- Former aggressive weightlifter Dana Bichler misplaced greater than 80 kilos after present process endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG), a minimally invasive weight reduction process.
- After battling weight regain regardless of weight-reduction plan and attempting GLP-1 drugs, Bichler pursued ESG amid considerations about his obesity-related fatty liver illness.
- Bichler says the process helped him regain his vitality, change into extra bodily lively, and luxuriate in actions along with his household that had change into tough due to his weight.
For years, Dana Bichler was a aggressive weightlifter. He felt match and powerful competing at 200 to 210 kilos. However put on and tear on his physique and getting old finally pushed him to step away from weightlifting. With out the coaching, he started to realize weight slowly and steadily.
“I attempted running, and some different issues, and the load simply crept up,” he informed Healthline.
Weight-reduction plan allowed him to lose about 50 kilos, however he would then regain it. At his heaviest, he weighed near 300 kilos, which impressed him to go to a weight-loss clinic, the place he adopted a plan centered on the clinic’s meals.
“It’s a lifetime of deprivation,” Bichler mentioned. “You simply can’t dwell prefer it.”
“There was actually no long-term constructive results or advantages that I noticed,” he mentioned.
Bichler understood the seriousness of the situation as his two youthful sisters and his oldest brother additionally had fatty liver illness. His brother and youngest sister developed cirrhosis, and his brother died after the illness affected different components of his physique.
“I needed to do one thing,” he mentioned. “What I used to be doing was not working.”
Throughout ESG, a physician passes an endoscope by means of the mouth and makes use of sutures to fold the abdomen right into a narrower sleeve. No portion of the abdomen is eliminated, and there aren’t any incisions. The smaller abdomen limits how a lot an individual can eat directly.
“Sufferers sometimes go dwelling the identical day and might return to routine each day actions inside two to a few days,” Brian Dunkin, MD, chief medical officer at Boston Scientific, informed Healthline. “For the fitting particular person, that gives one other less-invasive possibility to contemplate with their healthcare skilled.”
Whereas ESG could also be a very good possibility for some individuals who don’t obtain weight reduction targets with GLP-1 drugs, can’t tolerate them, or don’t need to keep on medicine long run, Dunkin mentioned he doesn’t consider it as ESG versus GLP-1 medicine.
“The most effective issues GLP-1 drugs have performed is get extra individuals speaking to their medical doctors about weight problems and recognizing it as a power illness that deserves remedy,” he mentioned.
Every strategy has totally different advantages, dangers, and unintended effects.
“The purpose is discovering the fitting remedy, or mixture of therapies, for the fitting affected person on the proper time,” mentioned Dunkin.
ESG is indicated for adults with weight problems with a BMI between 30 and 50, however Dunkin mentioned BMI is simply a part of the dialog. ESG could also be an possibility for individuals who aren’t getting the load loss outcomes they need, who don’t need to keep on weight reduction medicine long run, or for whom bariatric surgery will not be applicable or desired, he added.
“Weight problems is a power illness that requires long-term care,” mentioned Dunkin. “ESG is one a part of that care, which is why I consider so strongly in a multidisciplinary strategy. The purpose is to take a look at the entire particular person and discover a care plan they’ll maintain over time.”
In March 2025, Bichler determined ESG was a very good match for him and obtained the process at Boston Scientific. On the time, he was 67 years outdated and on Medicare, which pre-approved the process.
“I simply felt snug with it not being invasive, and I actually wanted to take care of [my weight], so I did,” he mentioned.
When Bichler underwent ESG he weighed someplace within the 260s. In the present day, he weighs 178 kilos.
Whereas the process went easily, he mentioned the next month was tough. As a result of bread, pasta, rice, and carbonated drinks have been off the desk, he needed to devour clear liquids, then slowly moved to different liquids, and finally cream soups.
“I discovered that extraordinarily tough,” he mentioned.
What stunned him most was despair. Wanting again, he calls it an ideal storm. Working along with his weight reduction physician, he had stopped taking his antidepressant about two weeks earlier than the process. After surgical procedure, his consuming habits modified dramatically, disrupting the social life he’d constructed round meals.
“I used to be in a fairly deep funk for some time,” he mentioned. “I actually was.”
He restarted his antidepressant, and over time, he adjusted to a brand new approach of consuming.
“I’ve found I like cream soup,” he mentioned. “I nonetheless have it for meals.”
Though he’s misplaced greater than 80 kilos, Bichler mentioned the larger change is how good he feels. He workouts 4 to 5 days every week and has extra vitality and strikes extra simply than he has in years.
“I haven’t felt this good in 30 years,” Bichler mentioned. “I’m not kidding you.”
He’s capable of get pleasure from issues he loves like engaged on the farm he and his spouse personal. On the farm, he hunts geese, turkeys, pheasants, and small sport, and runs a trapline, all actions his weight had made almost inconceivable for a very long time.
“It was actually arduous for me to do due to the physicality of doing a few of these issues,” he mentioned.
Though he retired from his occupation, Bichler mentioned he’s busier than ever. He’s a protodeacon within the Jap Orthodox Church and likewise serves as a chaplain for his native police division, a task that has him climbing out and in of squad vehicles and up and down steps.
“Earlier than I’d be sucking air attempting to maintain up,” he mentioned.
Most significant of all is that he has extra vitality to provide to his household.
“I’ve a grandson that I can really do issues and be lively with now,” Bichler mentioned. “It’s like beginning throughout. I simply really feel like a brand new particular person.”
