My Gastric Bypass Journey

By Marie Silverstein 

My name is Marie.  I am 49 years old, 5’5”, and I have been overweight my entire life, or at least it feels that way.  

When I got pregnant 24 years ago, I lost whatever hold I had on a semi-normal weight.  I weighed 264 lbs the day I came home from the hospital after giving birth. Some of that came off quickly, but a lot of it stuck around.  I started smoking to get the weight off, joined Weight Watchers, and basically starved myself.  I lost 100 lbs and when my children were 2, I weighed about 165, which didn’t last.  

I continued a ridiculous cycle with food.  I could take weight off, but it became harder and harder over time, and it came roaring back as soon as I ate more than 1000 calories a day.  The smoking was taking its toll as well.  When my grandmother asked me to quit smoking before she died, I quit cold turkey and promptly gained 60 lbs in under five months. I can remember making meals for my family, and then eating plain popcorn and drinking water to fill myself up, but I would still wake up feeling ravenous.

When I married my husband in October of 1999, I starved myself into a size 14 dress.  I weighed 168.  I was 37.  I came back from the honeymoon at 180.  I have not seen 180 since.

I have been over 200 pounds for a decade. Right now, I weigh 240ish.  I should weigh 100 pounds less to be at my optimum weight for my height of 5’5″.  

I mentally and emotionally gave up the battle last year.  I was shocked to see myself in a photo where I had three chins from smiling.  It broke my heart, but I always put on a brave face, and I tried hard to not let anyone see me down. I cannot remember the last time I shopped anywhere but Lane Bryant.  It is incredibly sad and depressing to have your fashion universe boil down to one store, and to have to be satisfied with anything that fits reasonably well.

I knew from experience that even when I was careful and counted calories, walked, did all the things normal people do to lose weight, I still would not. When I turned 49 I had this vague thought, “Now should be when I dig in and go for 150 at 50.” I quickly pushed it aside.  I knew that while I could get down to 150 lbs, it would be for a minute. Dieting. Does. Not. Work. For. Me.  

I was really getting afraid for my health.  How long can I be this big and not have it take a gigantic bite out of my life expectancy?  I had stopped golfing and skiing ages ago, and I quit running decades ago.  I walk with my dogs, but it’s not very quick anymore.

So I started researching.  And then I wound up overhearing a very normal sized guy talk about his gastric bypass experience to someone when I was sitting nearby.  I literally stopped breathing while I listened to his story.  He was really happy.  He was back in charge of his life.  He said he was never hungry anymore.  He had energy.  He was doing things he had not done in decades.  I wrote down the surgeon’s name that he mentioned, grabbed my bag and raced home to look the guy up.

And that was how I discovered Dr. Michael Snyder at Rose Medical Center. He has done well over 3000 bariatric surgeries and has zero mortalities.  I researched the dickens out of him and kept being amazed by what I found.  Everyone loves his practice, and I mean everyone.  His program includes support groups and nutrition classes, most of which are free of charge. I knew this was it, and was going to be what changed my life.

I went to a mandatory seminar for Dr. Snyder with my husband and daughter coming along for support. Dr. Snyder holds monthly seminars for potential patients because he wants you to know what bariatric surgery involves, and you can’t schedule an initial consult without it. The room was PACKED and I learned a lot that night.  There are a lot of people like me out there.  I was not alone, and there was a solution for me.  And I knew I could do it.

After the seminar, I made my consult appointment, and did everything I needed to do ahead of time.  I verified my insurance, I did my psych consults, I did pulmonary tests and my blood work.  I met with my primary care physician, got my records and got a letter from her blessing me as a candidate.  She was very in favor of my decision, and loved Dr. Snyder as my choice for surgeon.

Then I met with Dr. Snyder.  He loved me as a candidate for the surgery and accepted me as a patient. He said even though I am morbidly obese, I am in good shape considering, and should fly through the surgery, even with my co-morbidities of lupus, asthma, hypertension, pre-diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis

I am very aware of what I need to do for this to be successful and I am willing to commit to changing my life forever for this to work.  I just want the same fighting chance to keep weight off that normal people have.  

Click here to read Part II of Marie’s Journey.

Marie had her gastric bypass surgery in January of 2012. You can read more of her story on her blog, My Gastric Bypass Journey  and she will be guest blogging for Rose Knows Health with updates of her progress.