Is excess weight affecting your daily life? If you are obese, and life-style changes and taking medications have not helped you lose enough weight, surgery may be an option. All surgeries have risks, and it is important for you and your health professional to discuss these and the benefits before deciding what is best for you. You need to be willing to change your life-style for the rest of your life.

Do You Qualify?
BMI Calculator
Benefits of Surgery
Types of Weight Loss Surgery
After Surgery
Getting Started
For More Information
Physicians

Do You Qualify?
• Appropriate candidates are between 18 and 64 years of age.
• You must have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 or more or a BMI of 35 or more (click here to access our Adult BMI calculator) plus a serious health problem such as diabetes, high blood pressure, GERD (reflux disease), sleep apnea or arthritis.
• You must be 100 pounds overweight or twice your ideal body weight.

Benefits of Surgery
There are many benefits to weight loss surgery. In addition to feeling better physically and emotionally, patients are very likely to see an improvement concerning asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, obstructive sleep apnea, GERD, and arthritis. Patients may also see improvement concerning congestive heart failure, depression, urinary incontinence, menstrual irregularity, infertility (women) and hirsutism (excessive facial hair in women).

Types of Weight Loss Surgery
Adjustable Gastric Band is the least invasive surgery - often requiring only a one-night hospital stay. An inflatable silicone band is placed completely around the top portion of the stomach to constrict it. The inflatable band is connected to a small reservoir that is placed under skin in the upper abdomen. Adjustments are made by injecting or withdrawing saline through the reservoir. A small pouch with a narrow opening into the lower stomach is created. The small pouch size will make you feel full sooner. With the Adjustable Gastric Band there are no anatomical removals or rearrangements.

Gastric Bypass is a non-reversible procedure that makes the stomach smaller and allows food to bypass part of the small intestine - resulting in you feeling fuller faster. A staple line partitions the stomach into two parts, with a very small pouch above the staple line. This tiny pouch can hold about one ounce or the size of a medicine cup. A typical hospital stay for this procedure is three to four days.

Weight Loss Education and Support
Clarksville Support Group For Weight Loss Surgery provides educational and informational resources for preoperative and postoperative patients. It delivers optimum weight loss and maintenance guidance along with providing the techniques and tools to live your life. The support group meets on the fourth Monday of each month in the Cumberland Room of Gateway Medical Center from 6-8 p.m. For more information contact Amy Lawrence at 931-431-3542.

Getting Started
Once you have decided that weight loss surgery might benefit you:
• Click here to fill out an assessment form to see if you might qualify.
• Call 931-221-2110 to speak with our Bariatric Nurse Coordinator and register to attend an education class (click here to find the date of our next class).
• Our Bariatric Nurse Coordinator can also help you with scheduling the evaluations needed to meet your insurance's requirements.
• Many insurance companies require: Psychiatric Consultation, Sleep Study, Dietary Consultations and Doctor Supervised Diets (may need to be 6 months or more in duration). Our Bariatric Nurse Coordinator can assist in the arrangements of these requirements with your primary care physician.

For More Information
If you have any questions about Weight Loss Surgery please contact Gateway's Bariatric Nurse Coordinator at 931-221-2110.

Physicians

	Dr. Randall Bolar General & Bariatric Surgery (15 years experience) 1731 Memorial Drive • Suite 105 Clarksville, Tennessee 37043 931-552-0380 http://www.gatewaybariatrics.com
	Dr. William Steely General & Bariatric Surgery (19 years experience) 1731 Memorial Drive • Suite 105 Clarksville, Tennessee 37043 931-552-0380 http://www.gatewaybariatrics.com