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"Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels"
Introducing Kathy
I am very pleased to introduce you to a very special lady.
She e-mailed me after reading my initial article in our February issue. I was
so taken by what she has been through that I wrote her back with a request to
let me profile her in our next issue, which she graciously agreed to. Her story
will be an inspiration to all and will answer any questions you may have if you
have ever considered surgery as an alternative to losing weight.
Kathy is 56 years young and was born in Dayton, Ohio.
Like myself, she comes from a large family being the eldest of five children.
In 1965 she moved to the Columbus area and in 1970 married William. Her son
Steven was born in 1971 and daughter Tracie followed in 1974. Her two brothers
never had a weight problem nor did her parents.
Kathy reached her highest weight of 311 pounds a few years
after giving birth to Tracie, which was fueled by a rough marriage. Up to that
point her weight was normal. She suffered from depression, anxiety attacks,
agoraphobia and panic attacks. She had been under the care of therapists and on
many medications during this period. Her husband had been having an affair,
which proved to be the catalyst in the growing weight and medical problems she
suffered with.
“The affair was a big part in my knowing I had to do
something about the weight loss,” Kathy said. “In October of 1992, after a
routine visit to my GYN, I received a call that I had severe dysplasia and had
to have a minor surgery done to hopefully correct this.”
Kathy tried every known diet including becoming a
representative of Herbalife in order to get the products for herself.
She tried Slim Fast, Weight Watchers, Adkins and anything else she could get her
hands on. No matter how hard she tried or how little she ate her attempts were
fruitless.
After four years of perfect checkups, in October of 1996
Kathy received another call that she had cancer and needed surgery right away.
During the pre-admission testing she was told that her blood sugar was too high
and the surgeon refused to go ahead with the surgery until her sugar level was
down to 150. Kathy was forced to endure insulin shots and oral medications in
order to reduce her blood sugar level.
Kriss: “Who or what drew you to the drastic measure of
gastric bypass surgery?”
Kathy: “I had a very close friend (Ann Wong, and I want to thank her here for the help and advice she has given to me over the past three years) whose weight had
gone up to 340 pounds and she had the surgery in September of 1999. I had
watched her success, but still was scared of undergoing all of these life
changes. I went to a BTC Support meeting in May of 2000 and that did it.
I met so many people with so many success stories that I knew I had to go in and
have a consultation and find out everything I had to know to go on down the road
with this. I made my appointment for the end of May and by the middle of June
my insurance had approved me for the surgery. I had the operation July 17,
2000. This was the day that changed my life forever.”
Kriss: “Who convinced you that this was the only way
for you to lose the weight?”
Kathy: “I was extremely excited about having the
surgery and the staff at BTC is wonderful. My doctor, Patricia Choban M.D. is
just great and now I see her every year on the anniversary of my surgery. The
nurses and all are some of the most compassionate people I have ever met. Some
of them have even been through the same surgery themselves. I was in the
hospital for three days and on that third day I had my last insulin shot and
three weeks later was off the oral medication as well. I will be truthful, the
first six weeks are hard getting back on the track of eating solid foods again,
but when I look back on that, it is such a small price to pay for the success I
have had since undergoing the surgery.
Kriss: “Can you tell us how you felt before, during, and
immediately after the surgery?”
Kathy: My life is wonderful since having the
surgery. The day of surgery I was scared, sure, but I knew I was doing the right thing and this was the beginning of being myself again. I was in the hospital for three days and the day of surgery was the worst but I made it through it all with NO pain medicine at all. I had my first meal of beef broth, sugar free Popsicle, Crystal Light and sugar free Jello the afternoon of the second day after I had my leak test done and passed. That is to make sure that everything is totally working right and no signs of any leaks where the inside incisions were made.
Kriss: Now the biggie….how has your life been since?
How has it changed?”
Kathy: I have lost almost 160 pounds now and have gone from a size 30/32 to a
size 8/10. I am no longer a diabetic nor do I have high blood pressure. I am
off all the medications I was taking for both. My blood sugar in December of
2002 was 79 and blood pressure was 95/65. I am no longer suffering panic attacks, or am I agoraphobic. I highly recommend this to anyone who is
over 100 pounds over weight. This is the first thing that is looked at. Then
they move on to health problems and this has been a God send for me. It has
given me my life back ten-fold. Once thing that seems to help everyone is to
make up his or her mind on the decision to have gastric bypass surgery is a good
support meeting to attend at least once a month and then continue to go each
month. I have only missed a meeting because of having other surgeries. Sure,
it does require a big life change to do this, but if you want to either
re discover or even discover your life, this is the way to do it. I have met
hundreds of people who have now had this surgery and I know if you asked them if
they would do it again, they would in a heart beat and I would too.
Kriss: “What words of wisdom would you give any of our
readers who would possibly be considering this method of weight loss?”
Kathy: “First of all, this is no easy way out and
I am sure many of you have heard this before. This takes dedication and commitment and the
will power to stay away from sugar and high fat foods. These are the two main
guidelines you do have to follow. They also have you meet a protein goal daily.
Mine was 65 grams a day and to drink at least 64 ounces of water a day, limit
sugar intake to 4 grams a meal and fat to 8 grams a meal. You eat six small
meals a day that help the weight loss and speeds up the metabolism. You need to
make the commitment to this new way of life and I have found this to be oh so
easy.
Kriss: Have you had any side effects from the surgery?
Kathy: “Well, I have had none except for becoming lactose intolerant and as far as
I am concerned, I might be way worse off right now if I had continued the way I
was going with the high blood sugar and blood pressure. Nothing could happen
now that would be worse than that. My surgeon that did the cancer surgery said
he had one regret on the Bariatric surgery and that is that I didn’t have it
sooner as it would have made the job he had to do so much easier and it would
have been so much easier on me.
Kriss: Anything else you would like to share with our
readers?”
Kathy: “I can’t say enough about this surgery and
the time since July 17, 2000. My entire life has changed and all for the
better. I feel like I am 20 years younger now. It has opened a whole new life
for me now. The health benefits are just amazing to me. I have met people who have weighed as much as over 500 pounds and have seen some that the first time I met them they were in wheel chairs due to health problems and they are now out of them and getting around wonderfully. I love doing work for the Columbus/Groveport,OH BC Support Group and it is so rewarding to visit the ones in the hospital that have just had surgery then to see them attend the support meetings and watch the progress they are making and help them to reach the goals they have set for themselves. Each month it is so great to see them and see the changes both in body and self confidence each has made that month. I thank God everyday for giving the Doctors this tool to save so many lives! It is so strange now to look at my son and think "Gosh, I have lost more than he weighs" (Steven is 32 years old and 155 pounds). Then there is the thing of ALL new clothes! That is great, except for the fact Tracie (29 years old and a tiny size 6) is getting into all of Mom's new clothes, mostly tops and we are in the same size bra now. My children don't ever remember the slim Mom from before they were born. So, this is new to them totally. One thing – remember – "most" insurances will pay for this surgery if
you meet the 100 pound plus of needed weight to lose. Then after most lose at
least 100 pounds or after 18 months from surgery date or your weight has become stable, most do need to have other
surgery done as a tummy tuck and breast reduction. Most insurance companies
will pay for that as well. You need to show a medical reason for them, but that
is easy to have a physician help you on this with documentation.
Sometimes you might want to have other skin removed, as on
the upper arms and upper thighs. Some insurance companies may pay for this, but
most will consider this cosmetic and you have to pay for it yourself. I had
this done in December of 2002 and I am now doing quite well. I am very happy
with the results. I had the tummy and breast done in January of 2001.”
What Kathy has done with her life is remarkable. What she
has had to endure because of the large of amount of weight she carried is just
shy of unbelievable. This method of weight loss should be considered as a last
resort or if you, like Kathy have tired every method and are severely (over 100
pounds) overweight. You can learn more about gastric bypass surgery by going to
www.barixclinics.com .
Kathy is sold on this procedure and has even become a
support group leader to help others on the way to a whole new life. She visits
the Barix Clinics Hospital and visits the “newbies” that have just had the surgery
to offer encouragement by showing her before and after pictures which tells the
entire story.
If you would like to know more or would like to talk to
Kathy she can help to answer any questions and help in making up your mind in
deciding if this is the right step for you. Email Kathy at
kathy@intervision.us
Thank you Kathy for sharing your success
story with us and being an inspiration.
I want to take this time to thanks Kryss and Jennifer for the opportunity to have my story for everyone to read in This N That for March and April. This surgery has been a life saver for me in more ways than I can count and has given me a brand new life that I had been missing for such a long time. If my story can help save the life of only one person it was worth every last word and all the time that was given to put it into print.
At the time we had this all planned I had come down with pneumonia and fought it for over a month but by mid-April, I was getting back on my feet again. The sickness had nothing to do with the surgery but two other surgeries I had in November and December that were elective and I had them just too close together and didn't give myself a good time to play catch up from one before having the other four short weeks later. I was just too worn down and happened to catch a bug that was in the air and knocked me off my feet for a while.
I want to thank everyone who has stood by me during all of this since I made the decision to have the surgery in May of 2000, the surgery itself in July 2000 and the other things I have to endure since. You have all been a great help and support to me in getting to the place I am now and that is absolutely wonderful! (You all know who you are and I love you all for all of the support - Family, friends and family on the internet. For those who did not, for what ever reasons you have given to me, Well, that is your problem and you have to live with that while I have a great new life! Good Luck to you!)
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my story and please e-mail me with any questions you might have.
Kathy
Always think of tomorrow and don't look back! Yesterday's gone!
Love, Kathy
Well, I have finally got the nerve up to post the picture that was taken the day of my consult with Doctor Choban in May 2000. I actually picked this up while I was at the hospital for my 6th year check up (test results below). I thought I should post a couple after pictures along with this. My weight has stayed stable at 155. Well, that isn't totally true here as I had gained some (about 10 lbs) but this past year I took it all back off and I am at 155. I have given up eating popcorn every night as I know that is what caused my weight gain. I am going to stay at 155lbs from here on out!!!!!!!
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