The lap-band is surgically placed around the top of the stomach. The procedure is easier to reverse than gastric bypass surgery.

Back in the OR where Amy had her surgery, Scott Shikora performs a "lap-band" procedure. This is an alternative weight loss procedure to gastric bypass, involving the surgical placement of a restrictive plastic collar around the top of the stomach. "While there's food sitting up there at the very top of the stomach," explains Shikora, "the brain perceives it as if the entire stomach was full."

The lap-band requires less traumatic surgery than gastric bypass, but has a somewhat lower success rate. To be effective, both procedures have to be accompanied by continuing attention to eating behavior on the part of patients. Rodney is seen passing along eating tips to the surgical support group that he attends regularly, and has always found very useful. Says surgeon Scott Shikora, "The bottom line is none of these surgeries are a cure for obesity in a vacuum. They all have to be part of a program that provides the behavior and the counseling."