Bariatric Surgery My Reasons For:
The reasons for making this decisions started when I wa in my twenties. I got caught up in some personnel problems and my way of dealing with them became food. During the years that followed I went on many diets and would lose some weight and an illness or some other problem would come along and I would revert back to food.
Because I have so many serious health problems and I know that the weight I am carrying is not helping me, I knew I had to loose this weight. I spent a long time thinking and talking with someone who had to make the same decisions and he said it was the best decision he could have made. Many of his health problems have disappeared.
Now that I had my surgery (12/8/08), I know that it is the best decision that I have made. In tn months I have lost 72 lbs. I did this by making small goals and this has worked fro me. I now am off my blood pressure medcine and my sugar is down to normal.
My mother is in a nursing home and one of the ladies who os friends with my mother and cannot speak because of a stroke saw me for the first time in months and started clapping her hands because she thought I looked so good. I can now get my wedding ring on that I have not been able to wear in years. Alsi, I can do so many ore things that I have not been able to do for years.
Dr. Balder has done two surgeries for me and has done a wonderful job. He and his staff have been so supportive. I don't think I could have gotten this far without them!
Donna F. 10/20/09
"Judge me by the size of my heart, my mind, and my contributions to society...not by the size of my belt." Source: Obesityhelp.com sensitivity survey response 02/04
From: Monty Martin
Date: January 4, 2010 6:03:22 PM EST
To: Marcia Hansen-McCauley <bariatric@sccoast.net>
Subject: Text for my Patient Testimonial
My journey to weight loss surgery began innocently enough. I had braces on my teeth in high school... I was skinny and always hungry. But the braces came off before my senior prom and I began to eat. I wound up dieting off and on while in college... and through the years I've used medications, diet aids, acupressure, and diets of all kinds. Each of my two pregnancies gave me extra weight that seemed part of me forever. The deaths of my parents each added more pounds. A big shake-up at work added more... then a move to SC and the changes involved, including regular weight-training, helped me shed some weight. I was doing fine for awhile... but I gained more weight the older I got. Finally I got up to 200+ pounds and felt there was no hope for me. I had given up.
I first met Dr. Balder and his staff when I was referred to him for a hernia repair. When this hernia near my navel developed, I was at the highest weight I can ever remember, 230 pounds. I am 5'4" tall. All that weight was contributing to many health problems: diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and joint problems. My doctor had been helping me with medication, and diabetic education was helping too, as was regular exercise at Curves... but no matter how hard I tried, the one thing my doctor said would help me most I could not seem to do - lose weight. While in Dr. Balder's waiting room after my hernia repair I had overheard some of his bariatric patients talking about the amazing results of their surgeries, so I asked him if I might be a good candidate... yes, but my own doctor and a psychiatrist would be the ones to make a final determination. My own doctor was more hesitant when I went to him asking for a referral; he wanted to do some tests... a sleep study yielded a confirmed diagnosis of sleep apnea, and he gave me his referral for this life-changing surgery. In all it took about six months from the time I first started checking into it, until I finally had LapBand surgery in September 2008.
My surgery went very well... and I began losing weight. I've had two "fills" to tighten the LapBand, and now I am down to the last few pounds I want to lose. My overall health has improved: A1C is back to normal, blood pressure and cholesterol levels are greatly improved with some medications eliminated and other dosages reduced, sleep apnea is no longer a problem, and my knees are no longer painful. With the vitamins and protein drinks I use every day, I feel great! My friends always tell me how good I look. My husband is very happy with my weight loss, and has been my biggest supporter through the whole process. I finally feel in control of my weight and my life. Dr. Balder, Marcia Hansen-McCauley and the rest of the staff are sincerely interested in me and my success... helping and advising at every turn. I will be forever grateful for this partnership. I am retired and a grandmother... and feel I will enjoy my life with a vigor and delight I could only have imagined a couple years ago.
Monty Martin aka "smilingwoman"
"It's never too late to become the person you might have been."
- George Elliot