Sauna Olsen, RN, Utah Valley Surgical Weight Loss Program coordinator, "sat on the sidelines" as a morbidly obese mother of four, trying every weight loss program, pill, and diet she could find to no avail. She says gastric bypass surgery, which decreases the volume of the stomach and reduces caloric intake, helped her lose more than 100 pounds, increase her energy and confidence, and gain control of her life. Now she would like to help others change their lives.

Although, gastric bypass surgery patients can expect to lose 60-70 percent of their excess body weight, it's not a quick fix, Olsen says, but a lifestyle change. The new program, a partnership between Utah Valley Regional and Utah County Surgical Associates, is a comprehensive approach to weight loss, involving a multidisciplinary team of a physician/surgeon, nurse, nutritionist, psychologist, and exercise physiotherapist. For best results, patients must maintain lifestyle changes after the procedure and throughout their lives. When they do, David Watts, MD, the new program's surgeon, says the results will change their life.

"During the 12 years I have been doing gastric bypasses, I have loved seeing patients become healthier, feel better about themselves, and have greater energy to devote to their family, friends, and personal pursuits," says Dr. Watts. "One of the most satisfying experiences I have had with bariatric surgical patients is to see them in follow-up and not recognize them. They are among the happiest, most grateful patients I have ever treated."

Dr. Watts says patients who undergo the procedure often have complete cure of their diabetes or other weight-related illnesses. A study published in the August 23, 2007 New England Journal of Medicine reported after watching nearly 8,000 patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery for 18 years, compared to control subjects matched for age, sex, and body mass index, death from all causes was reduced by 40 percent after the procedure, deaths from coronary artery disease were reduced by 56 percent, deaths from diabetes by 92 percent, and cancer by 60 percent.

An individual is likely morbidly obese, and thus a candidate for this procedure, if they:

* Have Body Mass Index (BMI - weight in pounds x 703/height in inches©˜) of 40

* Have BMI of 35 or greater and are experiencing severe health-related conditions, likely to benefit from weight reduction, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, sleep apnea, heart disease, etc.

* Are not dependent on drugs or alcohol

* Do not have uncontrolled psychological conditions

* Have not been able to maintain weight loss through other documented methods

The Utah Valley Surgical Weight Loss Program will hold a free educational class for interested candidates on August 5 at 6:30 p.m. in the Northwest Plaza Clark Auditorium at Utah Valley Regional. For more information, call 357.2294 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Dr. Watts: Originally from Roy, Utah. Received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Brigham Young University in 1981; graduated with his medical doctorate from Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Md., in 1985, and completed his general surgery training at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. He served in the United States Army Medical Corps on active duty for 26 years at Fort Riley, Kan., and Fort Lewis, Wash. (Served in Operation Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and Iraq.) His most recent assignments in the army include Chief of General Surgery at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash., and Chief of Surgery of the 47th Combat Support Hospital in Mosul, Iraq.

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Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.

-- Helen Keller