A quest for weight loss surgery leads to a treatable cancer diagnosis
December 22nd, 2011James Langan, a 60-year-old retired maintenance supervisor, was looking forward to having his weight loss surgery performed by Dr. Seun Sowemimo. He initially attended the doctor’s weight loss surgery Informational Seminar to learn more about the different surgical procedures available and ask questions about the process. James attended the seminar with his sister-in-law, Joanne, head nurse in the Surgery department of an orthopedic group, whom he refers to as the ‘family doctor’. “Even she was impressed with Dr. Seun and agreed with his assessment that the gastric sleeve procedure was the way to go in my situation,” James recalls.
An unexpected roadblock
Prior to surgery, the Sayreville resident underwent routine testing to ensure he was a suitable candidate for the sleeve procedure. But during a colonoscopy, a mass on right side of James’ colon was discovered. James says Dr. Seun took immediate control of the serious diagnosis and simply told him “we would resolve this issue first and then get back to the weight loss surgery.” Dr. Seun recommended James get a second opinion from another surgeon before even discussing what action to take. “That really earned my confidence,” James says.
James did so and the second surgeon confirmed Dr. Seun’s diagnosis─stage one colon cancer. Fortunately, the cancer was in the early stages and had not penetrated any muscle. One week later, Dr. Seun laparoscopically removed all of the cancerous tumor in the colon at CentraState Medical Center.
Moving forward
“The incisions from my minimally invasive surgery were tiny—maybe two inches long. I previously had a knee replacement and surgery to remove an aneurism. But this time, I didn’t have to deal with weeks and weeks of recovery from general surgery.” James was only on pain medication for a day and a half after his colon surgery and says his scars are almost completely gone today. One month later, cancer free, James was finally ready to move forward with his bariatric sleeve surgery, which was performed without any complications.
Today, James has lost 76 pounds in less than three months and has alleviated the need for several medications for previous health conditions related to his obesity; He no longer needs any medication for high blood pressure. He found Dr. Seun’s calm and patient demeanor along with the non-stop support of Julie Parrott, RD, the Prime Surgicare nutritionist, pivotal to his rapid weight loss. To prepare him for surgery, James underwent a liquid protein diet to eliminate meals and caloric intake prior to surgery and prepare him for the liquid diet he would consume for a few weeks after surgery. “This helped tremendously during my first week of recovery,” said James.
James laughs and says that, unfortunately, he deems himself an expert in the world of surgery, after undergoing three major procedures in additional to his bariatric surgery. “Dr. Seun is not a hit-and-run doctor. He is always there to answer your questions, very down to earth, and speaks to you on your level. I recommend him 100% to anyone who may be facing surgery.”
