Nov. 27, 2000
Surgeons have done thousands of operations over the past 30 years trying to polish a technique that will peel off pounds for those diagnosed with life-threatening obesity.
The gold standard now is the so-called "egg stomach," and the latest patient to try one on is a Utah man with an interesting background.
Science Specialist Ed Yeates has the story.
Shaun Simpson is learning to be a mortician. He's also a professional entertainer, and a close friend of country-western star Dolly Parton. He's spent years promoting the Dollywood Foundation for Education.
But his excess weight was rapidly threatening to end his life. His only option - an egg stomach.
SHERMAN SMITH, M.D., BARIATRIC SURGEON: "HE'S SHORT OF BREATH. HE HAS VERY LITTLE EXERCISE TOLERANCE. HE HAS A LARGE BODY HABITAT. HE HAS HYGIENE PROBLEMS. HE HAS POOR VENOUS RETURN."
Shaun Simpson's surgeon describes a growing list of health problems brought on by excess weight - 300 plus pounds and climbing. But no one knows better what was happening than Shaun himself.
SHAUN SIMPSON: "I HAVE TO USE A CANE NOW AND IT'S JUST BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH WEIGHT ON MY LEGS, AND THEY THOUGHT I HAD PARKINSON'S DISEASE AT ONE TIME."
He ended up at St. Mark's Hospital - a candidate for a new generation gastric bypass operation.
SHAUN SIMPSON: "IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE A CUP OF COFFEE AND A DONUT OR WHATEVER - BUT NO."
After 30 years of trying different techniques, surgeons have now polished "stomach shrinking" into a "state of the art" procedure, designed specifically for those with LIFE-THREATENING obesity.
National Institutes of Health guidelines say it should only be done now on men and women whose defined body mass index is over 40.
SHERMAN SMITH, M.D., SURGEON: "THAT BODY MASS INDEX ROUGHLY MEANS THEY CARRY A HUNDRED POUNDS OR MORE OF EXCESS WEIGHT OF FAT."
These early pictures with Dolly Parton show a thinner and leaner Shaun Simpson. Over the years, his weight fluctuated.
Finally, it piled on, and didn't come off. But within a few hours, surgeons reduced his stomach to the size of an egg.
They redesigned his digestive tract, reconnecting bowel to stomach and bowel to bowel.
From this point on Shaun Simpson will eat like he's never eaten before.
SHERMAN SMITH, M.D., SURGEON: "WELL, THE FIRST YEAR HE'S GOING TO PUSH THAT PLATE AWAY AFTER ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES OF EATING APPROXIMATELY TWO TO FOUR OUNCES WORTH OF FOOD, AND THAT ISN'T VERY MUCH."
From his weigh-in after surgery, the monitoring begins.
His first meals at home - exactly as projected. Two to four ounces of food, and that's it. Appetite satisfied!
SHAUN SIMPSON: "IT'S A DO OR DIE SITUATION. YOU CAN'T GO BACK AND SAY, WELL IT DIDN'T WORK, BECAUSE THE INSIDES OF YOU ARE CHANGED."
It's been two weeks since the surgery. Shaun has already lost 60 pounds.
"MOST MEN WILL LOSE ABOUT A HUNDRED POUNDS WITHIN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS. AND THEN WE HOPE HE CAN DOUBLE THAT BY THE END OF THE FIRST YEAR."
Shaun Simpson plans is going back to Tennessee to show off his weight loss to his lifelong friend, Dolly Parton.
He wants to invite her to Salt Lake for a visit, perhaps HE SAYS, even as a participant in the opening ceremonies of the 2002 games.
That reunion with Dolly is scheduled for December 12th during the Christmas celebration at Dollywood in east Tennessee.
