Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.
I’ve battled with my weight since early childhood. I was obese throughout elementary school and junior high. In high school I joined a gym, became an avid swimmer, took diet pills and crash dieted. I got down to a weight of 120-lbs. That wasn’t long-lived, but for years I did maintain my weight at 140-lbs.
My weight began to balloon up again in my early twenties. I was a processed food junkie and by the time I reached my thirties, I had developed diabetes, celiac disease, depression, acid reflux, asthma, and hypertension. I ended up hospitalized for diabetes. I was morbidly obese and on ~10 prescription medications. Clearly my life was in jeopardy. At the time, Al Roker was in the news for having had gastric bypass surgery. I saw him on the cover of a magazine while shopping with some very beautiful co-workers. I grabbed it off the shelf and told one of the girls that I had thought about getting this surgery. She said, “You should do it.” And in that moment of truth, I decided to have weight-loss surgery. In July of 2003, I had gastric bypass surgery.
What was (is) the worst thing about being overweight?
It is important to recognize that obesity is the most pressing public health issue facing America today. It has reached epidemic proportions and is even harder to treat than the diseases/health conditions it causes. People need tools that can assist them in making permanent lifestyle changes and patient education is critical.
If you have had weight loss surgery already, what things do you most enjoy doing now that you weren't able to do before?
Formerly I was a processed food junkie who grew from fit to fat and developed diabetes, celiac disease, depression, acid reflux, asthma, and hypertension. Fat, sick, and nearly dead, I was in my 30s, morbidly obese and on ~10 prescription medications. Gastric bypass surgery was the linchpin in my decade-long success in defeating obesity and obesity-related illnesses. I've been off 9 of those 10 prescription medications for 10-yrs and counting. Never could I have achieved this success with diet and exercise alone. Today, I'm a size medium and living life larger than ever!
Nowadays I am committed to supporting the online patient community with outstanding resources and by sharing my decade-long success in defeating obesity and obesity-related illnesses. My hope is that others will heal themselves and live a life they love.
MyBariatricLife
