WeightLoss Story
07-03-2008, 06:16 AM
[coverattach=1]We can hardly turn on the television, pick up a magazine or newspaper or tune in the radio today without being bombarded with pronouncements concerning our culture of obesity and proposed remedies for the problem.
We are frequently reminded of the toll on our weight brought on by fast food restaurants, poorly planned diets at home and the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle. And yet health and fitness clubs, diet regimens and home exercise equipment sales continue to increase. If the warnings of a “global epidemic” of obesity are to be heeded, then habit revision of a universal nature appears to be the only answer to arresting the alleged epidemic.
But what about those among us who are beyond “normal” dieting? What of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who are already morbidly obese and beset by all the concomitant health issues associated with extreme cases of obesity? Where do they turn for help?
Texarkana, Ark., resident Connie Nelson decided to take extreme measures for an extreme condition. With her weight exceeding 475 pounds, Connie knew her weight had become a matter of life and death.
She chose gastric bypass surgery to ensure the likelihood of living to enjoy the rest of her life. In a candid and sometimes emotional interview in her home, Connie volunteered her story to the Texarkana Gazette to offer hope for those who feel trapped beneath an avalanche of weight. “I was fat when I was born, and it’s been downhill ever since.
I weighed 9 pounds, 13 ounces at birth,” she began. “I was born in Grinnell, Iowa, and grew up in Malcom and Brooklyn, a small town of about 350 people where people knew everybody’s business. The kids were just as cruel then as they are now. “From the time I started kindergarten, I was called names and made fun of for my weight-’fatty, fatty, two-by-four,’ ‘fatso,’ or any name they could come up with that could be associated with fat children. I never had friends over to play. I don’t remember having any friends the whole time I was growing up.
I remember coming home from school many days in tears because nobody would play with me.” One can easily imagine the feelings of rejection, hurt and pain that circulated within a child’s psyche as Connie was peppered with cruel comments and shunned by her classmates. But as most children in such a situation, she looked for a way to cope. She would be a clown and try to make a joke about others’ reactions to her size. “I weighed 180 pounds in the sixth grade. My weight was already out of control by then. I used food for comfort.
Sometimes I would sneak food into my room, although I wasn’t aware of doing it intentionally,” she said. “Looking back I can see my mom cooked all the wrong foods-a lot of fried foods and gravies, but I never requested a diet and she never offered one. “I had a brother and two sisters, but they were all very thin as children. But they have had some weight problems as adults. My mom and dad have always been large. I started taking blood pressure medicine when I was 12.
I never really tried a diet until I became an adult. I hated the word obese-it’s an awful, ugly word.” So what exactly constitutes obesity? Obesity is an excess amount of body fat, which frequently results in a significant impairment of health, says the Center For Health Excellence in Michigan. An average-size person has 30 to 35 billion fat cells, and when he or she gains weight, the fat cells increase in size and numbers.
One pound of body fat represents about 3,500 calories. Obesity is also defined by what it is not. It is not a weakness of willpower or continuous overindulgence and inactivity, although the last two factors may occur at some point. Morbid obesity exists when one’s weight increases the risk of obesity-related health conditions or serious diseases.
This can result in physical disability and death. Another measure of obesity is the amount of weight one carries above what is considered appropriate by standards of height and body structure. More than 100 pounds overweight is considered morbid obesity, as is a Body Mass Index of 40 or higher. It is a serious, chronic disease that may result in death.
Common illnesses associated with obesity include Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis in weight-bearing joints, sleep apnea, gastroesophogeal reflux/heartburn, gallbladder disease, depression, infertility, urinary stress incontinence and menstrual irregularities. Nelson suffered from a number of such conditions, particularly hypertension, apnea, swelling of the extremities, depression, reflux/heartburn, joint and back pain and gallbladder disease.
Surgery for the gallbladder problems resulted in Connie’s being immobilized for almost four years as her weight continued to climb. Connie was aware of gastric bypass surgery, but the procedure wasn’t available in Texarkana, and the only insurance she had was Medicare. The thought of being unable to afford the co-payments for such surgery, coupled with the fact the procedure was considered “cosmetic surgery” in some states, was a hurdle to overcome.
“My own personal care physician was against it initially, but I was basically homebound at that point. Then my sister in Canada, C.J., called me and she and her husband volunteered to cover the co-pay,” said Connie. “Next I had to locate a physician willing to do it. There was no one here locally for what I needed done.” Nelson then learned of obesityhelp.com, a comprehensive organization that provided information on physicians, treatments for obesity, support resources and a forum for obese persons to chat with others having similar difficulties.
It was there she learned of the services of Dr. Todd Eibes in her home state of Iowa. “I went to Iowa to have the bypass done, so I would have help at home during my recovery. I also knew people who had been treated by Dr. Eibes in Grinnell,” Connie said. The surgical procedure took place on Sept. 11, 2003, and she convalesced in Iowa until Nov. 1.
“He made a pouch about the size of a hard-boiled egg, then bisected the bowel and lower intestine. Food is processed naturally but very slowly. Initially I could eat only about two ounces of food at a time,” she recalled. There was an initial drastic weight loss of 25 pounds in the first week. A loss of about 10 pounds per week followed for a short time.
Connie is currently losing weight at a predictable rate of 2 to 3 pounds per week. She has grown accustomed to the eating patterns she must maintain. About the only food she has problems with are pasta and chicken, while sugar and carbonated beverages are prohibited. “It’s OK because I’m never hungry. My eating and sleeping habits have changed drastically.
It’s a lifetime commitment to eat healthy and the right amount. I eat about six small meals a day, and I don’t get hungry or have the hunger pangs I used to have. Before surgery I never remembered feeling satisfied. I do want to emphasize this is not the easy way out,” she said. Connie’s life after gastric bypass surgery has been one experience of success after another.
The long list of things she could not do before becomes shorter with the passage of each day. And the tears of joy shared with her family and grandchildren are treasured more than ever. “I have so much energy now. I can’t lift or bend because of my back injuries from two car wrecks, but I can now stand and do the dishes and tie my own shoes. I cried the first time I was able to do that. “For a long time I couldn’t wear shoes, only men’s slippers.
I can sit in a restaurant booth now. There was no store where I could buy clothes, but now I can go shopping. My grandkids are really enjoying it,” she said. Connie has had a new life open up to her as she continues her weight loss program of diet and exercise. She was even able to take her grandchildren on an extended road trip to Iowa after years of not being able to drive. She can cross her legs. She can now do what “normal” people do in terms of most activities of daily living. “I give God the credit for all my weight-loss success,” Connie said.
“I’m thankful he gave us doctors with the knowledge and skill to perform this type of procedure. I have had a phenomenal support group here at home and at church. My grandkids, Jon and Bailey, have been my cheerleaders. If you don’t have that kind of support it’s very hard to be successful.” Connie also draws encouragement through the Internet with online support from friends at obesityhelp.com.
She and her husband, Charles, are even planning on joining friends on a “Bypass Buddies Cruise” later this year. “I volunteer at my church to help take people to doctors’ appointments and things such as that. I’m trying to give back some of the things that I couldn’t do for others before. People call me now and ask me to lunch or to come over for a visit,” Connie said, reflecting on the experiences that brought her to this point of hope and relative contentment. “I have friends now.”
Source: http://www.theweighwewere.com/Read-Weight-Loss-Stories/100.html
We are frequently reminded of the toll on our weight brought on by fast food restaurants, poorly planned diets at home and the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle. And yet health and fitness clubs, diet regimens and home exercise equipment sales continue to increase. If the warnings of a “global epidemic” of obesity are to be heeded, then habit revision of a universal nature appears to be the only answer to arresting the alleged epidemic.
But what about those among us who are beyond “normal” dieting? What of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who are already morbidly obese and beset by all the concomitant health issues associated with extreme cases of obesity? Where do they turn for help?
Texarkana, Ark., resident Connie Nelson decided to take extreme measures for an extreme condition. With her weight exceeding 475 pounds, Connie knew her weight had become a matter of life and death.
She chose gastric bypass surgery to ensure the likelihood of living to enjoy the rest of her life. In a candid and sometimes emotional interview in her home, Connie volunteered her story to the Texarkana Gazette to offer hope for those who feel trapped beneath an avalanche of weight. “I was fat when I was born, and it’s been downhill ever since.
I weighed 9 pounds, 13 ounces at birth,” she began. “I was born in Grinnell, Iowa, and grew up in Malcom and Brooklyn, a small town of about 350 people where people knew everybody’s business. The kids were just as cruel then as they are now. “From the time I started kindergarten, I was called names and made fun of for my weight-’fatty, fatty, two-by-four,’ ‘fatso,’ or any name they could come up with that could be associated with fat children. I never had friends over to play. I don’t remember having any friends the whole time I was growing up.
I remember coming home from school many days in tears because nobody would play with me.” One can easily imagine the feelings of rejection, hurt and pain that circulated within a child’s psyche as Connie was peppered with cruel comments and shunned by her classmates. But as most children in such a situation, she looked for a way to cope. She would be a clown and try to make a joke about others’ reactions to her size. “I weighed 180 pounds in the sixth grade. My weight was already out of control by then. I used food for comfort.
Sometimes I would sneak food into my room, although I wasn’t aware of doing it intentionally,” she said. “Looking back I can see my mom cooked all the wrong foods-a lot of fried foods and gravies, but I never requested a diet and she never offered one. “I had a brother and two sisters, but they were all very thin as children. But they have had some weight problems as adults. My mom and dad have always been large. I started taking blood pressure medicine when I was 12.
I never really tried a diet until I became an adult. I hated the word obese-it’s an awful, ugly word.” So what exactly constitutes obesity? Obesity is an excess amount of body fat, which frequently results in a significant impairment of health, says the Center For Health Excellence in Michigan. An average-size person has 30 to 35 billion fat cells, and when he or she gains weight, the fat cells increase in size and numbers.
One pound of body fat represents about 3,500 calories. Obesity is also defined by what it is not. It is not a weakness of willpower or continuous overindulgence and inactivity, although the last two factors may occur at some point. Morbid obesity exists when one’s weight increases the risk of obesity-related health conditions or serious diseases.
This can result in physical disability and death. Another measure of obesity is the amount of weight one carries above what is considered appropriate by standards of height and body structure. More than 100 pounds overweight is considered morbid obesity, as is a Body Mass Index of 40 or higher. It is a serious, chronic disease that may result in death.
Common illnesses associated with obesity include Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis in weight-bearing joints, sleep apnea, gastroesophogeal reflux/heartburn, gallbladder disease, depression, infertility, urinary stress incontinence and menstrual irregularities. Nelson suffered from a number of such conditions, particularly hypertension, apnea, swelling of the extremities, depression, reflux/heartburn, joint and back pain and gallbladder disease.
Surgery for the gallbladder problems resulted in Connie’s being immobilized for almost four years as her weight continued to climb. Connie was aware of gastric bypass surgery, but the procedure wasn’t available in Texarkana, and the only insurance she had was Medicare. The thought of being unable to afford the co-payments for such surgery, coupled with the fact the procedure was considered “cosmetic surgery” in some states, was a hurdle to overcome.
“My own personal care physician was against it initially, but I was basically homebound at that point. Then my sister in Canada, C.J., called me and she and her husband volunteered to cover the co-pay,” said Connie. “Next I had to locate a physician willing to do it. There was no one here locally for what I needed done.” Nelson then learned of obesityhelp.com, a comprehensive organization that provided information on physicians, treatments for obesity, support resources and a forum for obese persons to chat with others having similar difficulties.
It was there she learned of the services of Dr. Todd Eibes in her home state of Iowa. “I went to Iowa to have the bypass done, so I would have help at home during my recovery. I also knew people who had been treated by Dr. Eibes in Grinnell,” Connie said. The surgical procedure took place on Sept. 11, 2003, and she convalesced in Iowa until Nov. 1.
“He made a pouch about the size of a hard-boiled egg, then bisected the bowel and lower intestine. Food is processed naturally but very slowly. Initially I could eat only about two ounces of food at a time,” she recalled. There was an initial drastic weight loss of 25 pounds in the first week. A loss of about 10 pounds per week followed for a short time.
Connie is currently losing weight at a predictable rate of 2 to 3 pounds per week. She has grown accustomed to the eating patterns she must maintain. About the only food she has problems with are pasta and chicken, while sugar and carbonated beverages are prohibited. “It’s OK because I’m never hungry. My eating and sleeping habits have changed drastically.
It’s a lifetime commitment to eat healthy and the right amount. I eat about six small meals a day, and I don’t get hungry or have the hunger pangs I used to have. Before surgery I never remembered feeling satisfied. I do want to emphasize this is not the easy way out,” she said. Connie’s life after gastric bypass surgery has been one experience of success after another.
The long list of things she could not do before becomes shorter with the passage of each day. And the tears of joy shared with her family and grandchildren are treasured more than ever. “I have so much energy now. I can’t lift or bend because of my back injuries from two car wrecks, but I can now stand and do the dishes and tie my own shoes. I cried the first time I was able to do that. “For a long time I couldn’t wear shoes, only men’s slippers.
I can sit in a restaurant booth now. There was no store where I could buy clothes, but now I can go shopping. My grandkids are really enjoying it,” she said. Connie has had a new life open up to her as she continues her weight loss program of diet and exercise. She was even able to take her grandchildren on an extended road trip to Iowa after years of not being able to drive. She can cross her legs. She can now do what “normal” people do in terms of most activities of daily living. “I give God the credit for all my weight-loss success,” Connie said.
“I’m thankful he gave us doctors with the knowledge and skill to perform this type of procedure. I have had a phenomenal support group here at home and at church. My grandkids, Jon and Bailey, have been my cheerleaders. If you don’t have that kind of support it’s very hard to be successful.” Connie also draws encouragement through the Internet with online support from friends at obesityhelp.com.
She and her husband, Charles, are even planning on joining friends on a “Bypass Buddies Cruise” later this year. “I volunteer at my church to help take people to doctors’ appointments and things such as that. I’m trying to give back some of the things that I couldn’t do for others before. People call me now and ask me to lunch or to come over for a visit,” Connie said, reflecting on the experiences that brought her to this point of hope and relative contentment. “I have friends now.”
Source: http://www.theweighwewere.com/Read-Weight-Loss-Stories/100.html