Hello everyone and welcome to my story of having weight loss surgery. On April 27th, 1999 I had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass at theBariatric Treatment Center (1-800-282-0066) in Columbus Ohio with surgeon Dr. Patricia Choban.
I have battled my weight for most of my life. I have tried diets and exercise many MANY times with no luck in being able to lose the excess weight. Each year I would just gain more and more till finally I was afraid I was never going to stop gaining and end up house bound or bed bound. It terrified me to see where my life was headed. I have a wonderful family, my husband Kevin and 2 beautiful boys, Gregory (8) and Brandon (5). But I was so miserable and hurting both physically and emotionally that I couldn't enjoy the simple things with my family, like taking a stroll in the park. My body just ached so bad and my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. Every day I feared a heart attack or stroke.
I had heard of surgery for obesity before on talk shows and stuff, but I thought it was crazy and those people who did it were nuts! But actually the more I learned about obesity and why it happens to us and how surgery is the only known permanent thing to help us at this point in time, the more I thought it might be the answer I'm looking for. So I researched it on the internet. Learned the different procedures and chose the one I felt was right for me. I'm happy to say that it seem to be working great and I have not felt this good since I was a young teen. Life is good now, I can actually enjoy it. But most of all I am able to enjoy my family and be a part of the family again.
For those interested in seeing if surgery is their answer, all I can say is research it well and make an informed decision. Check out your surgeon well and talk to many of their patients and see how they are doing. If they are doing well with no problems then you should do well also. But their patients have many problems, run and find a new surgeon :-)
I have tried to make this site informative so look around and hopefully you will find some answers here. Also feel free to e-mail me atnykcole@yahoo.com. I'll try to answer any questions you have or at least maybe point you in the right direction to find the answer.
