Confronting obesity head-on

SAMONTE is flanked by Poco (left), who was his first patient (as well as the country’s) to undergo Lap-Band procedure and her sister Lugtu

In November 2006, 47-year-old Anna Rosario Poco underwent a mastectomy for a breast cancer that has already spread to her skin and lymph nodes. It was something she least expect considering two years before, she already did something to address her weight that brought her numerous health problems.

Poco said: “Two years before my cancer diagnosis (in 2004), I agreed to undergo Lap-Band procedure, which was still being introduced here. I was the first patient of Dr. Ferdinand Samonte, a general and cosmetic surgeon at the De Los Santos Medical Center in Quezon City (www.totalobesitysolutions.com).”

Samonte, who pioneered the procedure, trained under world-renowned experts Prof. Paul O’Brien, who heads the Centre for Bariatric Surgery in Melbourne, and Dr. Ariel Ortiz Lagardere, who was one of America’s “Top 15 Bariatric Surgeons” named by Newsweek magazine.

Like a belt

The procedure involves using an adjustable silicone gastric banding that goes around the upper part of the stomach. The band can be tightened like a belt to form a small pouch that serves as a new, much-smaller stomach. This allows the patient to “feel full” even after eating just a small amount of food.

Poco said: “I needed to do something about my weight. Ten years ago, I weighed 190 pounds (86 kilograms) and was already suffering from diabetes and other obesity-related comorbidities. My doctors were telling me that my problem was really severe because obesity not only caused my other diseases but was in itself a disease. Two years later, the news came about my cancer, which I was informed, may be due to my weight problem.”

Being overweight or obese isn’t a cosmetic problem. These conditions greatly raise one’s risk for other health problems including cancer (of the colon, breast, endometrial, or gallbladder) as well as type 2 diabetes, stroke and coronary heart disease.

Consultation

Poco went to Bib & Lap-Band Center ([email protected]) for the required consultation and was glad to have agreed to undergo the Lap-Band procedure—because 10 years later, all her health problems disappeared, her breast cancer included.

“What convinced me was the fact that the Lap-Band is completely reversible and no cutting of the stomach nor stomach stapling was involved. All I’ve got after the operation were five small incisions where a small camera and other tools were inserted,” related Poco, who now weighs 122 pounds (55 kg), her ideal weight.

She said the Lap-Band changed her life and was grateful to Dr. Samonte for the post-operative management, care and support he provided.

“All those years that I looked like a jolly, fat person, I was really miserable inside. When I learned about my cancer, I decided I had to go on with my new diet and exercise routine. I have to prioritize health and promised to myself to feel and look good,” said Poco, who now regularly climb mountains, an activity she never dreamt of doing when she was still obese.

Her success even encouraged her sister Antonia Lugtu, who in 2009 also underwent Lap-Band surgery to deal with her obesity (at 170 lb or 77 kg). Lugtu’s health has improved now that she currently weighs 107 pounds (48 kg) which was exactly her weight before she gave birth to her first child.