Long Dogged by Weight, Christie Has Surgery
USINFO | 2013-05-24 11:00

 
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday that he underwent weight-reduction surgery this year to improve his health for the sake of his wife and children, not for his political ambitions.
 
Mr. Christie had so-called lap-band stomach surgery on Feb. 16 at the New York University Langone Weight Management Program in Manhattan, he said at a news conference on Tuesday. The procedure lasted about 40 minutes, he said, and he was home in Mendham, N.J., the same afternoon. It was first reported by the New York Post.
 
"This is about Mary Pat, and the kids and me. It's really not about anyone else," said Mr. Christie, referring to his wife and four children, the oldest of whom is in college.
 
The governor faces a re-election contest this fall and is seen by many political observers to be a 2016 Republican presidential contender. Mr. Christie's weight was the subject of scrutiny in February after he ate a doughnut during an appearance on "Late Night With David Letterman."
 
Mr. Christie said he decided to go forward with the surgery around his 50th birthday, in September. New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, a friend of the governor's who also underwent weight-reduction surgery, provided Mr. Christie unsolicited advice about its benefits, Mr. Christie said. Mr. Ryan declined to comment.
 
Mr. Christie originally wanted to have the surgery shortly after the 2012 presidential election, but superstorm Sandy and the devastation it caused in New Jersey forced him to delay the procedure, he said. The governor was an active campaigner for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, but was also seen in a widely publicized hug with Barack Obama when the president visited the storm-hit region.
 
In choosing the laparoscopic adjustable gastric band procedure, Mr. Christie underwent the least aggressive of three common weight-loss operations, said Jaime Ponce, a bariatric surgeon in Dalton, Ga., and president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
 
Generally, the procedure involves placing a silicone ring around the top of a patient's stomach and inflating it with saline to choke off a large portion of the stomach, which creates a small pouch that helps restrict food consumption and produces feelings of fullness, Dr. Ponce said. The ring can be tightened or loosened by changing the levels of saline.
 
One major advantage to the gastric band is that, unlike the other options, it is reversible and doesn't involve a permanent alteration of the stomach or intestinal tract. It is thus associated with fewer serious complications, Dr. Ponce said.
 
More invasive approaches can result in average loss of up to 70% of an obese person's excess weight, but the lap-band typically results in loss of 40% to 50%, Dr. Ponce said. Weight loss is also slower with the lap-band than with the other procedures.
 
Mr. Christie said he eats less and feels full more quickly since the surgery. He said he works out four time a week with a personal trainer. Several friends said they have noticed that he has lost weight, though Mr. Christie wouldn't say Tuesday how many pounds he has shed.
 
Mr. Christie said he had kept the surgery quiet, only telling two senior members of his cabinet and his family.
 
"I'm thrilled he did this," said Bill Palatucci, a longtime friend and fundraiser for Mr. Christie, who said the governor called him Monday night to inform him about the procedure. "It's been a struggle on and off for close to his whole adult life."
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