Make weight-loss surgery a priority, gov't urged
Long wait lists. Procedure saves lives, Quebec group says
High school was tough for Robert Martinez.
He faced the usual teenage concerns - what sport to play, where to sit in class, whether to brave the long line-ups at amusement parks - but not for the usual reasons. Weighing close to 400 pounds, he worried about breaking an ankle if he tried to run, finding a chair that would support him, and whether or not he would fit in the harness after waiting hours to get on a roller coaster.
When it came time to go to CEGEP, Martinez instead stayed home in Vaudreuil. He had recently broken both ankles, and because of his weight he couldn't use crutches or a wheelchair to navigate the hallways at school.
Two doctors referred Martinez, who is now 20, for bariatric surgery. The procedure can involve reducing the size of the stomach (gastric bypass) or rerouting food passing through the intestines, thereby altering the digestive process to help control weight gain. The World Health Organization calls bariatric surgery the only effective treatment for morbid obesity - weight gain that leads to life-threatening conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
News of the surgery gave Martinez hope. But when he went to sign up, he was told he faced a five- to seven-year wait.
The news came as a blow.
"Right now the worst thing I have ... is borderline high blood pressure," he said. "But in five to seven years, I could develop diabetes or something else."
According to the Quebec group Coalition Against Morbid Obesity, Martinez is one of one of close to 300,000 obese Quebecers; 3,500 of these are waiting for bariatric surgery, which can cost up to $17,500. It is performed 1,000 times per year across the province.
The group held a news conference in Montreal yesterday to put pressure on Quebec to increase funding toward weight-loss surgery. Meanwhile, in Quebec City, Éric Claire, the health and social services spokesperson for the Action Démocratique du Québec, presented the Quebec National Assembly with a 600-name petition asking the province to increase access to weight-loss surgery.
In February, the Department of Health and Social Services committed to reaching 1,500 annually five years from now. But for people like Martinez, who will watch their health deteriorate as they wait their turn, that number is not high enough.
Jennifer Schultz co-founded the non-profit Coalition Against Morbid Obesity with Josée Roy in February 2007 to draw attention to the challenges facing extremely overweight people in Quebec. Both women underwent bariatric surgeries, and say such procedures can save the life of someone trapped in a cycle of extreme dieting, self-loathing, weight gain and depression.
Schultz, who had a gastric bypass, said her stomach was the size of a football when she went in for the procedure; afterward, it was the size of her thumb.
The surgery helps chronic overeaters develop new habits concerning food, which leads to a healthier lifestyle, Schultz said. In addition, she said, the surgery allows people to address the low self-esteem and depression that often accompany and perpetuate weight gain.
"You can't physically eat as much, so you have to stop and find another way to deal with the emotions."
Nicolas Christou, director of the bariatric surgery program at McGill University Health Centre, researched the outcomes of more than 1,000 weight-loss surgeries between 1986 and 2002. The patients shed 67 per cent of their excess weight in that time, and had an 89-per-cent lower risk of death than the close to 6,000 obese subjects who did not have the surgery.
Julia Kilpatrick
jkilpatrick@thegazette.canwest.com
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