Nusbaum Medical Centers is the trusted authority on surgical weight loss in Chatham. Through our services, 6,000 New Jersey residents have lost a combined total of 500,000 lbs of body weight. Our medical weight loss professionals will help you meet your weight loss goals and keep them for life.

Dr. Nusbaum is one of the leading figures in bariatric weight loss surgery worldwide. Not only has his practice and research helped to shape the surgical procedures used today, but he often appears as a surgical weight loss specialist on national television. Our expertise is why Chatham residents choose us to help them along their weight loss journey.

If medically supervised dieting and exercise are ineffective in helping you reach a healthy body weight, then it is time to consider other options. Surgical weight loss is clinically proven to be safe and effective at helping weight loss patients lose large quantities of excess body weight. However, it is essential to outline the associated risks that come along with bariatric weight loss surgery. 

Most of these procedures involve the re-routing, cutting, stapling, and, in some cases, the removal of portions of your intestines and stomach. Though effective and proven safe, these procedures require a life-long commitment to healthy habits, routine follow-up appointments, and dietary supplements. You should discuss bariatric weight loss surgery with your primary healthcare physician to determine if you qualify for bariatric weight loss surgery.

Generally, weight loss patients need to prove that conventional diet and exercise have not effectively maintained healthy body weight. Here are more specific prerequisites that might qualify you for weight loss surgery:

As mentioned above, weight loss surgery is clinically proven to be safe and effective at helping patients lose a large quantity of excess body weight. Patients who qualify can expect to lose between 30% – 40% of their excess body weight in the first six months, with more weight loss following. 

If you are not a good candidate for the more invasive bariatric surgery, know that you have other surgical options that are much less invasive than re-routing and cutting your digestive system. Though these less invasive procedures don’t lead to the rapid weight loss of other surgeries, they are still effective and are reversible, temporary procedures.

Another noted benefit is that most bariatric weight loss surgeries are entirely covered by health insurance, so long as you and your medical team can prove that they are medically necessary.

Gastric Bypass

When patients first seek out bariatric weight loss surgeries, gastric bypass is usually the first option they learn about. This procedure is the oldest, and therefore most clinically proven weight loss procedure available in the US.

The most recent version of the gastric bypass uses both restrictive eating and malabsorptive techniques to help patients lose significant amounts of weight and keep it off. The surgeon first reduces the stomach size by stapling off a large portion of it. This is the restrictive technique. For the malabsorptive technique, the surgeon reroutes the stomach to bypass a tract of the intestine responsible for calorie absorption. 

Advantages

• Uses restrictive and malabsorptive techniques to induce rapid weight loss
• Patients feel full faster
• This leads to the resolution of comorbidities associated with obesity
• The procedure is performed laparoscopically, so patients receive small incisions 

Gastric Sleeve

This is a newer technique and has the benefit of not interfering with your digestive tract. Unlike the gastric bypass, there is no intestinal rerouting. Instead, the majority of the stomach is removed. What is left resembles a narrow sleeve. This procedure vastly limits how much food you can digest at one time.

Advantages

• Reduces stomach capacity while still allowing for the regular consumption of food, just in smaller amounts
• Removes the section of the stomach that produces the hunger-producing hormone ghrelin
• It does not lead to complications surrounding intestinal bypass because this procedure only focuses on the stomach
• Considered very effective for patients with a high BMI

Gastric Band

If you prefer a reversible, adjustable, and temporary procedure, then you might be interested in the gastric band. For a period of six to twelve months, a restrictive device is wrapped around the upper section of the stomach. This creates a small chamber with a narrow passage in your stomach, restrict the amount of food a person can eat at one time.

The FDA approves two gastric band procedures:

Lap Band Surgery

The lap band is an adjustable device that your surgeon can modify as needed. It is the older of the two procedures.

Realize Band Surgery

The realize band procedure works according to the same principle but uses a simpler device made from a silicone ring. 

Advantages

• Least invasive surgery – no cutting, rerouting or stapling
• Gastric bands can be regularly adjusted to induce weight loss if a patient starts to gain weight again
• The adjustable band means customizable weight loss
• Faster recovery time and less pain 

Single Incision Surgery

Our medical team uses SILS, or single incision laparoscopic surgery, trademarked by Covidian. It is our preferred way of performing the above procedures. Should you be eligible for SILS, you can expect a quicker, less painful recovery, as well as a better cosmetic result. 

Nusbaum Medical Centers has 2 office locations in Cedar Knolls and Clifton.

• Cedar Knolls Location
  197 Ridgedale Ave, Suite 160
  Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927
  973.834.7601
• Clifton Location
  999 Clifton Ave
  Clifton, NJ 07013
  973.834.7601

We provide bariatric surgery services to the following locations:

Will Health Insurance Cover My Weight Loss Surgery?

Bariatric weight loss surgery is performed on weight loss patients who cannot lose weight by conventional means, so usually, health insurance will cover. Patients and their medical team will have to demonstrate that the surgery is medically necessary, but often this is very easy to prove.

How Much Weight Can I Expect to Lose?

Less invasive procedures, such as gastric band surgeries, do not alter digestion. They make eating large amounts of food very uncomfortable. With this weight loss procedure, patients can expect to lose 1 – 2 lbs per week. 

More invasive weight loss procedures will have a faster, more dramatic effect. Patients who receive a gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy can expect to lose between 30% and 40% of their body weight after six months.

What Is the Recovery Time After Bariatric Surgery?

One of the benefits of our single incision laparoscopic surgery method is that the recovery time is faster than if you received multiple incisions.

For the more involved procedures, patients stay in the hospital for two to three days and then can spend the rest of their recovery at home. Generally, after three to five weeks, the weight loss patient can resume normal activities. 

Can Bariatric Surgery Help Treat Type 2 Diabetes?

Yes, if your type two diabetes is a comorbidity resulting from obesity, then bariatric weight loss surgery can help you better manage symptoms.