Drastic measures: weight loss surgery a life-saving step / LJWorld.com

As the obesity epidemic has skyrocketed, so have the number of weight loss surgeries. It's a procedure that some say is growing less risky and dramatically improves patients' health. Just ask Elizabeth "Bizz" O'Brien and her daughter Dawn, who drew on Elizabeth's retirement so they both could have weight loss surgery. Two years later, the two say they want to be the poster women for Lap-Band surgery. This is their story.

'I didn't want to become my mom'

Two years ago, Dawn and Bizz O'Brien took drastic measures to loss weight: reducing the size of their stomach with a Lap-Band. Combined, the mother and daughter have lost more than 250 pounds. Here, the two talk about how weight loss surgery has changed their lives.

Video by Christine Metz

Lap-Band gives mother, daughter new excitement in life

Dawn O'Brien stood in her kitchen holding a pair of size 26, blue-and-white flowered pants in front of her. "I've always wanted to do this," she said, laughing. "Look at my pants. This is not me." She flicked her wrists and tossed her pants to the floor. "Tada," she giggled, striking a pose. Behind the pants was a size 9 figure. More than three years earlier, Dawn was sitting on her couch wearing the same pants - then so tight she couldn't zip them up - when she decided something drastic had to change.

A letter from a 400-pound Wichita man convinced state Sen. Jim Barnett to conduct a hearing last month. The man with sleep apnea, diabetes, congestive heart failure and arthritis wanted to undergo obesity surgery, but he couldn't convince his health insurance company to cover it. Without it, he likely was headed for premature death.

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Lap Bands: Worth the weight?

Weight loss surgeries in Kansas from 1995-2006

Year	Number of procedures	No. of procedures with Morbid obesity
2006	758	541
2005	883	699
2004	865	679
2003	907	739
2002	683	515
2001	476	289
2000	262	88
1999	249	31
1998	206	32
1997	169	9
1996	190	2
1995	178	0

Surgeries by gender 2004-2006

Male	572
Female	1934

By age 2004-2006

0-18	72
19-29	172
30-39	547
40-49	667
50-64	757
65+	291

By procedure 2004-2006

Laparoscopic gastroenterostomy	1000
Other gastroenterostomy w/o gastrectomy	854
High gastric bypass	211
Partial gastrectomy with anastomosis to jejunum	162
Other	279

By payment 2004-2006

Commercial	1543
Medicare	446
Medicaid	56
Self Pay	113
Other	348

Source Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The data includes surgeries preformed at community hospitals and excludes data from specialty weight loss surgery centers.