{"id":13108,"date":"2017-11-21T08:59:16","date_gmt":"2017-11-21T15:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=13108"},"modified":"2022-07-29T12:13:45","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T18:13:45","slug":"does-weight-loss-surgery-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/does-weight-loss-surgery-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Does weight loss surgery work?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Peer support groups in hospitals often discuss loss. This one was about a whole lot of loss \u2013 loss that, in turn, yielded huge gains.<\/p>\n

\"Michael
Michael Mayberry with a collage of his former, much heavier self.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019re talking weight loss that subtracts 80, 90, 100 pounds and more from the readings of bathroom scales, set in motion by scalpels and laparoscopes but maintained over months and years through diligence, willpower and hard work. If there\u2019s a lesson to be drawn from those who shared their stories at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital last month, it\u2019s that bariatric surgery works; that it works to no small degree because of the hard work of those who have the courage to undergo it; and that the payoff is worth the effort.<\/p>\n

This was more than a support group gathering. Mylar balloons shaped into red and gold stars pulled at their ribbons at intervals around tables arranged in a horseshoe; potluck chili, zuppa Toscana<\/em> and European cabbage and white bean soup (from an American Heart Association cookbook) steamed in crockpots along the wall. The second-annual \u201cCelebrating You\u201d event was a sort of anniversary of monthly support group meetings.<\/p>\n

Lisa Kassel, RD, CNSC, the dietician who works with patients coming through the UCHealth Surgical Weight Loss Center<\/a>, organized it. CU School of Medicine bariatric surgeon Dr. Jonathan Schoen<\/a>, and his colleague Dr. Kevin Rothchild<\/a>, who between them do the Surgical Weight Loss Center\u2019s surgeries, were there, too. But, Schoen made clear up-front, this night was about the patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is your journey and the success that you\u2019ve put yourself through. We just gave you the tools and provided you the program and have given you the support,\u201d Schoen said. \u201cNone of these operations is a magic bullet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stories of weight-loss successes<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One by one, more than a dozen of them stood, walked to horseshoe\u2019s open gate, and told their stories. Some brought photos of themselves before the surgery. Others brought pants they\u2019ll never fit into again.<\/p>\n

\"ennis
Dennis Lawson, right, with the pants he wore the day of his bariatric surgery a year before. Jonathan Schoen, MD, left, performed it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Michael Mayberry, 69, had his gastric bypass surgery six-and-a-half years ago. He showed off a poster board of photos, to which he added a single sentence of text: \u201cThis is why it was necessary for me to make changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was huge\u201d he said, inspecting his former self.<\/p>\n

His five grandkids were his motivation. \u201cI couldn\u2019t keep up with them,\u201d he said. At the zoo, he stopped to rest as they kept going. He pointed to a photo of his 5\u20199\u201d, 330-pounds way back in a recliner. A baby grandchild lay on top of the giant pillow that was he; Mayberry noted a granddaughter next to the chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s trying to get me up,\u201d he said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t get up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayberry lost 140 pounds; his beltline shortened from 54 to 34 inches. He had to take lessons to re-learn his golf swing because his belly wasn\u2019t in the way anymore. He now competes in master\u2019s track and field, throwing the javelin.<\/p>\n

His daughter, Rae Ann McCardell, 42, spoke next. She had had her surgery on Sept. 11. Her father having done it, she said, \u201cwas definitely a factor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve struggled with weight my entire life,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve spent the last 30 years trying to lose weight and couldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s already down nearly 60 pounds from her peak weight of 320, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m wearing pants I haven\u2019t worn in two years,\u201d she told the group. \u201cAnd another big victory: I was actually able to bend over and tie my shoes the other day.\u201d There was applause.<\/p>\n

Sherry Bockelmann, 62, had created a poster, too, this one with the words, \u201cI believed I could and\u2026 I did it!!!\u201d In her case, that meant losing 110.9 pounds before and, mostly, after her surgery in August 2016. The poster includes images of her pre- and post-surgery, including shots of her hiking and snowshoeing, which she couldn\u2019t have done before. The loose belt she wore outside her black T-shirt was hooked into the fifth hole. It wouldn\u2019t have stretched around her waist before, she said. She\u2019s off the blood pressure medications she once needed, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so grateful for you, Dr. Schoen, and for you, Lisa,\u201d she said, motioning toward Kassel. \u201cThere are so many times I called Lisa with crazy, crazy questions and she was always there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The importance of support<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It was not all roses. (If it were, there\u2019d be no need for a support group.) Claudia Remacle, 48, who had a gastric bypass, said she lost about 90 pounds from her peak of 300 pounds. But, she said, \u201cI\u2019ve not been the ideal patient.\u201d Her voice was breaking as she explained, \u201cI\u2019ve gained back a few pounds and I\u2019m trying to get back on track, which is why this is so important because nobody knows the importance of just getting support and being positive like you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sherry
Sherry Bockelmann with her own collage, which highlights activities she couldn’t have done before.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cJust come to support group and we\u2019ll help you,\u201d someone said amid the clapping.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Nancy Wolfe, 56, confessed to the group, \u201cI\u2019m not feeling the greatest about myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her surgery 20 months ago had brought her weight down 70 pounds, but she\u2019d plateaued, she said. Part of it had to do with a nasty ski accident last winter. It had put her in a wheelchair for four months with a badly broken wrist and ankle. When she was able to stand on a scale again, she had gained five pounds.<\/p>\n

For those who haven\u2019t committed so much to weight loss, that might sound like a trifling amount of added heft. Those in the room recognized what it meant to her, though. She said the fact that the others were sharing their stories was a help.<\/p>\n

The challenges don\u2019t necessarily disappear as time goes on, said Denise Street, 63. She had her surgery two-and-a-half years ago. She said she feels great, and that she\u2019s gone from not being able to keep up with her grandchildren to her grandchildren not being able to keep up with her. Pointing to a photo of herself pre-surgery, she said, \u201cI still can\u2019t believe that was me!\u201d<\/p>\n

But after about two years, she says, you can hit a wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve lost the weight. You\u2019ve bought the new clothes. You\u2019ve gotten the compliments,\u201d she said. \u201cThe excitement\u2019s gone, and all of a sudden, this is you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zip zip<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Diane Hopmann was there with her husband Dan, both 65. Schoen performed gastric sleeve surgeries on both<\/a> within three weeks of each other in late 2015. Diane had lost more than 100 pounds by her first-year checkup; at her second, earlier that day, she had regained 14 pounds. But she had gotten some good ideas, she said and intended to lose it again. Meanwhile, she had had no trouble chasing down her grandkids on a recent visit, and she had been just fine walking around Pikes Peak the previous weekend, which would have been unthinkable before.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the opportunity to go ziplining on Friday and I\u2019m considering it,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo it!\u201d more than one person hollered through the applause.<\/p>\n

Dan Hopmann, who is down about 110 pounds from his 330-pound peak, reminded those assembled that bariatric surgery \u201cis a forever deal, for those of you who haven\u2019t seen that yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Misty
Misty Garcia and jeans she\u0092ll never wear again.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jeanie Roe\u2019s forever deal would have started years before had it not been for a family tragedy. In the 1970s, a family member who topped 400 pounds went in for gastric bypass surgery. She died a week later. Roe, still in her early 20s, took in her three teenage daughters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fought this surgery for 30 years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In 2015, she overcame her longstanding fears and underwent a gastric bypass. Now she weighs about 135, nearly 200 pounds less than her peak.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful for everything \u2013 especially for the support groups and the exercise classes and everything because to me, that\u2019s where it\u2019s at,\u201d Roe said.<\/p>\n

Not quite \u2018never\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Misty Garcia, 39, whose adventures in bariatric surgery started with a failed gastric band at a different hospital in 2011, told a tale of autoimmune problems and steroid treatments that conspired to balloon her into the 300-pound range. Rothchild performed her gastric sleeve surgery<\/a> in January 2015. Garcia said she hasn\u2019t weighed herself recently because she\u2019s waiting until a November check-up, but was down 125 pounds last time she checked.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo yes, I know it is up to us, but at the same time, it is because of the amazing doctors that we find here because, without them, we wouldn\u2019t be where we\u2019re at,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ashley Sommers, 30, said she\u2019d done her surgery after battling gestational diabetes during her first pregnancy. Her voice broke as she recounted how a doctor had said she\u2019d never be able to get pregnant again.<\/p>\n

She was pregnant again shortly after her surgery in 2015; she gained just 15 pounds this time, far short of the 50 she added during her first pregnancy. She would have brought along a pair of way-too-big pants, she said, \u201cbut I\u2019ve learned to get rid of my big clothes because when you have little kids, they pull them down!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love being here and I love sharing people\u2019s journeys,\u201d Sommers told the group. \u201cIt inspires me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lynn and Dennis Lawson spoke last. Lynn, 55, had her surgery in Indiana in 2006. She lost 140 pounds and has gained 42.3 pounds back, she said. \u201cI know exactly,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\"Jeanie
Jeanie Roe weighs about half of what she did when she wore these.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She admitted that \u201cthis past year has been really tough. I travel the world, so that doesn\u2019t help.\u201d But, she said, she\u2019d recently been ziplining in Hawaii, \u201cchasing moose and bear\u201d in Alaska, and is headed for Dubai, where, she said, \u201cI\u2019m going to ride a camel, like it or not.\u201d More applause.<\/p>\n

Dennis, 60, emphasized how much better his blood sugar and other health markers have gotten since his October 2016 surgery. A tall man, he weighed 365 pounds when he had surgery; this morning, the scale read 205, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to tell you, this past year has been an up-and-downhill battle,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were days when I just hated my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The transition from living to eat to eating to live was a tough one, he explained. But he declines excess food now. He\u2019s even developed a tic, he said \u2013 he sneezes when he\u2019s full. Others at this supportive celebration said the same thing happened to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just part of our journey we\u2019re going to be on for the rest of our lives,\u201d Lawson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peer support groups in hospitals often discuss loss. This one was about a whole lot of loss \u2013 loss that, in turn, yielded huge gains. We\u2019re talking weight loss that subtracts 80, 90, 100 pounds and more from the readings of bathroom scales, set in motion by scalpels and laparoscopes but maintained over months and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":13114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4811,551,4812],"class_list":["post-13108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-innovative-care","tag-metabolic-and-bariatric-endoscopy","tag-weight-and-metabolism","tag-weight-loss-surgery"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDoes weight loss surgery work? - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If there\u2019s a lesson to be drawn from those who share their stories, it\u2019s that weight loss surgery works and the payoff is worth the effort.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does weight loss surgery work?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Peer support groups in hospitals often discuss loss. 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