Patient Testimonials

After

It was the late summer of 1973, and Mom was hunting through the Sears catalog for school clothes. We lived in Iceland, and in order to have a remote chance of something that fit and was new for school starting, the catalog was the only way to go. I remember Mom getting more frustrated as she hunted for stuff for me- those “x”’s after the clothing size seemed to be very elusive. I didn’t know, of course, what the X stood for, just that they were hard to find. I started dieting on my own by age eleven, horrified at a weight in gym class that was >30 lbs heavier than my classmates. By fourteen I would fast for 2-3 days several times a month. By sixteen I had lost more than forty pounds, several times, only to regain each one plus a few more. The pattern continued through my teens, and early 20’s. I tried every diet I could find; with early success and then relapsing back into eating anything and everything. With each of my three pregnancies only twenty pounds were added, and they left after delivery….temporarily. In the middle ‘90’s my husband and I found our way to the gym and a healthier way of life. I lost sixty pounds!!! We were boating, waterskiing, tubing, rollerblading, and thoroughly enjoying our young children. Our success was short lived, however. A tubing accident resulted in the fracture of some facets in my neck, which resulted in an enforced layoff from exercise. It only took three months to lose the motivation and before long we were right back where we started. Over the last decade, my weight slowly crept upward, ever upward. I lost the desire to look nice, showering maybe every other day, almost never applying makeup, and using only the minimal effort to do my hair. Depression and other normal life stressors made facing each day even more difficult, and some days I didn’t get out of bed except to feed my face. My bones and joints ached, my back constantly hurt. I could not empty my groceries on to the belt at the store without the assistance of my children, never mind a Costco run!! When I received the phone call from Deb that I had been accepted into the program, it was one of the happiest events of my life. On December 1, 2009 I underwent a Roux n Y gastric bypass. I am now almost 4 months out, and 40 pounds lighter, 60 pounds since I started the program in October. I can do a Costco run by myself, I attend yoga classes, hit the gym several times a week, and am starting horseback riding lessons-something I have dreamed of for years but never seemed to be a viable option. Now, I wake up in the morning full of energy and plans for the day. I can work steadily for hours, and not have to stop. My newest achievement- getting through yoga butt class, and doing 2 military pushups!! Life is good, and the future is bright. Gastric bypass gave me back the life I feared was gone.