Why Bariatric Surgery Works When Diets Haven't and Why Self-Pay/Cash-Pay is More Economical

Are you tired of cycling through restrictive diets that don’t deliver the results you need? Bariatric surgery isn't a quick fix — these major medical procedures change the way your metabolism works to help you achieve significant, lasting weight loss.

Stephen Patching, MD, specializes in minimally invasive bariatric procedures, including gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and Lap-Band® surgery. Read on as Dr. Patching and our team explain why surgery works when diets don’t, and how our flexible payment options make these life-changing procedures more accessible than ever.

The biological reason diets fail

For many patients with class III obesity, healthy lifestyle changes like diet and exercise aren’t effective for achieving and maintaining long-term weight loss. It’s not a lack of willpower, but a biological response that works against your efforts to keep weight off.

When the body carries excess weight for an extended period, it begins to register the higher weight as its new normal, causing your metabolism to slow down drastically, conserving every calorie, and fighting to hold those extra pounds.

Consuming fewer calories isn’t always the answer. Restrictive dieting can raise levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, while lowering leptin, the hormone that tells your brain when you’re full. As a result, you feel constantly hungry and tired, yet the scale won’t budge.

Bariatric surgery: why and how it works

Bariatric surgery refers to procedures that surgically modify your digestive system to help you lose weight, known as the most effective obesity treatment, and in many cases, the only one that offers sustainable results.

Unlike dieting, these methods address the hormonal and metabolic factors that prevent weight loss. Let’s take a look at three common types of bariatric surgery and how they work:

Sleeve gastrectomy (gastric sleeve)

The gastric sleeve is the most popular form of weight loss surgery in the United States due to its relative simplicity and low risk of complications. 

In this procedure, Dr. Patching removes about 80% of the stomach, leaving a narrow portion behind — the sleeve. It works by restricting the amount of food you can comfortably eat while also reducing the amount of ghrelin (hunger hormone) your body produces.

Gastric bypass

A Roux-en-Y gastric bypass not only limits the amount of food your stomach can hold but also reroutes part of your small intestine to bypass the upper digestive tract. This procedure reduces the amount of calories your body can absorb from food, allowing for greater and more rapid weight loss compared to other methods.

Lap-Band

The Lap-Band procedure is the least invasive option. It involves placing an inflatable silicone band around the top of the stomach, controlling the amount of food you can eat without permanently dividing the stomach. As you lose weight, Dr. Patching can adjust the band through an external port to help sustain your progress.

Why choose self-pay/cash-pay?

When you choose to self-pay for bariatric surgery, you pay a single upfront fee to our clinic instead of going through your health insurance provider. This approach eliminates the complex paperwork, pre-authorizations, and billing surprises often associated with the insurance claims process.

Our efficient care model enables us to offer special rates for cash-pay clients that are often significantly more affordable, particularly if your plan has a high deductible or doesn’t cover weight loss surgery. We also accept most major insurance plans and providers for traditional payments.

To find out if you’re a candidate for bariatric surgery, schedule a personalized consultation with Dr. Patching. Contact us today by calling our Sacramento, California, office or booking online and take the first step on your weight loss journey.