I am an angel to Chickflickstyle, who just had her DS with Dr. Prachand at the University of Chicago last week. On the SAME day, her husband had the RNY with Dr. Prachand--talk about an interesting couple! (BTW, they love him and say the nursing team there is top-notch.)

Well, the Chicago Sun-Times thought their story was interesting too, so they did an article about them in today's paper, that I thought you might like to read.

Nicolle

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/health/1343129,CST-NWS-co uple22.article

Obesity meets match: a determined couple

INDIANA | They both undergo surgery with good chance to come out on top in longtime struggle

December 22, 2008
  BY KARA SPAK Staff Reporter/[email protected]

Mountain bikes, roller coasters and airplanes -- in their dreams, Lorie and Todd Richmond see themselves riding all of those.

But serious obesity -- she weighs 402 pounds, he 305 -- stand between the couple and their dream of an active lifestyle.

» Click to enlarge image Lorie and Todd Richmond met in college, married other people, then sought each other for years before linking up again in 2006. They were married six months later.
(Brian Jackson/Sun-Times)
So after years of failed diets and 10 months of intense preparations, Lorie, 31, and Todd, 35, each underwent weight-management surgery last week at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He had gastric bypass, she a duodenal switch.

Dr. Vivek Prachand performed both surgeries, the first time he has done so on a husband and wife in the same day.

The process to qualify for the operations is rigorous, Prachand said, helping to guarantee long-term success. Among the criteria, he said, was the need to "have a good support system in place."

The Richmonds, who live in an Indiana town 45 miles south of Chicago, say they've got the best support system possible -- each other. A little more than two years after they walked down the aisle to say their vows, they helped each other on their first post-surgical walk down the hospital hallway Wednesday. In a year, they believe, they'll no longer be "fluffy," as Lorie Richmond calls it, but instead playing actively with their three children and modeling healthy behavior for them.

"We were just so excited for the day to be here," she said of the surgeries.

The pair met in Branson, Mo., in 1995, the first week both were students at the College of the Ozarks. Injured in a car accident in 1996, Todd Richmond left school and moved back in with his family in Indiana. They both married other people, had kids and exchanged yearly updates through Christmas cards.

In late 2000, the two discussed his pending divorce, planning to talk again. But the next day, his phone was disconnected.

They didn't speak with each other again for years. She got divorced and tried a few times to track him down via the Internet, with no luck. In 2003, she wrote to nationally syndicated radio host Delilah for help. Todd got a package from the Delilah show, but by that time Lorie had moved, and he couldn't find her.

Then, on a May 2006 midnight shift, while Lorie was working as a nurse, she checked for him on MySpace. He had a page. She e-mailed. He wrote back. Six months later, they married.

When she learned insurance from her job as an emergency-room nurse at a Hobart, Ind., hospital would pay for the surgery, she started looking into it. Needle-shy Todd joined her at initial meetings with Prachand for support but quickly realized this was something he wanted, too.

They say they're committed, despite the challenges, whi*****lude seriously moderating their diets.

"It's like starting a journey together," Lorie said. "For me, this is such an awesome thing to do."

"It's our life," Todd said. "It's a new life."

Thank you Nicole for bringing this nice story to our attention. It really helps when you have hat special suport system in place.