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Surgery Presents Weight Loss Option
Gastric Bypass Shrinks Stomach
Posted: 4:20 p.m. PST November 20, 2001
Updated: 6:43 p.m. PST November 20, 2001
SAN DIEGO -- A 90-minute operation can shrink
the bodies of severely obese men and women, and
10News followed one young San Diego woman's
journey to find her thinner self.
"I'm an
active,
healthy, thin
person living
inside this
big body,
and I don't
like it," Amy
Suter said.
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Suter said that she feels like a prisoner inside her
body, and that for the last 10 years, the pounds have Study: Painkillers May
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been piling up.
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As a high school freshman, Suter weighed 115
10News Midday
pounds. As a senior, she was up to 150. And in
college, "I gained the freshman 60," she said
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Doctors said that Suter's family has a genetic
connection to obesity.
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"We are predisposed to be overweight, I really
Entire Site
believe," Suter's mother, Sandra Suter, said. Amy
Suter has tried all sorts of diets in an attempt to shed
the pounds. "I've tried everything … Weight
Watchers, eating just rice, just salad, Metabolife,
doing Atkins, no carb thing ... everything," she said.
Determined not to let obesity shorten her life, Suter (pictured, right) decided to
take a drastic measure to take off the pounds. She opted for gastric bypass
surgery to shrink the size of her stomach.
http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/sand/health/stories/health-108754420011120-181133.html (1 of 2) [11/26/2001 8:57:08 AM]
TheSanDiegoChannel.com - Surgery Presents Weight Loss Option
"We make the top of the stomach very, very small,
about the size of a golf ball, and then attach the small
intestine to that piece of the stomach, so when the
patient eats, that tiny little stomach fills up really
quickly and then the food goes into the small intestine,"
bariatric surgeon Julie Ellner said.
"At six months, patients have lost 60 to 65 percent of
their excess body weight," Ellner said. "At the end of
the year, our patients have lost 85 percent of their
excess body weight."
Operation Helps
Patient Shed Pounds
Two and a half months after the surgery, Suter's weight
was down 58 pounds from her former 308 and her self-confidence had increased
dramatically. Suter hopes that other obese men and women will consider the
surgery.
"It's the best hour and a half of your life," she said.
Sandra Suter underwent the operation over a year ago and has lost more than 100
pounds.
Additional Resource:
● Center For Surgical Weight Control
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