Testimonials

It has been about 14 years since I had my lap band surgery. I have managed to maintain my weight between 125 and 135 during this entire time. I just turned 64 and went for my annual physical. Except for my bad cholesterol number, which has chronically been high my whole life, (my good cholesterol is also very high) I am basically in good health. After all these years, I have accumulated a large wardrobe of clothes size 4-6 because I have always stayed in that weight range.

I did have a breast cancer diagnosis two years ago; I was very lucky that it was only early stage one, and they only had to remove 2 ducts. I went through chemotherapy and radiation and am now completely recovered. The lap band “saved my life” again. It was a “shadow’ on my mammogram that led my surgeon to decide to do a biopsy. I have very dense breasts, and she told me that if I were still 300 pounds, they would have never seen it until it was much bigger and more invasive. In addition, obesity has been linked to breast cancer. I only missed 6 days of work throughout my entire treatment. I think the reason I was able to do that is that I was healthy and in good shape when I got diagnosed.

Everyone knows “HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT”. Eat less, exercise more. Simple? Knowing and doing are two completely different things. I am a food addict with a whole litany of food allergies. The minute I get upset or worried, I do not go to a bar or liquor store, or to a drug dealer, I go to the grocery store. My drug of choice is available 24/7, cheap (depending on what your favorite food is) and legal even if you are under 21.

Bariatric surgery does not cure food compulsion (although the big bypass surgery decreases production of one of the hormones that stimulated hunger.) It does however help control it. It works kind of like those bumpers that they have in the lane when you go bowling. It keeps your ball from going in the gutter, but you still must have some skill to knock down the bowling pins. The surgery helps to control the overwhelming urge to eat until you literally throw up. It limits the amount of food you can consume in one sitting, thereby giving you a chance to get control over your behavior.

Very often, when I am in the throes of a compulsion (which still happens occasionally) I will get full fairly quickly and then I literally have to leave the kitchen (and the refrigerator) and go do something else or I will throw up if I continue to eat. That is where the skill comes in. I have taught myself to exercise or read a book or do a chore to take my mind off the food. By the time I get hungry again, the compulsion is gone, and I am on to something else. The advanced skill is to keep yourself from getting the compulsion in the first place. That takes a lot of practice. After all these years I am better at it than I used to be, but I still have issues sometimes.

Bariatric surgery is a tool. A very powerful one but a tool, nonetheless. Many people who are obese have psychological issues that feed their overeating behavior. If you are one of those, you have to do the work on yourself to ensure that you stay on a good path. I went to therapy for a couple of years after my surgery. I also went to the support groups provided by Dr. Neil Floch and took advantage of the nutrition counseling to learn a whole new way to eat. That may not be the answer for everyone, but it worked for me. It helped me to understand how to deal with stress more effectively, how to cope with some of my personal issues instead of “stuffing down my feelings” by binge eating. I learned new and healthier behaviors and new ways to eat to substitute for the automatic choice of “drowning my sorrows with junk food.” Personal growth is never easy to attain in normal circumstances. Without the physical pain of carrying around 175 of excess weight, the debilitative cravings that the food allergies triggered, along with the concurrent feelings of frustration, self-loathing and depression that occurred every time I looked in the mirror, it was much easier to adopt the new eating behaviors that have sustained me all these many years.

Dr. Floch and his team are great leading up to and during surgery. They help with the process of getting the approvals, which takes a lot of time, and getting you physically and mentally ready for surgery. Most importantly they provide all the tools you need to be successful after surgery: nutrition counseling, group support, a full line of meal replacements and vitamins (I still take mine), and emergency availability if anything goes wrong. 

In the years since I did the surgery, bariatric surgery has become much more acceptable and available. There are plenty of surgical practices that offer these surgeries. You do not need a surgical practice to be successful in this weight loss journey, you need a partner! My partner is Dr. Neil and his team!