Bariatric Solutions in Corbin, KY

Bariatric Solutions in Corbin, KY Health Talk Transcript

Grant Earls, APRN, General Surgery
Baptist Health Corbin

Grant Earls, APRN:

Obesity is very prevalent, not only in the U.S., but also in our area in southeastern Kentucky. Obesity includes comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension, and coronary artery disease. It's very important that we work on getting patients’ weight to a normal range. One of the solutions that we offer here at Baptist Health Corbin is gastric sleeve surgery. It's one of several bariatric surgeries that you can have for weight loss. Gastric sleeve surgery assists patients in eating less. They'll feel full faster, and they'll eat smaller, more frequent meals. Weight loss prior to surgery is one of our requirements, but it also helps make sure that patients are motivated to remain successful throughout the program.

Nutritional counseling is a big part of bariatric surgery. We establish each patient with one of our nutritionists at the hospital. We will discuss with them how to cut back on calories, carbs, sugars and other things that may be leading to them being overweight.

The clinic sees each patient frequently in the post-op period. We have a bariatric coordinator who watches the month-to-month progression of each patient. She's also a good resource and educator for patients. Oftentimes, in the post-op period when we are checking in on patients, they will tell us they feel better, and they can get around a lot easier. Every time they come back, they say they wish they would've done it sooner.