scene that stayed with me. A man was about to have WL surgery. Turns out that he would drink 1 gallon to 1 1/2 gallon of soda each day. He was diabetic (duh....really?). The surgeon said proudly "Gastric bypass is the only known procedure to cure diabetes". Maybe it's just me, but I noted the careful use of the term "procedure". Technically he's right. What he carefully didn't say was that LC'ing cured diabetes as well, only it's not lucrative like "procedures". What made me sick is that people hearing that will immediately assume that WL surgery is the only thing that cures diabetes. Clever bit of marketing there.

Unfortunately, teenagers experience often volatile mood swings. I think that for a 16 year old, still in many ways a child, the enforced discipline of a diet might be too tough to handle or stick with. If it takes surgery to give him the boost he needs to get on the right track, then I'm glad he has the opportunity. It's hard enough for us adults to find the internal strength to follow something like Atkins, no matter how good it is for us. Try to get a teenager, watching his buddies eat their pizza and drink their soda pop, to deny himself, when he already probably has so many issues of self-doubt and lack of confidence, the comfort of food - it could be asking too much. I would think that the bypass would allow portion control, while good follow-up counselling would help him make healthy and wise choices after the surgery. He needs help - 16 is too young to be that heavy, and the thought of losing it on his own could be overwhelming for him. If he has confidence in the surgery, and if money is no longer an issue, then I say go for it, and give the boy a chance. But perhaps do the least intrusive type of surgery - isn't there a type of surgery that ties off a portion of the stomach that is a little safer? I'm not up on the details - I just remember back to how I felt as a teen, and also how I felt at 265 pounds - the hopelessness etc. But I'm 44 years old - at 16, it might have gotten the best of me.

It's not impossible to diet as a teen. I started LCing when I was 17, and stuck with it.

I think we should refrain from passing judgement on this young man and his family. As a parent of two teens, I am well aware of how complicated their emotional life is. As a parent of a teen who has had emotional problems, I am also well aware of how easy it is for outsiders to think they have the answer to my child's problems, when they have no clue as to what is really going on. I have been on the wrong end of well meant advice way too many times.

We don't have all the facts here. I feel sad that this young man is in this situation, but I will not judge him or his family for how they choose to deal with it.

I don't think we need to treat teenagers like idiots. They can reason and think for themselves. I'm sure that if someone in authority (like a doctor) told this fellow that if he just cut out his soda pop and sugar and trans fat because they were killing him, he would gladly do so. Unfortunately, he is getting absolutely no dietary guidance from anyone that I can see. If people can feed their epileptic children an extremely low carb diet so they don't get seizures, I'm sure they can tell a teen how to eat (if they really knew how to eat themselves). Even if this teen gets surgery, if he continues eating the crap he has been eating, even if he loses weight, he will never be healthy.

Yes, I agree - I dieted as a teen as well. And as a young adult, and as an adult, and again and again. But I wasn't over 400 pounds at the time, and it doesn't appear that you were either - forgive me if I'm wrong. All I'm saying is that sometimes what seems like the right answer for one person isn't the right answer for another. I'm sure that all the options have been considered and that the family and medical staff are making what they feel is the best decision under the circumstances. Let's hope that follow-up nutritional and fitness counselling will be provided.

THere is this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1372832.stm

There is also another form of gastric bypass that is less invasive, but at this moment, the name escapes me.

I started LCing when I was 20, and I'm 22 now. I actually gained 122 lbs, going from 5'8" 168 lbs to 6'0" 290 lbs between ages 15 and 17. I was on LF Diets when I was 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19...I could have probably stuck to the first one if I could have just had Red Meat.

Basically, it was No Red Meat/Refined Sugar/Caffeine, Low Calorie/Fat/Saturated Fat, High Complex Carbs, Moderate Protein (Bread, Pasta, Fish, Skinless Chicken, and Baked Potatoes.) The thing that killed that diet was I just couldn't pass up a 16 oz. Ribeye after a couple months with little to no weight loss.

Since, it had already been pounded into my head that the Steak was the worst thing, I figured I'd blown it and got a Pepsi and Fries with it. I really didn't miss the Soda/Fries that much, I just wanted the Steak...and of course some REAL BUTTER [and more than 1 pat worth] on my Baked Potatoes. I don't care what they say, I could believe it was not Butter...

If I'd known about LCing back then, I would've tried it in a heartbeat...and I could probably have stuck to it even back in my early teens. I didn't even know there was anything other than Low-Fat/Low-Calorie for dieting until a friend told me about his success with Atkins and I gave it a try.

Great point! Tell the kid "If you don't stick to this diet you may die (true in this case) and the kid will either care or not care enough to take care of himself. Besides that, while he is a kid the parents are in charge anyway. They could probably help him fix his situation without risking his death in a dangerous surgical procedure that doesn't fix diddly squat. Are these parents just too lazy? Are their doctors this dumb?

Isn't it some sort of abuse to fatten up a child like livestock and then hire someone to butcher him?

I know diet decisions are hard. Anyone who has read many of my posts knows that I am one the worst food addicts in existence. I make decisions every day that influence my health and weight, some good and some bad, but I cannot imagine having surgery just because I lack enough will power to quit poisoning myself. Surgery would not change my state of mind when it comes to food.

Of course we don't know all the facts in this case, but it seems obvious that almost all cases of WLS are unneeded.

AND!!!!! Low carb doesn't add the risk of the surgery itself! No anesthesia needed....no risk of infection, bleeding, etc.

But they can't recomend LC, it's dangerous!

Whether you agree or disagree with it, it is still getting quite a bit of publicity lately. My DH and I were just talking today about how often the surgery is in the news lately. I don't think it helps that all these celebs are coming out and praising it either. You know how it is with celebs- if they endorse it then of course it is safe and healthy [sigh].