Top of His Game

Sidelined by sports injuries throughout his youth, Nicholas Durso often put his passion for fitness on hold. Recuperating from injuries acquired on the baseball field or on the basketball court often meant settling for a sedentary lifestyle and piling on excess pounds.

Throughout his 20s, the 5-foot 11-inch sports enthusiast tried numerous diets to keep his weight in check, but every time he dropped 50 pounds, he gained it right back. The fact that his career as a wealth management adviser involved countless meals with clients made managing his weight even more challenging. When he was 31, Durso tipped the scales at 301 pounds.

“My issue was serving size,” remembers Durso. “Although I wasn’t always eating pizza and drinking soda, I would eat the equivalent of four serving sizes for every portion of a meal.”

Then a life-changing event happened that set Durso on a different course. His uncle, who was very close to the family, died of a heart attack at age 55.

“I decided to make a change in my life,” says Durso. “My wife and I had just had our son who was 6 months old at the time that my uncle passed away, and I thought, ‘that’s not going to be me.'”

Score one for Health

Durso met with Amir Moazzez, MD, Medical Director of Inova Weight Loss Surgery Program at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, who explained the options and the lifestyle changes he would need to make.

“Dr. Moazzez is an amazing surgeon,” says Durso. “He and his team gave me the tools, the education, the nutrition and the support that I needed to change my life.”

Based on Durso’s body mass index (BMI), which had climbed to 42, and the fact that diabetes and heart disease were prevalent in his family, Dr. Moazzez recommended gastric bypass, considered the gold standard of weight-loss surgery.

“Nicholas had a strong family history of coronary artery disease and diabetes, and even though he didn’t have co-morbid conditions yet, he decided to have this operation to prevent getting medical problems that were in the near future,” says Dr. Moazzez.

Durso attended an educational seminar at Inova Bariatric Surgery and met with a dietitian, a behavioral specialist, an exercise physiologist and other experts on the medical team who would be there to guide him every step of the way. In the months before his surgery, he shed 50 pounds by walking three to five miles daily while monitoring his activity with a Fitbit activity tracker and his caloric intake with the MyFitnessPal app.

Long-Range Goal

Immediately after his surgery, the nurses encouraged him to walk to speed his recovery. He walked a mile the first day. After three months of daily exercise, he achieved his weight-loss goal. Having shed 100 pounds, the pain in his ankles and back from previous injuries subsided, and he regained his energy.

“I used to be tired walking from my couch to my car,” recalls Durso. “Now I can sprint up my stairs three steps at a time and not even break a sweat.”

He began a fitness program by walking daily on the tread-mill, then gradually built up his strength to the point where he could run a brisk 10 miles. Now Durso is training to compete in a sprint triathlon (a shorter version of a triathlon). “When your body is so used to carrying that much weight and you lose it, you feel you can run through a brick wall,” says Durso. “It is amazing.”

He knows he can call on Dr. Moazzez any time he needs support or has a question.

“Weight-loss surgery has to be combined with a life-long commitment to lifestyle changes and eating habit changes,” says Dr. Moazzez. “We follow up on our patients very closely in our office for years to come and we have every help available if they need a dietitian, a behavioral specialist or an exercise specialist.”

Durso has experienced life-changing effects from weight-loss surgery. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, the most common and popular bariatric surgery in the United States, involves stapling and partitioning the stomach into a small pouch and connecting the small pouch directly to the small intestine. The smaller stomach pouch restricts the amount of food the patient can comfortably eat. The bypass decreases the amount of nutrients and calories absorbed by the body.

Inova Fair Oaks Hospital specializes in mini-incision and laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery, techniques that are less invasive than traditional surgery and allow for a faster, more comfortable recovery.

Healthier You

Bariatric surgery has been shown to be effective at resolving or improving many obesity-related conditions. In one study, it successfully reduced 96 percent of such conditions.

“Weight-loss surgery helps patients get rid of most of their co-morbid conditions, such as diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, sleep apnea and acid reflux,” says Dr. Moazzez.

And the health results are longterm. According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, more than 90 percent of severely obese patients are able to maintain 50 percent or more of pounds lost after surgery.

New Inova Medical Group

The Inova team of bariatric surgeons, formerly members of Bluepoint, provides a full range of surgical services including bariatrics, general surgery and minimally invasive surgery. The medical team also provides diabetes education and prevention, overall wellness, medical care, endocrinology testing and behavioral counseling. To schedule an appointment at the Fair Oaks or Woodbridge locations, call 703.620.3211.