Medical Reports: Weight Loss

WSVN -- Carrie Williamson: "OK, we're going to get your weight and your height first."

A nine pound weight loss in two weeks amazes 30-year-old Carrie Williamson. She's been overweight since she was a child.

Carrie Williamson: "I had done Meridia, Weight Watchers. You name it, I did it."

So she figured she had nothing to lose when she volunteered to be the first American patient to undergo a new form of stomach stapling surgery called Transoral Gastroplasty or TOGA.

J. Christopher Eagon, MD, Washington University School of Medicine: "The thing that's unique about this is that it's all done through the mouth."

Surgeons stapled her stomach by passing flexible instruments down her esophagus to the stomach, where a restrictive pouch was created.

J. Christopher Eagon, MD: "The jaws open up, pull a portion of the stomach into the jaws, and then close it down and fire the stapler, and that creates that tubular type of anatomy."

The pouch collects food as it enters the stomach, giving the patient a feeling of fullness after even a small meal.

J. Christopher Eagon, MD: "Because you take in so little food, you have to make sure you take enough protein, enough nutrients."

In the study, patients on average lost 40 percent of excess body fat within a year. Doctors say that's slightly less than gastric bypass. Carrie is blogging about her experience in the TOGA study. She writes: "I did the bike for 30 minutes, more than I ever thought I could do!"

Carrie Williamson: "I had surgery on Wednesday and went back to work on Monday."

For Carrie, it's a schedule-friendly procedure that has given her a new hope for a fit future.

Researchers are currently studying 275 cases across the U.S. Volunteers who want to enroll must be 18 to 60 years-old and be at least 100 pounds overweight.