Dallas

New Bariatric Procedure Helps Frisco Woman Lose Unwanted Weight

A Frisco woman is 20 pounds lighter and still losing weight just five weeks after a new weight loss procedure being done in North Texas.

Amanda Beemer, 36-years-old, says her frustration to lose weight, despite diet and exercise, prompted her decision to undergo minimally invasive endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty.

Interventional Endoscopists and Surgeons on the medical staff at Methodist Dallas Medical Center are the first in North Texas to successfully complete this minimally invasive procedure that typically leads to significant weight loss. 

The ESG is performed with an endoscope inserted down the patient’s throat. 
The suturing device attached to the endoscope reduces the size of the patient’s stomach, without the need for surgery. 

The physicians use stitches to make pleats within the stomach, shrinking it to almost the size of a traditional sleeve gastrectomy, which is about the size of a banana.  

"Everything is done from inside their body.  The stomach is sutured down from being a big floppy bag to being a tight, skinny banana shaped organ," said gastroenterologist Dr. Prashant Kedia, at Methodist Dallas. "They wake up with no scars, no cuts or incisions. It's an outpatient procedure, meaning you come in, you get procedure done, you come home same day."

General and bariatric surgeon, Dr. Sachin Kukreja, adds that because the procedure is minimally invasive, there is less risk of complications, less pain, and quicker recovery.

“This opens the door to more non-surgical weight loss procedures to our patients and is the start of a journey for our patient,” he said. 

Doctors say millions of Americans who do not qualify for bariatric surgeries or do not want bariatric surgery have fueled an increased interest in minimally invasive bariatric therapies.  

Many major bariatric surgeries require the patient have a body mass index of 40 or more.  

These alternative procedures are targeted for people with a body mass index of 30 to 40, which averages to being about 50 lbs overweight.

Beemer fit the criteria, with a BMI of 31, despite working out six days a week at the gym she owns and eating healthy.

"I was eating the right things, but I was eating too much," she said. "Being a mom, working full-time, running businesses, it's always so difficult trying to figure out how you're going to do that in your day.  That's not an excuse, it was a reality for me."

Beemer weighed 205 lbs before the surgery and five weeks after, she weighs 185 lbs.

Doctors told her to expect to lose another 20 lbs, with proper nutrition, over the next year.

She says she no longer feels the need to finish the food on her plate and can only eat a quarter of the amount of food in one sitting than before.  

The procedure costs between $10,000 and $15,000.

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