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WHAT IS BARIATRIC SURGERY?
Bariatric surgery, also called weight loss surgery, changes the stomach and sometimes the small intestine. It limits the amount of food you can eat and changes hunger hormones, so you feel full sooner. It is one of the most effective long-term treatments for severe obesity and related medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, heart disease and fatty liver disease.
Many insurance plans cover surgery for adults with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher, or a BMI of 35 or higher with an obesity-related condition. Current national guidelines also support surgery for some people with a BMI of 30 to 34.9 who have metabolic disease. Our board-certified bariatric surgeons will help you understand your options.
WHY CHOOSE US?
When it comes to bariatrics, you’d be hard pressed to find a more passionate, talented and results-oriented team than the bariatric surgeons of North Florida Surgeons: Baptist Jacksonville Division that work with the Baptist Center for Bariatrics. Our multi-disciplinary team of dieticians, psychologists, and bariatric surgical specialists, will be by your side before and after surgery.
Our aim is to make sure you are fully prepared for Bariatric surgery and your new “tool”, as well as fully supported afterwards. We will help you live the happiest, healthiest life possible as soon as possible. Our patients follow up with us long term and essentially become part of our family.
So if you’re considering bariatric surgery in Jacksonville, FL, our experienced team is here to guide you every step of the way. Contact us today to start your journey to better health!
Find out more here: baptistbariatrics.com
TYPES OF SURGERY WE OFFER
SLEEVE GASTRECTOMY
The surgeon removes about 80% of the stomach and leaves a narrow, sleeve-shaped stomach. Restricting the amount of food you can eat helps you feel full sooner, and removing this part of the stomach lowers the hormone that makes you feel hungry. Sleeve gastrectomy is the most common bariatric operation in the United States. Many patients choose it because it has lower risk than gastric bypass and often similar weight loss.
GASTRIC
BYPASS
The surgeon creates a small stomach pouch, about the size of an egg, and connects it directly to the small intestine. This limits the amount of food you eat and reduces the calories your body absorbs. Gastric bypass carries slightly more risk than sleeve gastrectomy, but we often recommend it for patients with severe, refractory acid reflux (GERD). Patients with type 2 diabetes also have a greater chance of a lasting diabetes remission than with a sleeve, although many sleeve patients improve significantly as well.
GASTRIC
BAND/ LAP-BAND
For the most part, Lap Banding is an obsolete procedure, where many patients have their Band removed in five to ten years. Some patients had great results with the Lap Band, but over time many patients go through the cycle of having band fills and deflations due to severe reflux symptoms or regurgitation, with resultant yo-yo-ing of their weight. We will accept patients into our practice who have a band elsewhere, and our multi-disciplinary team will do our best to work with them to try to optimize their weight loss. Often patients come to us with problems related to their band, or simply weight loss failure, and we commonly remove bands and convert to Sleeve or Gastric Bypass.
AM I A CANDIDATE?
You may be a candidate if you have a BMI of 40 or more, or a BMI of 35 or more with a condition like diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea or liver disease, and diet and exercise alone have not worked. You must be ready to commit to lifelong changes in eating and activity. A consultation with one of our bariatric surgeons is the best way to find out.
LIFE AFTER SURGERY
Most patients lose 50% to 70% of their excess weight in the first one to two years. Many see diabetes, blood pressure, joint pain and sleep apnea improve or resolve. The biggest change patients describe is a better quality of life: more energy, more mobility and more time doing what they love.
WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY 101 WITH DR. MORGENTHAL AND DR. HODGETT
Sleeve, bypass or band: how the options compare
Most patients arrive having read about three operations and wanting to know which one applies to them. In short:
- Sleeve gastrectomy removes about three-quarters of the stomach and leaves a narrow tube. It limits portion size and changes the hormone signalling behind hunger. It is a single-stage laparoscopic operation with no rerouting of the intestine, which keeps it relatively straightforward - but it can worsen reflux in some patients, which is why the assessment matters.
- Roux-en-Y gastric bypass creates a small stomach pouch and connects it directly to the small intestine, changing both intake and absorption. It has a long track record for weight loss and for improving type 2 diabetes, and it usually helps reflux rather than worsening it. It requires lifelong vitamin and mineral supplementation.
- Gastric band is largely obsolete. Patients who had one placed elsewhere often come to us with reflux, regurgitation or weight regain, and we commonly remove the band and convert to a sleeve or a bypass.
Which of these is right depends on your anatomy, your weight history, whether you have reflux or diabetes, and what your insurance will authorise. That decision is made in consultation, not from a web page.
What to expect, step by step
A bariatric pathway usually runs: an initial consultation and workup; nutritional and psychological evaluation; insurance authorisation; pre-operative preparation including a specific diet in the weeks before surgery; the operation itself, almost always laparoscopic; a short hospital stay; a staged return to normal eating; and then long-term follow-up with the team. Patients who stay engaged with follow-up do markedly better than those who do not, which is why the practice is built around it.
Working alongside the Baptist Center for Bariatrics, our multidisciplinary team of dietitians, psychologists and bariatric surgical specialists supports you before and after the operation.
Bariatric surgery and the rest of your care
Weight-loss surgery rarely sits on its own. Hiatal hernias and reflux are often found and repaired at the same time - see hernia repair and anti-reflux surgery. Gallstones are more common after rapid weight loss, which is covered under hepatobiliary surgery. Recovery is managed through our enhanced recovery after surgery protocols.
Bariatric surgery: common questions
Who qualifies for bariatric surgery?
Eligibility is usually assessed from body mass index together with obesity-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes, sleep apnoea, high blood pressure or fatty liver disease, along with previous attempts at weight loss. National guidance has widened over the years and insurers set their own rules, so the only reliable answer comes from an evaluation with the bariatric team and a check of your specific plan.
How is a sleeve gastrectomy different from a gastric bypass?
A sleeve gastrectomy removes a large part of the stomach and leaves a narrow tube, which limits how much you can eat and changes hunger-related hormones. A Roux-en-Y gastric bypass creates a small stomach pouch and reroutes part of the small intestine, so it both restricts intake and changes absorption. Bypass is often favoured when severe reflux or difficult diabetes is part of the picture, while the sleeve is a simpler operation. Your surgeon will explain which fits your anatomy and history.
How long is recovery after weight-loss surgery?
Most bariatric procedures here are done laparoscopically, and patients typically go home within a day or two and return to desk work in roughly two to four weeks, with heavier activity phased back in after that. Diet is advanced in stages, from liquids to soft foods to solids, following the plan the dietitian gives you.
What happens to an old lap-band?
Bands placed elsewhere are commonly removed and converted to a sleeve or a bypass, particularly when there is reflux, regurgitation or weight regain. The practice accepts patients who had a band placed by another surgeon.
Is follow-up care included?
Yes. Bariatric surgery is a long-term programme rather than a single operation. The multidisciplinary team - surgeons, dietitians and psychologists - works with you before surgery and keeps seeing you afterwards, because the follow-up is where most of the durable weight loss is protected.
Ready to talk to a bariatric surgeon in Jacksonville? Contact North Florida Surgeons or call (904) 398-0033.
This page is general information about surgical options, not medical advice. Whether an operation is right for you can only be decided after an evaluation.
