Like so many others, Teresa Hanshaw has struggled with her weight since childhood.
"I have always had trouble with my weight - I was skin and bones until I was about 12, then all of a sudden, 'boom,'" she said. "I've tried all sorts of different things, but it just seemed like the women in my family tended to get heavier, while the men don't have to worry much."
When Hanshaw developed diabetes, she knew she had to find a way to get the weight off. That's when she learned about an innovative, non-surgical procedure - a balloon the size of a grapefruit and filled with saline inserted into the stomach to trick the body into feeling full. Hanshaw approached Dr. Ahmad Bali, a general surgeon in South Charleston who performs a range of weight loss procedures, and had the gastric balloon inserted as an outpatient procedure - one that requires no incision.
"It comes as a tube - at the tip of that tube is attached a collapsed balloon, and we pass it, while the patient is sedated, through the mouth and into the stomach," Bali said. "Once it's in the stomach, we inflate it with saline. The balloon gives you the sense of being full most of the time, and when you eat, you feel fuller quicker and for a longer period of time."
According to Bali, the balloon procedure has been around for close to two decades, but the shape of it has changed from something resembling a soda can to a ball, and the procedure has been streamlined. There have been more than 250,000 balloon procedures performed around the world, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the procedure Bali performs in August.
"It is an outpatient procedure; the patient comes in and is put under light sedation, no general anesthesia, we pass the balloon and they go home after half an hour, max," Bali said.
Hanshaw was one of the first to undergo the procedure at Saint Francis, the first hospital in the area to offer the gastric balloon, although Charleston Area Medical Center has since started offering the procedure. Bali said the balloon can be an inexpensive alternative to gastric bypass or lap-band surgery, especially in West Virginia.
"I think the price we have here is the cheapest in the country," he said.
After six months, the balloon is removed - long enough for most patients to drop between 40 and 80 pounds on average, Bali said.
"It depends on their weight; you expect someone who started at 400 pounds to lose more weight than those who are around 220 pounds," he said.
For the super-obese, Bali said the procedure can be the precursor to more serious surgery, allowing patients to drop the necessary weight before moving toward gastric bypass, although he added that, as with any weight loss procedure, lifestyle changes are necessary to ensure the patient can maintain his or her weight loss.
"The treatment of obesity has two ends - one is diet and exercise, and the other is bariatric surgery," he said. "There is nothing in between for people who want something more than diet and exercise, but who need something less invasive. There's a big gap, and we hope we can fill that gap with the balloon."
Since her procedure nearly a month ago, Hanshaw has dropped 19 pounds. She's excited for her potential weight loss, but recognizes that she will need to incorporate lifestyle changes to be healthy.
"So far, so good," she said. "You have to relearn your eating habits and all of that. Health-wise, though, it means so much to actually be able to lose the weight, because being overweight comes with so many other problems. In six months, when he takes it out, I'll be on my own, and should have learned better eating habits by then."
To learn more about Bali's practice and the gastric balloon, visit www.balisurgical.com.
Reach Lydia Nuzum at
lydia.nuzum@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or follow
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