A New Lease on Life
by June Zaragoza, MPH, RD, LD

Pateisha was very clear about how bad her life was before surgery. She states, “I was mentally depressed, I couldn’t get out, I couldn’t enjoy life. I was afraid of my health and eating myself to death, sneaking around eating, hiding myself. I was really, really miserable.” She knew she needed help, “I needed a tool, I knew I couldn’t do it by myself.”

She chose the gastric bypass because she wanted the weight off immediately and it was the best option with the amount of weight she had to lose. After losing 136 lbs she now says, “I have a new lease on life. I’m happy to be me for the first time in my life. I used to be embarrassed. My mom is happy, my kids are happy. My 10-year-old daughter Deja says, ‘Mom, I can put my arm around you – you look so pretty.’” Her sons Derek and Jordan, say “Oh, Mom, you are so hot.”

She can eat anything she wants now, even sweets, but she won’t take a big portion. She takes her vitamins. She still doesn’t drink and eat at the same time because she might get dumping syndrome. And once every two weeks nothing will stay down. She also exercises, doing stepping for over half an hour, walking, and sometimes riding a bike.

She does have one new problem, “I can’t stop shopping,” mostly at thrift stores. She takes her daughter along because her daughter tells the truth about how she looks in her clothes. Deja also doesn’t forget to say, “I am so happy for you, Mom.”

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