UPDATE:
In September, 2008, Gloria had a checkup with Dr. Siegel and is happy to report that she has lost 15 lbs more and gone down another dress size since her surgery. That makes a total of 131 lbs in 2 1/2 years. She is still eating moderately, watching her fats and sweets and taking her vitamin supplements. Now she is even more active at work, saying that "I walk all over the building. I do feel alot better."

Gastric Bypass Patient Loses 115 lbs.
by June Zaragoza, MPH, RD, LD

When Gloria Peyton came to see Dr. Siegel for help, she was taking eleven daily medications and walking with a cane. As she said, “I had a medicine cabinet full of pills, a pill for this and a pill for that.” As a teacher’s aide it was difficult for her to play with the kids and going up and down the stairs left her huffing and puffing. It was hard going to a Cubs game, an activity she really enjoys, because she had to walk up all the steps with her cane and rest several times before getting to her seat.

How does she eat now? She says, “A lot of the foods I used to eat I don’t eat anymore,” such as greasy foods, foods that have more than 10 grams of sugar, spaghetti, and grapes. She feels satisfied eating half of a hamburger, where before she could have eaten two to three. She also says food used to be constantly on her mind and now, “It’s not a priority.”

How does she feel having lost 115 lbs in the sixteen months since the surgery? “I didn’t think I was that large,” but now she can see it. She gets around more easily, takes her dogs for walks and washes them. Washing her dogs entails getting up and down from the floor, something she couldn’t do before surgery. Clothes are a lot easier to find. Now she only takes two pills a day, down from eleven! She tries to walk daily and also rides a bike. This summer she wants to exercise more by including swimming. To keep it off she weighs herself every day and cuts her food back if her weight goes up a few pounds.

How have other people reacted to her weight loss? When she came back to school in the fall people were surprised, saying “Is that you?” Some friends have been jealous. She also got married about ten months after surgery to someone she had been dating for five years.

Gloria went on a school field trip recently to see the Cubs play the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee. Their seats were in the last row. This was not a problem because Gloria no longer uses a cane and she could walk up the steps without resting. Before there was “no way” she could have gone on the trip. And to add to the pleasure of the day, the Cubs won, 6-2.

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