Echelon Bariatrics: Yves Manigat, M.D.
His Monday Nights Kick Off Weight Loss Surgery for Many
Bariatric surgery-the medical solution that helps the morbidly obese lose substantial weight-can change lives. And not just the lives of patients.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Yves Manigat, M.D., was a busy physician doing general, abdominal and colorectal surgery. Monday evenings were just another spot on his crowded calendar and could have involved any manner of activities.
Not any more.
Now he spends Monday evenings conducting an introductory seminar for severely obese people who want to lose weight and change their lives. He explains the basics of weight loss surgery and the different operations he performs: laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery, laparoscopic adjustable gastric band surgery, and laparoscopic vertical sleeve gastrectomy.
For those attendees who decide to take action, the meeting is the first step in a preparatory program that eventually leads them to surgery - by Dr. Manigat.
Thanks to some changes of his own, the physician has performed more than 200 weight loss surgeries within the past five years. "I'm really excited with the results, and more importantly, so are the patients," he said.
The physician paid attention when weight loss surgery blossomed some years ago. He began a two-year commute to New York City to study bariatric surgery with Michel Gagner, M.D., recognized as one of the pioneers in the field. He returned to New Jersey and began performing bariatric surgery in 2003.
He and his patients are happy with the results, but so are his surgical peers. In a relatively short time he has become a vital part of a two-physician program at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center.
"We want to be recognized as the practice that has the expertise in the laparoscopic approach to bariatric surgery, whether it be gastric bypass procedures or the adjustable gastric band," said Dr. Manigat. He also has increasing expertise in the sleeve (vertical) gastrectomy, a newer procedure which promises to become more popular when insurance companies approve it for coverage.
"We also see ourselves as a comprehensive program that includes a great emphasis on the preparation of the patient," said Dr. Manigat. At the heart of that program is the Monday night seminar, conducted each week for morbidly obese persons interested in surgical weight loss solutions.
Once the interested parties become his patients, the surgeon helps the patient decide just which type of weight loss surgery to choose. Counseling continues both before and after surgery.
Nutrition education is aimed at preparing the patient for the first weeks following the operation, when only liquids can be consumed, and for the phased-in new diet to be maintained thereafter. Dr. Manigat explained his dietary approach.
He delighted in describing the patients who succeed in maintaining the new lifestyle, patients who thank him for giving them a new chance at life. "They are very, very happy," he said. See this testimonial video.
Motivated patients can succeed, according Dr. Manigat. "In fact, aside from an anatomical failure, non-compliance is the only reasonable explanation for failure with these procedures," he said.
Patients who comply not only lose weight but come back to share their successes. And he has the before-and-after photos to reinforce the point.
For more information on Dr. Manigat, go to: www.echelonbariatrics.com
To locate a Lourdes Health System bariatric surgeon by phone, call 1-888-LOURDES.
