175 Pound Weight Loss Leads To A New Family!

Weight-loss surgery helped Lisa Burwell gain more than just a new lease on life – it helped her grow her family.

For Lisa Burwell, of North Canton, Ohio, weight gain became a part of her life after she got married in 1998. And for years, she tried everything to lose weight, spending several thousand dollars on diets, pills, exercise plans, and the like before deciding on surgery. Not only did weight gain physically weigh on Lisa, but it also took an emotional toll on both her marriage and her. She hated being seen in public because she felt that everyone looked at her and cast judgment based solely on her appearance. After nine years of being married to her husband, Keith, Lisa was at her heaviest – and eight sizes bigger than where she started.

“I remember the person I was when I was thinner,” Lisa explained. “I remember carefree and easygoing, get up and go, and not having any issues or problems. I wanted to be that person again.”

What Lisa wanted however, was not only to be healthy and back to her original frame, but also to have a child that she had tried to conceive for years with Keith. Lisa experienced several miscarriages over the years. Although no one said they were attributed to weight, she continued to question why they couldn’t start a family.

“One of my goals was obviously to have a family,” Lisa said. “I didn’t want to be that mom that couldn’t sit on the swing set, or wear a bathing suit and go swimming with her children at the pool and have her children be totally embarrassed. Something had to drastically change if I was going to be the mom I wanted to be. That’s one of the main reasons why we finally began to evaluate the possibility of surgery.”

In April 2009, Lisa decided to undergo weight-loss surgery at Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio with John Zografakis, M.D., medical director of Summa’s Bariatric Care Center.

“Lisa looked into a lot of weight-loss procedures before surgery,” Dr. Zografakis said. “Lisa’s very motivated, educated, and asks a lot of fantastic questions. Ultimately, she decided on Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RGB; commonly known as gastric bypass). She was probably the most intimately aware of this procedure because many of her family members had gastric bypass. She did do her due diligence though, and looked at other procedures. Ultimately, though, I believe she felt most comfortable with gastric bypass and could relate with that, and was enamored by how well her family members had done with this operation.”

RGB, a minimally invasive surgery, involves stapling the stomach to create a small pouch that holds less food. A portion of the small intestine is then shaped into a “Y”. The “Y” portion of the intestine is connected to the stomach pouch so that when food is digested, it travels directly into the lower part of the small intestine, bypassing the first part of the small intestine (the duodenum) and the first part of the second section of the small intestine (the jejunum). Bypassing these sections of the intestine restricts the amount of calories and nutrients that are absorbed into the body.

Today, after losing 175 pounds, Lisa feels great. She started a new job, was promoted, and traveled to her favorite vacation spot, Disney World. Best of all, she had a child. She and Keith are now expecting their second.

“She is the biggest blessing,” Lisa said about her daughter. “I look at her every day and say, ‘If I didn’t have bariatric surgery, you would not be here.’”

Lisa’s mental outlook on life also improved drastically after surgery. “Being thinner is definitely better,” Lisa explained. “You’re healthier, but you also have an attitude adjustment. Once you have the surgery, you just feel better about yourself. You have a better outlook, you’re happier, you look at things with fresher eyes instead of such doom and gloom.

“When I look at pictures from before, I say, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I remember who that person was and I never want to be that person again.”

Lisa still sees Dr. Zografakis in the center, who says he will be with her for life. “It just doesn’t stop with the surgery,” Dr. Zografakis said. “We continue to offer care well after the surgery, and for the rest of your life.”

Lisa also has advice for people considering weight loss surgery: Do not be afraid. “They [people] think it’s so drastic,” Lisa said. “[They say,] ‘I won’t ever be able to eat this’ or ‘I’ll be getting sick on food.’ You can have your life back. You still get to enjoy all the things in life that you did before, but just not times twenty.

“If you don’t have the surgery, you’re never going to know who you were supposed to be. You’re trapped inside this fat, overweight body that you are basically imprisoned to. If you’re thinking about having surgery, you need to do it. You need to do it, and you need to get on board right away. If you wait, you’re just wasting one more day of your life that you could have had back.”

To hear Lisa’s story, click here. To hear Lisa’s advice, click here. 



Summa's Bariatric Care Center is designated by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence.®  Summa’s Bariatric Care Center offers a team-based approach to weight loss. The Summa program includes both surgical and medical weight loss options.