Member News Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 1, 2007
Local Romance Novelist Experiences Her Own "Happy Ending" Through Weight Loss Surgery at Silver Cross
"Instead of writing about an adventurous life, now I'm able to experience it first hand due to the weight loss surgery I had at Silver Cross Hospital," said Melody Thomas, Channahon resident and three-time nominated author by Romantic Times "Since I lost 120 pounds, I have been able to be more active. In fact while vacationing in Hawaii this summer, I was able to scuba dive and jump off of a waterfall."
"Prior to my surgery, I suffered from high blood pressure, sleep apnea and painful joints and knees," said Thomas. "After losing the weight, my blood pressure has lowered, I sleep through the night and I can walk up stairs pain free."
After watching a friend in her writers' group who underwent the surgery progress into a healthier person, Thomas was inspired and attended an educational seminar held at Silver Cross. These seminars are held every Wednesdays at 6 p.m. in the Specialty Care Pavilion on the hospital's Joliet campus. Melody says, "The seminar was a great way to become educated on the entire process of bariatric surgery. Once I learned what my options were with the surgery, my apprehensions were alleviated and I became more determined to live a healthier life."
Her surgeon was Dr. Christopher Joyce with Bariatric and Minimally Invasive Surgery (BMI Surgery). Dr. Joyce has performed hundreds of successful gastric bypass procedures including both open and laparoscopic procedures, including Lap-Band™. BMI Surgery is Will County's most experienced and comprehensive obesity surgery practice and one of only six Bariatric Centers of Excellence in Illinois.
The staff at Silver Cross Hospital performed the first open, laparoscopic and LAP BAND gastric bypass procedures in the area. And since then, has helped hundreds of people win their personal battles with obesity and enjoy happier, healthier, longer lives. Patients at BMI Surgery lose an average of 82% of their excess body weight one year after gastric bypass. Weight loss after Lap-Band is more gradual than gastric bypass, averaging 42% at one year after surgery. With the weight loss, the medical problems related to obesity will resolve.
Bariatric patients benefit from a multidisciplinary approach, with the help of many different departments at Silver Cross. "Patients see an exercise physiologist, dietitian, cardiologist, psychologist, pulmonologist, and a bariatric nurse to get them ready for surgery," Dr. Joyce says. "We screen our patients very carefully to ensure their success and safety."
Once the surgery is over, the work has just begun for the patient. They achieve their weight loss goals by adhering to a post-operative lifestyle, which includes changed eating habits and regular exercise. Thomas says you have to be determined to stick to the program, but the support is there to help you succeed. "Dr. Joyce was the answer to my prayers, I wouldn't have been so successful in my weight loss if it were not for him and his extremely personable staff," said Thomas.
A relatively new medical specialty, bariatrics offers help for those who are morbidly obese. The American Association of Bariatric Surgery defines the morbidly obese as those with a body mass of 40 or above, or, for a normal height woman, being more than 100 pounds overweight. Those who are morbidly obese are at a higher risk of mortality and such extreme obesity puts people at risk for numerous life threatening disease, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and more.
"These people are not obese because they fail to push themselves away from the table," Dr. Joyce says. "Morbid obesity is not a disease of lack of willpower. Bariatric surgery is the only proven method of achieving long term weight control in the morbidly obese."
Dr. Joyce stresses, "This is a medical condition, just like heart disease or diabetes. There is a lot of prejudice against obese people, but this surgery can help them lose weight, and most importantly, keep it off."
"Melody is a wonderful example of how life-changing bariatric surgery can be," says Dr. Joyce. "Her new passion for life truly shows when you talk with her."
Dr. Joyce, and his partner, Dr. Brian Lahmann, provide regular informational seminars on both traditional and laparoscopic surgery, every Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Specialty Care Pavilion at Silver Cross Hospital. To attend, visit www.silvercross.org or call 1-888-660-HEAL (4325) or register online at www.silvercross.org.