Tom Saridis shares a
lot in common with the patients who come into his clinic. As the founder of the first obesity management
clinic in Canada, Saridis spent years trapped inside his body. Weighing in at more than 500 pounds just a few
years ago, his weight began to put severe limitations on him, in all areas of life.
In 2006, Saridis elected to undergo Lap-Band surgery, which is a surgical procedure that makes the stomach
smaller. As a result, the amount of food a person is able to eat after the band is inserted is reduced
significantly. Realizing it wasn’t a quick-fix solution for his health, Saridis says he became afraid. What
worsened his situation, he recalls, was trying to do it alone: “There was no after-care; I was scared the
procedure wouldn’t work.”
Using his entrepreneurial background, Saridis put together a team of experts and opened CIBO Clinic (Canadian
Institute of Bariatric Options) at its Toronto location in 2007.
CIBO Clinic offers a full range of medical and support services for patients, which includes the Lap-Band
surgery by a fellowship-trained bariatric surgeon, psychotherapy and counselling in areas like nutrition,
fitness and mobility rehab. The clinic has CAAASF certification, which means it meets the standards of safety
and patient care set out by the Canadian Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgical Facilities.
Aesthetically, the design of the clinic also meets patients’ needs by having wider hallways, corridors and
more comfortable seating. Everything on site was built to accommodate the needs of the obese individual, says
Saridis. The design of the clinic “came naturally after living the experience first-hand,” he shares.
Today, obesity is a health concern affecting one in four Canadians, according to CIBO Clinic research. Losing
weight and keeping it off, however, is very challenging since significant lifestyle and behavioural changes
are required.
The patient-to-patient experience is what sets CIBO Clinic apart from other weight loss centres. “The first
and most important factor is the patient’s comfort level, to make them feel like they belong,” says Saridis.
“We follow through here, so [patients] don’t get lost and they have the one-on-one hand-holding they
need.”
Also there to help guide the patients on their weight loss journeys is Nisrine Shammas, director of patient
services. Before joining CIBO, Shammas was also obese. “I know it sounds cliché, but I was miserable,” she
says. “The freedom of being normal is amazing and I think it’s taken for granted.”
In 2001, Shammas also had Lap-Band surgery, three years after it was approved for use by Health Canada. But
five months after her procedure, she says, she was stuck in a similar rut as Saridis. “Medically, I knew the
band was not a saviour,” she says, “but I did question whether it was working. A few months after the
operation, I thought I’d failed. There’s nothing more disappointing then taking steps as a last resort and
failing.”
In her role at CIBO Clinic, Shammas helps patients overcome this shared fear just by being there for them.
Although she’s witnessed thousands of patients regain their lives, there’s one patient in particular Shammas
says she’ll never forget. The patient was a young woman who’d always wanted to go skydiving. A year and a
half after the woman’s surgery, she did it, says Shammas. “My heart goes out to them because I used to be
there,” she says. “People come in with no life, no pride in themselves and over the course of a few years,
you get to see them walk tall again. It’s lifelong support, here, all under one roof.” •
For more information visit ciboclinic.com
