LAP-BAND Forum

The Worth of a Life - Dr. Lee Grossbard's Weight Loss Success Story

By Nikki Johnson

Dr. Lee Grossbard routinely asks his patients this question and, like a small number of his fellow bariatric surgeons, he answered the question for himself when he decided to have gastric banding surgery.

    
Weighing in at 265 pounds before his surgery in October 2002, Dr. Grossbard, of Florida Obesity Surgical Associates, understood firsthand the struggles his patients faced with unwanted, excessive weight. As a bariatric surgeon of approximately twenty years, he also knew well the dangers of morbid obesity and the risks of bariatric surgery. When people who cared started to comment on his own rising weight and deteriorating health, he took notice. Grossbard explains, ?I was getting fatter and fatter. A couple of the people I worked with and family members started asking me, ?Gee, are you okay? You?re not breathing too well. You?re short of breath and huffing and puffing.? Most of my joints had started hurting and I was taking anti-inflammatory medication for median heel pain. So, I finally said, ?Okay ? I?m ready!??

The training Grossbard had received in the months leading up to his surgery prompted him to choose LAP-BAND® System as the method for his surgery. Upon learning about the potential benefits and reduced risks, Grossbard had decided to enter training to become a LAP-BAND® System surgeon. He had planned to begin training in September 2001, but the tragic events of 9/11 caused the course to be postponed. His training commenced in November, and by early summer of 2002 Grossbard had developed such confidence in the technique that he became determined to discontinue all other surgical techniques in his own practice.

Grossbard?s choice of surgeons also came quite naturally: ?I chose someone I had known for about eight years, Dr. Ariel Ortiz in Tijuana, Mexico?I wanted a surgeon who only does LAP-BAND® System and doesn?t do any of the other bariatric surgeries. In my opinion, one of the problems in bariatric surgery is that there is a large number of surgeons who will do a bait and switch; the patient comes in and says he or she wants a LAP-BAND® System, but the surgeon says, ?I think you?d be a better candidate for a bypass.? I personally don?t agree with that. Obviously, they were not going to get away with that with me, but I don?t like that as a personal trait and I was unwilling to go to any surgeon who would do that.?

A unique opportunity arose for Grossbard, allowing him to perform proctored laparoscopic banding surgeries on the day of his own operation. Grossbard explains, ?Two patients I had came to me with their personal physician, who is a mayor of a small town here in central Florida. They happened to own a jet, and were willing to fly to Mexico. So I decided that instead of having my proctor come to my home base, as is usually the case, we would fly to Tijuana, my proctor?s home base. I would be proctored for their two surgeries and then get undressed and be the third patient of the day.?

Knowing the risks of surgery, and fearing for his life, Grossbard?s partners in his practice were apprehensive about his choice to go ahead with the operation. Grossbard shares, ?They were scared out of their wits. One of them didn?t think I would come back from Mexico alive?he was convinced I would come back in a box. They were understandably nervous and worried about it. It is surgery. Laparoscopic banding is clearly at least ten times safer than having a bypass, but it is still a major operation. You are still morbidly obese and you still undergo an hour of general anesthesia. Frankly, the word ?morbid? means death. Surgeons understand that concept?everything is a crapshoot.?

In spite of the risks, everything went beautifully for Grossbard. ?I flew down to Mexico on a Thursday evening, they operated on me at about 6 p.m., Friday.? He continues, ?I flew back to Florida on Saturday night, drove myself an hour that night, watched a football game on Sunday and returned to work on Monday. I did have some difficulty swallowing on Tuesday, which was tough for about a day, but I had a very, very easy postoperative course. I never even took a single pain medication?not even Tylenol. My pain was simply not severe enough that I needed to take anything.?

?I wasn?t hungry whatsoever for about four weeks. Getting used to clear liquids for two to three weeks was easy,? said Grossbard. ?The hardest thing for me was the fact that my surgeon was in Tijuana. He was certainly willing to have me get my band filled with saline solution there, but I decided that I would have my ex-partner, who was also certified and present at my operation, do my first fill. That was the only fill I had for the first year after my operation.? By exactly one year after surgery, Grossbard had lost 105 pounds and reached his desired weight.

    
The great results Grossbard experienced inspired those who had feared for his life before surgery. The surgeon who thought Grossbard would return from Mexico in the cargo hold now does laparoscopic banding surgery. Furthermore, Grossbard said: ?One of my other former partners thought enough of the results that I banded him last June. He has since reached his goal weight and is doing just fine.?

The influence of Grossbard?s personal experience with weight loss surgery also extends to his patients: ?I do more things for the patients as a surgeon, both before and after the operation, than most surgeons do. I?ve devised a way to fill my patients, based upon experimenting on myself. I am sure that I receive a much larger volume of patients just because I am a patient as well as a surgeon.? When asked if those patients tell him that they feel more comfortable with him because of his shared experience, Grossbard exclaims, ?Absolutely? every day!?

Grossbard?s life has changed in many significant ways since his surgery. ?I certainly have a totally different forum that I now preach in,? he explains. ?I give patient seminars about three times per month, and it is almost entertainment. I now only do this operation. I also educate surgeons about LAP-BAND® System. As we speak, I am sitting in the airport on my way to Springfield, Massachusetts, to give a lecture tonight, and to proctor a surgery tomorrow morning. I know that there are three bypass surgeons in town, and I?m out to convince them that they ought to be doing LAP-BAND® System's and they should be doing no bypasses. I truly believe this?this is kind of like religion to me. I absolutely love what I am doing.?

It is amazing for Grossbard to consider what his life might be had he not decided to have the operation. ?I am 52 years old; My kids are just about out of school. If it were not for LAP-BAND® System, I probably would have retired, or I would have been facing death from morbid obesity in the next few years.? Laparoscopic banding gastric surgery is not cheap when paid for out-of-pocket, and it is not without risk, but for Grossbard the value is clear. ?This was the smartest and best thing I have done with my life. I am able to watch my children grow up, get married and have children. In fact, I?m a little disconcerted that I didn?t have it done earlier.?

Overcoming morbid obesity can extend a person?s life for an average of 20 years, and, according to Grossbard, ?if you use rough numbers, and you actually multiply it out, it essentially costs less than $2 per day to live an extra 20 years with LAP-BAND® System. So, I ask my patients, ?What is your life worth to you if you had to pay for it? Is it worth $2 a day?? To me, that is a ridiculously small price to pay."