Gastric Bypass Surgery: A Patient’s Story

with Jane Carroll, patient of Bruce Rowe, M.D., a family medicine physician at Columbia St. Mary’s

Posted: Jan. 1, 2006

Wauwatosa resident Jane Carroll was leading a happy and enriching life. She successfully combined her professional life as an attorney in Milwaukee County with her personal life as a wife and a mother of two young children. But after the birth of her youngest child six years ago, she developed a serious weight problem.

Although her health was good, the Rice Lake native was worried that excessive weight would eventually take its toll. She knew that being significantly overweight could cause serious illnesses.

After trying to lose weight on her own, Carroll became the patient of Bruce Rowe, M.D., a family medicine physician at Columbia St. Mary’s.

“Obesity should be taken very seriously,” Dr. Rowe said. “Obese individuals are at greater risk for developing serious problems, and if one should have any of those problems, obesity makes it more difficult to treat them. So the thing to do is lose weight. It’s important to motivate and educate a patient about properly eliminating obesity. Jane was well motivated to lose weight.”

After a physical exam and consultations with Carroll, Dr. Rowe prescribed various medications that were intended to help her. When they didn’t work, he suggested gastric bypass surgery and she agreed to do it.

“I was fortunate because I didn’t have any weight-related illnesses, but knew that one or more of them was pretty much inevitable and I was highly motivated because I wanted to be around to nag my children into adulthood,” Carroll said.

Carroll isn’t alone. Obesity has become a serious problem in the United States, according to Dr. Rowe. “The problem keeps getting worse,” he observed. “We’ve seen the number of obese people double over the past 20 years or so.”

For those who are more than 100 pounds overweight, losing the necessary amount of pounds and keeping it off is usually quite difficult, he said.

Weight loss methods such as behavior modification, medication, and diet and exercise have not been significantly effective in accomplishing long-term weight loss. Like Carroll, many people who have made unsuccessful attempts to reduce their weight choose the option of minimally invasive gastric bypass surgery.

The surgical procedure performed on Carroll in August 2004 is called the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. During that operation the small intestine is separated and reconnected to a new stomach pouch (approximately the size of an egg) created by the surgeon.

Carroll, who is now 44, sings the praises of her gastric bypass surgery. “There were no complications from the surgery, but the recovery period was difficult because it is, after all, major surgery,” she stated. “I wasn’t able to work for about six weeks, but shortly after that, I began to feel much better.”

It’s been a life-altering experience for Carroll. “Today I feel great, and have lost 85 pounds. My emotional outlook has improved. I have more energy and am able to exercise regularly. I’m proud of my weight loss. I look better and have more self-confidence. I’m down to a size 12. It’s been over a year since my surgery and I feel more attuned to my health. I want to keep exercising and eating healthily. I can no longer eat large portions and can’t eat quickly — those are the only physical limitations. But I can eat just about anything in normal portions.”

A lot of people face obesity, she observed. “It’s a serious health problem, and if I can help someone else decide to undergo gastric bypass surgery, that would be great. I’m enthusiastic about its benefits.”

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