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Friday, August 10, 2012

Weight-Loss Surgery: It’s Not Cheating

Debbie Elcik is a middle school teacher. We’re happy she’s agreed to share her weight-loss story with us.

“As a kid, I always had an extra bit of weight to lose and never lost it,” she says. “I was active, but was always chubby. As an adult, my weight just kept growing and growing. After I had my daughter, I was about 280 pounds. That’s when I started looking into weight-loss surgery.

“At first, I toyed with the idea, but I told myself, ‘That’s cheating. If I really want to lose the weight, I just have to put my mind to it.

“I can tell you this now: It’s not cheating. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to have it done.

“I had the surgery five years ago when I was 39 years old. I wheeled into surgery at 290 pounds. As of today, I’ve lost 72 pounds — and I’ve kept it off for five years.

“Before surgery, I was on various medications. I was the fat girl in the room. I couldn’t do the things I wanted to do. I tried all the diets and would lose 20 or 30 pounds, but it never materialized into anything more than that.

“I’ve got about 30 more pounds to lose to be at my ultimate goal, but I’m a lot smaller than once was. I kick-box. I spin. I’m active. I shop in regular stores. People don’t look at me funny when I walk into a room. I don’t feel like that uncomfortable fat girl anymore. There’s no other way to describe it.

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“The surgery was not uncomfortable. The experience was wonderful. I was very prepped and prepared. I knew exactly what was going to happen. I knew what my outcome was going to be. I knew what to expect. The pain was minimal. I would do it again. It changed my life.

“When you lose 70 pounds, that changes everything. I take no medications now, which is the hugest part besides being thin. My type 2 diabetes is gone.

“If you’re laden with medical issues because of your weight, the surgery to me is a no-brainer.”

Debbie also told us about the changes in her diet.

“My typical breakfast now is Greek yogurt with granola. Sometimes I’m unconventional and will eat half a turkey sandwich or a protein shake or, if I have time, egg whites with spinach.

“Lunch is always salad with chicken or tuna. Or a half a sandwich and a salad. Dinner is protein, vegetables, maybe a baked potato, maybe not.

“There are certain foods that I don’t eat, but I would never use the word ‘deprived’ to describe my lifestyle today. I think I tried harder to deprive myself of things when I was fatter, because as a fat person, I would tell myself, ‘You shouldn’t eat that.’

“Now I can eat in moderation, walk away, and be happy. I eat like everybody else does now. I don’t pretend to starve myself, thinking that others are looking at me, wondering ‘Does she really need to eat that?’ I don’t have that feeling anymore.”

Congratulations, Debbie.

If you’ve tried all the diets and they don’t seem to be working for you, we invite you to make an appointment to see one of our surgeons by calling our office at (516) 616-5500 or, if you prefer, click on “Live Chat” in the upper left corner of your screen to have a conversation now.

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Thursday, July 12, 2012

His and Her Stories, Part Two

Last week, Bob Reynolds shared his weight-loss success story. This week, it’s his wife Vicky’s turn:

Vicky: “I went on Weight Watchers two years ago and lost 35 pounds in a year, which wasn’t bad, but it’s not a lot either. Then, I decided to rest a bit. Of course, you end up cheating a little here and there, and before I knew it, I gained back 27 pounds. I said to myself, I can’t keep doing this.

“I had never heard of the sleeve gastrectomy until my husband Bob went to a seminar with a friend. When he told me about it, it sounded like something I would want to do.

“So then I talked with Dr. Angstadt at New York Bariatric for about two hours. He was the greatest. He answered every question I had. He never once looked at his watch, checked his computer or rolled his eyes. I left there convinced that this was something I could do and, in the long run, it would be worth it.

“Six months later, I’m down 55 pounds, and I’m excited.

“I was 213 pounds the day of the surgery. Now I weigh 159. I had the procedure the week before Christmas. Bob had his the week before Thanksgiving.

“When Bob went through it, I noticed he wasn’t asking for pain medicine. He said the most it felt like was as if he did a few too many sit-ups. The hardest part was drinking. When you’re thirsty, you tend to gulp, but after the procedure, you can’t do that. But you get past that, and you learn how to drink right.

“We eat healthier now. It’s not that we don’t eat junk food, so to speak — but we eat protein, then vegetable, then carbs. I used to have a bite of meat, a bite of vegetables, and a bite of potato, mixing it all up. Now I eat all my meat first, then my vegetable, and if I’m still hungry, I’ll have a little bit of starch or carbohydrate.

“Potato chips happen. The funny thing is that now I can have three or four chips and be satisfied. Before, I would eat the whole bag. You just need to learn your limits. That’s the whole story. Portion control and limits.

“How do I feel? Like a million bucks. I’ve never felt so great. I exercise every morning. Nothing drastic. I ride a stationary bike, and I do a few arm exercises.

“I’ve had to battle with my weight since the seventh grade. I’ve lost it, gained it, lost it, gained it. But this time, I’m still losing.

“Before, when I went off a diet, I would eat a lot of junk. Now, I wouldn’t feel right if I did that.

“Now when I go to a party where there are a lot of chips and dips, I’ll have a couple, but if I have one too many, I feel it right away. I’m hoping that stays forever.

“I don’t have a target weight. I’m just going by how I feel and how my clothes feel. I’m going 10 pounds at a time right now. To aim for a certain number is hard, because I could look awful at that number. I’m not in my 20s, I’m in my 50s. I don’t want to look like an old lady. I still see the fat lady in the mirror.

“But my friends tell me differently. I have one friend that I’ve known for 30 years, and she says I look like I do in high school. I say, “Really? What about these wrinkles?” She says, “Well, other than that.”

“I’ve noticed now that job interviews are longer. They actually listen to what you are saying. I think there is a prejudice against people who are heavy.

“But as far as my friends go, they’re just so excited.

“So if you’re considering the procedure, I can tell you it would be the best move you ever made. There’s little to no pain afterwards, and you feel so good once the weight really starts coming off. There’s no words to describe it.”

* * *

Thanks to Vicky and Bob for sharing their stories. If you have any questions or would like to make an appointment to see one of our surgeons, call our office at (516) 616-5500 or click on “Live Chat” in the upper left corner of your screen to have a conversation now.

Category: Health Benefits, Obesity, Post Surgery, Uncategorized, Weight Loss

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Friday, July 6, 2012

Happy Anniversary, Bob and Vicky!

New York Bariatric sends best wishes to two of our patients — Bob and Vicky Reynolds, who are celebrating their fourth anniversary this week. Bob’s a production manager/machinist. Vicki is a secretary. They love to ride motorcycles together, and they’re active in their church. Bob had a sleeve gastrectomy the week before Thanksgiving last year. Vicki had hers the week before Christmas.

We checked in with both of them to hear their stories. Here’s Bob’s. Check in next week for Vicky’s.

Bob: “I turned 52 in February. I’ve been overweight most of my adult life. In the early ’80s, I tried prescription pills, as prescribed by my primary doctor at the time. I lost a lot then, but knew that I was a lot lower than I should have been. I wasn’t comfortable. They had me down to 165 pounds and wanted me to get to 150. I said, listen, when I was in high school running cross-country and track, I wasn’t below 150, so there’s no way I’m going there now. As soon as they took me off the pills, I blew up to 185, where I stayed for a while, until life changed.

“I originally started looking into weight-loss surgery a couple of years ago. I went to a seminar at another hospital. There were about 100 people in the room. And of course, with that many people, you get some who start asking questions just to hear themselves talk.

“I was borderline at that time. I’ve had discussions with my doctor. I don’t binge eat, and I don’t eat massive amounts. I just made poor choices, and it progressively caught up with me.

“I’m 5-foot-6. My weight and my blood pressure were getting up there. My sugars were pre-diabetic, and I was already diagnosed with sleep apnea. So I left that seminar with a bad taste in my mouth. I figured, OK, let me try to do what I can.

“I started going to the gym and working with a trainer. I lost almost 30 pounds. Then I had a car accident. That put me back to square one. I had 14 herniated discs, I couldn’t work out, and when you become sedentary, you start gaining more weight.

“Little by little, I got back to the gym, but for some reason or another, I hit a plateau. I was not  getting anywhere.

“Then Pastor Ski at our church, Rushing Wind Biker Church, told me he was going to a seminar and asked if I wanted to go with him. I listened to Dr. Angstadt from New York Bariatric and was impressed with what he had to say, especially about the new sleeve procedure.

“I had more discussions with Dr. Angstadt and did a lot of research. I was happy with what I learned, so I made an appointment, went through all my clearances, and had my operation Nov. 16, 2011.

“Before the operation, I was over 295. Now I’m around 220. My goal is to get to 180 or 185 pounds.

“The procedure? I wouldn’t think twice about doing it again. Dr. Angstadt explained everything. It went exactly as he described. No complications. I have a high tolerance for pain. I didn’t need medication. I was out of work for about two weeks.

“I’m feeling so much better today. I have my plateaus every now and then with food. They tell you outright — surgery is not the answer: you have to change your life. It’s definitely true. It’s a tool. They give you a tool, so that you can feel good about yourself. You train yourself to eat all of your proteins, 4 or 5 ounces of food. You learn what you can and can’t eat, but as in everything else, you have to find a way to change psychologically.

“So I keep a good outlook. I went from a 3X shirt to a large. My wife Vicky had the same operation four weeks after me, and she’s doing phenomenally, too.

“Vicky looked into weight-loss surgery a couple of years ago, too. But when I explained to her about the new sleeve procedure, that made the difference for her.

“Again, this is a tool. It’s not the answer. It’s going to help you get better. If you approach everything with that idea, you’ll be all right. You go to a party, and potato chips are going to happen. But you can have one or two chips. You don’t have to have the whole bowl. Because if you deny yourself these things, then it becomes a craving, and when you get to the point of giving into cravings, you’re going to binge and get sick.

“You learn your body. Everyone has different symptoms when they’re starting to get full. Myself, I start to burp. I know someone who sneezes when they start to get full. My wife has other symptoms. You need to be aware of the signals.

“Yes, it helped to go through this with my wife. But I also rely on my other friends, too. Vicky is hypoglycemic, so she’s the opposite of a diabetic. The operation can reverse diabetes; but it won’t with a hypoglycemic. She still has to watch her sugars. And she still needs a snack before going to bed, so her sugars will get her through the night. We do approach things differently. I tend to drink more liquids than solid foods. That works for me.

“We had a big family barbeque last night. I had one hamburger with no bread. That filled me up.

“These days, some people don’t recognize me. I went to a church that I used to go to a couple of years ago, and the pastor had to hesitate before he was sure it was me.

“I’m happier now. And a lot of people are happy for me, too. God bless.”

Category: Health Benefits, Post Surgery, Procedures, Uncategorized, Weight Loss

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Friday, June 22, 2012

You Are Not Alone

Ask any of our patients … they will tell you that how vastly different their lives were before and after weight-loss surgery. When it comes to quality of life, there is no comparison. Their confidence, comfort, optimism and energy level have improved dramatically. They can do things they never could do before, and they’re excited about that. Without exception, they all say they wish they took action earlier.

You can find many of their stories throughout this blog and website. If you’re considering weight-loss surgery, we encourage you to read them.

Also worth viewing is the recent groundbreaking HBO documentary, entitled “The Weight of the Nation,” which sheds light on causes of obesity and how it has become an epidemic in the United States.

The numbers are staggering: According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent survey of America’s health, released in January of this year, almost 32% of 2- to 19-year-olds and nearly 69% of adults in America are overweight or obese.

Why? There are many factors. One is portion size. In just 20 years, many commercial food items have doubled or tripled in size. The average bagel was three inches wide in 1983 and six inches wide in 2003. An order of fries back averaged 2.4 ounces in 1983 and 6.9 ounces in 2003.

The average muffin has more than tripled in size — from 1.5 ounces in 1984 to five ounces in 2004. And not only have chocolate chip cookies grown from 1.5 inches across to 3.5 inches, the average number of calories per cookie is five times higher.

Here’s another jarring comparison: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest funder of work in this country on childhood obesity, spends $100 million a year on the problem. The food industry spends that amount every year by Jan. 4, just marketing junk food — just to children.

And how about this … Daily physical education is now offered in only 4% of our elementary schools, 8% of our middle schools and 2% of our high schools.

These facts are not meant to depress you — or to provide excuses. To the contrary, while it may sometimes feel that you are facing your tough challenges alone, you’re not.

And while it may seem like the odds are stacked against anyone trying to achieve a healthy weight, there are steps that you can take to beat the odds. Perhaps the most reassuring fact presented in the documentary is the enormous health benefits that you can achieve by losing just 10 percent of your weight.

However, if you’ve tried the diet and exercise programs and you’re still morbidly obese, that’s the time to reach out to the team at New York Bariatric for help. If you have any questions or would like to make an appointment to see one of our surgeons, call our office at (516) 616-5500, or click on “Live Chat” in the upper left corner of your screen to have a conversation now.

You may be just one phone call away from the start of an exciting, new future.

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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

After Surgery: A New Life, A New Journey

Cynthia Maio works as a high-frequency radio operator in air traffic control. She’s 48 years old and had been overweight since she was 20. She’s tried all the diets, with only moderate results.

“My mother was visiting,” says Cynthia. “She saw an ad for the New York Bariatric Group in our local paper and asked if I ever thought about doing anything like that. I said it had crossed my mind, but I never looked into it. I decided to check it out.

“After a meeting in October at the center in Port Jefferson, everything moved quickly. I already had all the doctors in place — the pulmonologist and cardiologist — so I didn’t have to wait for any new patient procedures and insurance issues. My surgery was scheduled for January 11.

“When I decided to have the procedure — and this is not recommended — I chose to really enjoy my 92 ‘last meals.’ This was something I thought up on my own. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to eat the same way in the future.

“As a result, I gained almost 20 pounds. When I had my surgery, I weighed 281. It was the biggest I’d even been. I couldn’t walk from my computer desk to my bathroom without getting winded. I started to have health problems. I had an asthma attack in each of those three months. I was on two inhalers.

“In my mind, I knew it was going to go away once I started on my new journey. And that’s how I think about it — I’m on a new journey.”

Cynthia had lap band surgery at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson. “They treated me like gold. I had the single incision through the belly button, so I have no scarring whatsoever.”

She remembers waking up in the recovery room after surgery. “As soon as you are awake enough, they start walking you to get rid of the gas in your body, which is put there so they can work laparoscopically. They walked me every two hours — like a puppy.

“I was in the hospital just one night. Once I was home, it was easy. My husband was very helpful. Before you leave the hospital, they make sure you can handle mushy food. If you can eat, you can go home. The hospital meal looked like a scoop of mashed potatoes, but it was actually pureed turkey with gravy. If you can get past the texture, it’s very tasty.

“When I came home, my husband did more the same. He would puree chicken with cauliflower for me. And we had recipes from the hospital for salmon and pot roast. It was good to have the variety. I was on pureed food for one month.”

Before surgery, Cynthia averaged about 3,000 calories daily. “Now I’m eating 800 to 900 calories a day.” Three months after surgery, she had already lost 55 pounds.

“I feel great. I have about 50 to go. I started working out two weeks ago. They do encourage that. I hadn’t done it earlier because of my schedule, money and life circumstances. Now I go to a gym and walk and do a bit of weight training for my arms.

“Psychologically, I still have a long way to go. People have complimented me about my weight loss, and I say thank you, but in my mind I’m not there yet.

“My husband calls me a cheap date now. We’ll go to a steak place, and I’ll eat maybe a quarter of my meal — nothing fried. I’ve tried a french fry here and there just for a taste, and it upsets my stomach so I stay away from it. I’ll order grilled chicken or a turkey burger with a salad, and that will be it. No desserts. But I still enjoy my food.

“Today, I ran errands and had to eat on the run. I stopped at my favorite Mexican place — one that makes fresh food — and I got a quesadilla. I ate half of it and was way beyond full. It will last me until about 5 p.m., then I’ll have a yogurt, since we won’t go to dinner until around 6:30 p.m.

“I have more energy now. We like to go out for karaoke. Before, I would need a seat. Now I can stand, and I can dance with my friends instead of watching them.

“It’s the little things where I notice the difference. I don’t like sitting around the house any more. I have to be doing something. I was complacent in my fat life. There’s a lot I have to get caught up on.

“I look at this as a gift. I don’t want to do anything to ruin it. My target weight is 165. My doctor tells me around the 180s would be good.

“So far, I’m happy with where I am on my journey. I would recommend it to anyone. I wish I had done it sooner.”

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