Healthy transformation: A couple’s journey through weight loss

Trudy and James Arrendale had been trying to lose weight since they were married, some 45 years ago. Or at least that’s how James remembers it. Trudy thinks weight became a problem for them later on when they hit middle age. Nevertheless, both agree that the pounds were added much faster than they could be lost. Various diets, Weight Watchers program, and exercise didn’t help enough. Then, about 10 years ago, James had a stroke that left him bedridden for a year and gained him another 75 pounds. After that, he was just too heavy to be able to realistically give exercise any chance.

“I was totally sedentary for a year,” James says. “Once I was able to walk again, it seemed impossible to get that extra weight off. I’d lose 10 pounds and gain back 15.”

It was then that James’ doctor suggested a weight loss surgery with Dr. Allan MacIntyre at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas. Somewhere along the consultation process, Trudy decided to join too and accompany her husband in what proved to be life-changing event for the couple.

Weight loss surgery is done through various methods, all of which involve closing up a portion of the stomach, leaving only a small area to hold and digest food. As a result, patients feel satiated after eating very small portions and their calorie intake is significantly reduced. The surgery is reserved for people who have exhausted all other methods of weight loss such as dieting and exercise.

Although it may seem that surgery is a quick and easy solution for weight loss, in fact it requires patients to follow a rigorous diet and exercise regimen, before and after the surgery. As a result, Dr. MacIntyre - a trained trauma surgeon who has specialized in bariatrics, trauma and surgical critical care - has built a system to cover all those steps for his patients.

“Surgery isn’t going to do the whole thing,” Dr. MacIntyre says. “You have to train a patient to eat healthy and exercise. You look for things that can be fixed through blood work and then transform them into a fuel-burning machine. The surgery helps but it’s a spoke in the wheel.”

“When patients come to the office interested in weight loss surgery, I spend time with them going over the different types that are available,” Dr. MacIntyre says. After taking a full medical history, physical exams and blood work, he first prescribes a special exercise regimen to help the patients start losing weight.

“We also get them a fitness tracking device — this makes us unique,” Dr. MacIntyre says. This wearable fitness product is connected to the patient’s Electronic Medical Record and tracks patient’s exercise and activity, sleep and heart rate, all of which help the doctor closely moni- tor the patient’s progress.

“Essentially, this combination of steps make the patient a more efficient fuel burner,” Dr. MacIntyre says.

Another aspect of the program is nutrition. “It’s a critical part of the whole approach. We prescribe an anti-inflammatory diet including salads, veggies and some fruits, fish and chicken and occasionally red meat,” Dr. MacIntyre says. “Once we get their diet and exercise straightened out to help them lose weight, then we perform the weight loss surgery.”

Dr. MacIntrye performs a type of weight loss surgery called a gastric sleeve. In this method, the surgeon makes an incision in the abdomen and removes more than half of the stomach, leaving a thin vertical sleeve that’s the shape of a banana. For this procedure, Dr. MacIntyre uses the state-of-the-art technology to increase safety for the patient. “For instance, we use the GastricSail™ to help with stapling and the Da Vinci robot to help with the weight loss surgery because the visualization is very good,” he says.

Following the surgery Dr. MacIntyre and his team follow up with the patients weekly and then on a monthly basis.

The medical practice features a full gym with trainers who are knowledgeable on weight loss and are certified as an athletic trainer.

“Dr. MacIntyre is involved in this process in this entire time. I guess it just speaks for itself, this man is so dedicated to his idea concerning preparations for operation that he built his own gym to see for himself that it gets done,” James says. “Our personal trainer was wonderful, too. Their entire help is just incredible.”

Weight loss surgery is a major operation and therefore carries risk of complications like all major surgeries. Moreover, obese patients and older people have higher risk for any type of surgery than the general population. These risks include pulmonary complications due to the stress of excess weight on the chest and lung cavities, blood clots, leaks or perforations of the stomach, and infections.

“The minute we met Dr. MacIntyre we started to get a really good feel about it,” Trudy says.Those risks were why James was glad to have a trauma surgeon do the operation on him.

“I back that,” says James. “He talked about concerns with my weight and age, but he was so honest with us it de us feel confident in his ability and skills. In fact, my primary care doctor said, “Jim if you are going to be on table, and something goes wrong, that’s the guy you want to be there.”

So far the results have been great for the couple and they already feel healthier and fitter. They averaged a weight loss of 50 pounds in a matter of months, making a huge difference in their ability to exercise.

“On Thanksgiving, our daughter was surprised to see us. She couldn’t believe the transformation we’ve made, everyone was really shocked,” Trudy said.

The couple is also enjoying the little things: going back to clothes they had to put away a long time ago, and ordering just one meal at the restaurant for both of them and carrying half of it home for later.

“So many things are changing in our lives. It’s been so much fun,” James said.

The first step to find out whether you may be a good candidate for weight loss surgery is to consult with your primary care doctor. If your doctor and a bariatric surgeon determine that surgery is right for you, the outcome can be positive for people who are committed to following the steps of this approach.

“I’d like to tell people that if they follow this course, when they get to the end they can have confidence that they are going to be happier than they have been for many years and their lives will profoundly change,” James says. “We can already feel the change. For example, we are able to interact with our grandchildren in ways we are not able to do before.”