Are you considering bariatric surgery, but want more information before going in for a consultation? You’ve come to the right place. We’ve created this guide to detail the entire bariatric surgery process from start to finish to help people learn about the life-changing procedures B+A Surgeons offers.
Experience Sustained Weight Loss at B+A
When looking for surgical weight loss, it’s important to get information from experienced medical providers.
Bariatric surgeons understand the whole spectrum of weight loss options, so rather than providing only one type of treatment, our consultations are extremely educational and comprehensive to make sure you understand all of your options, and have a variety of recommendations to help you meet your goals.
Dr. Nicole Basa and Dr. Alan Abando founded B+A over 17 years ago. The husband-and-wife team runs our compassionate medical center, staffing it with expertly trained weight loss, aesthetic, and healthcare professionals. These board-certified surgeons’ skills and results are undeniable, and their drive to create a caring, calm space for people undergoing wellness and health transformations is unmatched.
Now, let’s explore how our leaders handle bariatric care and detail the experience you’ll have at B+A.
Consultation
Every weight loss journey starts with a consultation with one of our bariatric surgeons. During your appointment, you can expect to discuss the following:
- Your weight loss goals
- The weight loss methods you’ve already tried
- How we approach non-surgical and surgical weight loss in Austin
- Your medical records
- Questions or concerns you have about bariatric surgery
- Your weight loss expectations
- Discuss the SurgeryPlus benefit
SurgeryPlus
Certain companies offer the SurgeryPlus benefit to help pay for medical expenses that insurance companies sometimes don’t cover. The benefit helps pay for eligible patients’ entire bariatric procedure and travel expenses.
Surgery Preparation
If you decide to move forward with bariatric surgery, we will provide you with a variety of resources and insights on how to prepare.
All bariatric surgical procedures have a similar preparation protocol.
We’ll walk you through all the details in your consultation, but here’s a preview of what you can expect:
Pre-Surgical Weight Loss
Before your surgical weight loss procedure, you’ll need to lose approximately 5% to 10% of your current weight to shrink the size of your liver and decrease the amount of intra-abdominal fat. This also reduces the risks and length of surgery.
If you’re concerned about this step, try not to worry. We have an entire team of medical and nutrition practitioners who have experience with a variety of weight loss modalities to help you lose this initial body fat.
For example, all bariatric surgery patients of B+A have the opportunity to undergo counseling for emotional eating. And sometimes, our surgeons determine that a patient could benefit from semaglutide or tirzepatide to mitigate further weight gain leading up to bariatric surgery.
Pre-Surgical Tests
Our team will conduct a cardiopulmonary stress test to ensure you can safely undergo surgical weight loss in Austin.
Change Your Wellness Routine
We’ve created the following wellness plan to help people improve their health before their surgery date:
- Increase hydration: Start drinking 64 ounces of water a day.
- Start walking: Begin a daily walking routine.
- Update your meal plan: Start adding in healthier foods, begin eating breakfast, and eliminate any between-meal snacking.
- Change your meal mindset: Begin eating meals slowly (start by chewing food 20 to 30 times) and put your utensils down between bites.
Surgery Options
B+A Surgeons offers patients 4 surgical options. We perform these procedures laparoscopically or with the da Vinci surgical system, which allows us to reduce the size of any incisions we make, while simultaneously being more precise.
Laparoscopic Surgery
Most commonly, our bariatric surgical procedures are performed laparoscopically. This helps lower the risk of surgical complications, reduce the chance of post-surgery infection, lessen recovery time, and decrease post-procedure pain.
The da Vinci Surgical System
We can also perform some of our bariatric surgeries (and other general surgeries such as hernia repair) using the da Vinci surgical system. This system also offers many benefits, including:
- Reduced post-surgery pain
- Less blood loss during surgery
- Fewer procedure complications
- Less scarring
- A shorter hospital stay
- A faster recovery
Sleeve Gastrectomy
Our surgeons offer sleeve gastrectomy (also called gastric sleeve surgery) to reduce the size of your stomach. During this procedure, Dr. Basa or Dr. Abando will reduce your stomach to the size of a banana-shaped pouch.
By reducing your stomach size by approximately 75%, you can eat smaller meals, feel full, and not take in a large amount of calories. This procedure doesn’t involve the intestines, so your ability to absorb nutrients will not change.
Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass
The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (also referred to as the gastric bypass) involves reducing the size of your stomach and “bypassing” the upper part of the small intestine. After reducing the stomach’s size, your surgeon will reattach it to the part of the small intestine that holds digestive juices. This allows your body to absorb fewer calories.
After this procedure, you’ll need to take a supplement to ensure your body gets the nutrients it needs. You’ll also need to stop taking NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, like ibuprofen) to reduce your risk of developing ulcers.
The Modified Duodenal Switch
Our surgeons generally recommend the modified duodenal switch (also referred to as the laparoscopic single anastomosis duodenal-ileal bypass with sleeve, SADI-S) if you’re experiencing severe obesity or have type 2 diabetes. They may also choose to use the robotic da Vinci surgical system for the procedure, as it tends to be safer for people with a higher BMI.
During this procedure, your surgeon will reduce the size of your stomach and reroute the intestines to reduce caloric absorption. Unlike the gastric bypass, you’ll be able to continue to take NSAIDs.
Lap Band Removal Surgery
We don’t offer lap band surgery, as research shows it’s ineffective for sustained weight loss. However, if you already have a lap band and are unhappy with your results, we can remove and replace it with the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy or the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.
Post-Surgery Care and Maintenance
The key to sustained weight loss following bariatric surgical weight loss in Austin is using our weight loss support system.
We offer a full range of tools, from nutritional coaching to support seminars, to help people get the results they want.
Emotional Support
One of the most important aspects of sustained weight loss is understanding how emotional eating impacts your eating habits and food choices.
Behavior Modification
You can work with Leigh Kubin, MCLC, CHT, who has a decade of experience helping people lose weight. She uses her psychology degree and certifications in master life coaching and hypnotherapy to help patients get to the root of their emotional eating triggers. People who commit to this challenging work experience many benefits, including rediscovering their passions.
Support Groups
Members of our weight loss team facilitate our confidential patient support group. Patients often come to these meetings to share weight loss struggles and wins, ask weight loss questions, and learn more about different patients’ bariatric surgery weight loss experiences.
Bariatric Seminars
We offer free bariatric seminars about surgical weight loss in Austin to anyone who wants to learn more about our procedures.
Curious how emotions can affect weight loss and eating habits? These blogs can explain the psychology behind emotional eating.
Physical Support
Our surgeons understand that many of our bariatric patients may also experience frustrating health conditions, such as cardiovascular issues, joint pain, and respiratory difficulties. These issues often make it challenging to exercise.
Aaron Serna, our exercise physiologist, helps people set realistic physical goals without sustaining injuries. He also uses his degree in exercise and sports science and 5 years of experience in cardiopulmonary diagnostics to measure patients’ health and wellness with:
- Resting metabolic rate (RMR) testing
- Body composition testing
- Exercise counseling
- V02 testing
- ECHO and stress tests
- In-house lab draws
Want to find out more about exercise post-surgery? This blog has the information you need.
Nutritional Support
Kelsey Hayes, MS, RD, LD, holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nutrition. Since 2018, she’s helped our patients learn how to prepare for bariatric surgery while also providing nutritional support post-surgery by:
- Helping patients create numerical and non-scale personal goals.
- Examining a patient’s eating patterns.
- Giving customized dietary recommendations.
- Helping people create lifestyle changes that incorporate exercise and diet.
Interested in learning more about portion control? Read our blog about this topic to find out more.
Final Touches
Once you’ve reached your goal weight, you may choose to tighten loose skin or tone areas that exercise doesn’t affect. We can help with that, too.
In 2019, our surgeons underwent specialized aesthetic training to continue providing the services a patient may request after bariatric surgical weight loss in Austin.
The following are the additional tools we offer our post-surgical patients wanting to finish their look:
- Skin tightening and toning with non-invasive and minimally invasive techniques like EMSCULPT NEO, Evolve Transform, and BodyTite.
- Aesthetic injectables to provide facial fullness in areas with lost volume.
- Kybella can address stubborn fat found underneath the chin.
Ready to explore surgical weight loss in Austin at B+A?
As experienced bariatric surgeons, we understand weight loss from every angle.
From bariatric surgery and semaglutide to hypnotherapy for emotional eating, nutrition coaching, and BHRT for re-building muscle, we’re here to help educate you on your options. Our team will help you achieve sustained weight loss and your overall health and wellness goals through whichever path or tools work best for you.
Contact us today if you’re ready to see how surgical weight loss in Austin can transform your life, or use our virtual treatment tool to receive customized treatment recommendations directly from us.
