After trying numerous weight loss programmes for years without any results, a 32-year-old man was able to lose 55 pounds within six weeks after the country’s first-ever laparoscopic bariatric surgery.
The surgery was performed at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) by a team of doctors led by Laparoscopic Surgery Consultant, Dr Hemraj Ramcharran. Other members of the team included a Nutritionist, Psychologist, Cardiologist and Endocri-nologist.
Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery is a form of weight-loss surgery offered to persons who are obese and cannot lose weight by non-surgical means. Obese persons are those persons with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher.
In an interview with Stabroek News yesterday, Teekah Singh explained that about six months ago, he went to the GPH with another medical condition and whilst there, he said Dr Ramcharran informed him of the surgery option.
“When he (Dr Ramcharran) see me and the size that I had. He explained the diet plan and the surgery that they were planning to do. He bring the idea to me. He explain-ed that we don’t have to do the surgery but they have a clinic,” Singh said.
Singh initially weighed 402 pounds. It is expected that he will lose two thirds of his body weight one year after the surgery.
He said doctors told him that a key aspect of the process entailed him going on a strict diet. “He said once the diet work you don’t have to do the surgery. The diet didn’t work,” Singh noted.
From the inception, Singh said he was not hesitant about making the sacrifice since he was eager to lose weight. “The first time he tell me, I agree for the weight loss because I had a big size so I was glad to hear public hospital had the surgery free. So I go along with the plan and was seeing them once a week, sometimes I see them every two weeks…. From there they gave you the confidence and the motivation that you can trust them with what they were doing,” he explained.
On February 17th, Singh had a successful surgery. “I did the surgery. I came out. The next morning I was up and walking when the surgery finish. When I went in I had directly 402 pounds. For the past six weeks since I came out from the operation I lose like 55 pounds,” he related.
This form of surgery is performed using a small camera or laparoscope. There is no long incision that is made to enter the stomach. Laparoscopic bariatric surgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique that involves removing or limiting a section of the stomach and rearranging it. Persons who have had laparoscopic bariatric surgery eat a lower amount of food, which helps weight loss. The surgery restricts the ability to eat large amounts of food.
Post-surgery
Singh, who works as a diesel mechanic is currently at home recovering. He said he is likely to return to his job in about two weeks.
Prior to the surgery, he recalled trying various weight loss plans for years to lose weight but saw no result. “Since I am growing, like since I was a lil baby my whole family use to say I am growing with size so the size was getting lil too big and plus people make laugh after you, sometimes when you go in bus and so,” Singh said.
“I tried to diet. People said you have to eat some things. Some people say try exercise….All kinda remedy people suggest….Plus Dr Ramcharran nutritionist put me on a diet with steam vegetables and protein shakes and so on but the weight was still there,” he added.
He told Stabroek News that recovery has been smooth for him since he doesn’t feel anyway different than before. “I am not feeling no way different. I am walking, gaffing normally but right now I cannot hoist no weight and so because of the surgery,” Singh said.
He described the surgery as a “massive” weight loss journey which was possible through an “opportunity” presented to him. “I feel real great about it…..The improvement that I get for myself, everybody now look at me different,” he added.
According to Singh, the doctors have been checking up on him daily since the surgery to ensure that he is following the right path, especially as it relates to his diet. “Dr Ramcharran and his team does call me like three times a day, every day. They call and find out how I feel, if I using the fruit juice, the protein shakes because for the past six weeks I was strictly on liquid. Nothing solid. No food. That’s part of the diet for the first six weeks,” he noted.
Singh is expected to meet with his doctors again in the next few days when his diet is likely to change. “Then he say he might put me on some solid food back,” he said.
According to the World Health Organization, there are approximately 650 million adults with obesity worldwide and 42 million children with obesity under the age of five years old.
Obesity is a major problem in Guyana, with more than half of the population either overweight or obese. Obesity is often accompanied by serious co-morbidities, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart diseases.
In a press release, the GPH said that they are hoping that bariatric surgery will become popular in the country as it is a “very effective” form of weight loss.
In the coming months, the hospital said several other such surgeries are expected to be conducted.
