Weight Loss Surgery

There’s nothing easy about losing weight, and sometimes you can’t reach your goal despite your best efforts. That’s when it’s time to consider weight loss surgery performed by board-certified general surgeon John Bollins, DO, and the highly trained team at Advanced Surgical Associates of Northern Minnesota. They take a multifaceted and individualized approach, helping people change their lives with surgery and sustainable lifestyle changes. If you’re ready to lose weight, call the office in Hibbing, Duluth, or Ely, Minnesota, or book a weight loss consultation online.

Do I qualify for weight loss surgery?

You must meet certain requirements to be considered for weight loss surgery, including:

• Body mass index (BMI) of 40 or greater
• BMI of 35 to 39.9 plus at least two obesity-related health conditions
• BMI less than 55 for men and less than 60 for women (at the time of surgery)
• Between the ages of 18 and 64
• Overweight for at least two years
• Not dependent on oxygen
• Not an organ transplant patient or on the transplant list
• Dedicated to attending regular follow-up appointments
• Dedicated to making lifestyle changes

You should also be willing to stop using all tobacco products six weeks before your surgery and remain committed to avoiding them afterward.

How do I prepare for weight loss surgery?

Since a sleeve gastrectomy is a permanent procedure that can’t be reversed, we explain all the potential risks before you decide to move forward.

In the weeks before your surgery, you’ll need to have routine medical tests to ensure surgery is safe for you. Most insurance companies also require you to have a nutrition and mental health consultation before they approve your procedure.

Two weeks before your scheduled procedure, your provider starts you on a low-carbohydrate, high-protein liquid diet. This helps prepare you for the two-week liquid diet you’ll follow after your surgery. It also makes your surgery safer by shrinking your liver.

What type of weight loss surgery will I receive?

The Advanced Surgical Associates of Northern Minnesota team performs sleeve gastrectomy because it has the highest success rate and the fewest complications. Your procedure is also minimally invasive and robotic-assisted for meticulous precision.

During a sleeve gastrectomy, your surgeon removes 80% of your stomach, leaving a long, narrow, banana-shaped stomach. Your new stomach limits the amount of food you can eat because it only holds one-half to three-fourths of a cup of food at one time.

Your appetite shrinks because removing the outer part of your stomach dramatically reduces hunger hormones. Sleeve gastrectomy also results in metabolic changes that improve Type 2 diabetes, putting it into remission for more than 60% of patients.

You’ll lose as much weight as patients who get gastric bypass surgery without the complications of that more complex procedure.

If you’re ready to explore weight loss surgery, call Advanced Surgical Associates of Northern Minnesota or request a consultation online today.

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