Welcome to Hope Bariatrics

...." today i finshed my first half marathon in under 3 hours! I don't think that i have ever been so excited before. I owe you guys so much thanks without your guys wonderful support i don't think i could have did this! This is a awesome accomplishment and i hope that everyone of your patients will realize that this is not easy but DO NOT GIVE UP! Here are some pictures of this wonderful day i wanted to share. Thanks so much again you guys have been a blessing."

Here’s my story:

I have struggled with my weight since I was in grade school. I came from a family that celebrated with food at every event. We had ravioli eating contests and I was a member of the clean plate club! In grade school and high school I wasn’t obese but I was never “thin” enough to meet other’s approvals. As a junior in high school I was selected to be a majorette and my band director called me aside and told me I was too fat and needed to lose weight (I was probably 10 pounds overweight). I was so humiliated that I starved myself and wound up in the hospital and missed 6 weeks of school. Thus began my “yo-yo” dieting lifestyle that continued until I met with Dr. Felix and decided to have a gastric by-pass in November 2013.

At my heaviest, I weighed 261 pounds that was mostly due to steroid shots/nerve blocks to try and alleviate my chronic back pain that came from a car accident and lifting my laptop briefcase the wrong way herniating a disc in my lower back. In 2007 I had back surgery that failed and wound up using a cane and a mobility scooter. I had type II diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetic neuropathy that left me dragging my right leg and foot around. I took 13 different medications and was miserable. I knew I had to do something or I thought I was going to lose my right foot and was going to wind up in a wheel chair all day. That’s when I asked my PCP about weight lose surgery and he recommended Hope Bariatrics.

Dr. Felix is my superhero and in my mind a miracle worker! Before the surgery, we spoke about the existing scar tissue I had from previous surgeries and he said he would try really hard to perform my bypass laproscopically (and he did). Dr. Felix won’t take credit for it, but 3 days after my surgery my right foot stood up and I could feel my toes! The first time in seven years my right foot began to work and the feeling started to return to the soles of my feet. That same day the endocrinologist said I was no longer diabetic! Each day it seemed something new and wonderful happened to improve my health. I went from 13 pills down to 3 (that really are optional). I’m no longer diabetic, no longer have high blood pressure, no longer have high cholesterol and after two months of rehab I no longer have to use my leg brace, no longer walk with a cane or use my mobility scooter. My pain level has gone way down and I have the feeling back in my foot and leg. I’m 5 months out from surgery and my weight is down to 175. I plan to lose another 30 by the end of the year so that I can finally be referred to as a “normal” weight.

Now that I can, I am “running” away from all the bad things when I was heavy to keep my brand new life healthy. I ran my first 5K on 4/12/2014 and finished in under an hour and I was 4th from the last (but not last!). I’m running in the Pittsburgh Superhero race (charity to help abused kids) this weekend and will attempt the Pittsburgh ½ marathon on May 4th (if I don’t make it this year there is always next year  ). I am FOREVER thankful to Dr. Felix and his wonderful and caring staff for giving me my life back. If you’re on the fence about having the surgery, “just do it” as the Nike logo says, you’ll be so happy to have your life back it is soooo worth it!

If there is anyone who wants to talk to me I’d be happy to let them know my experience.

Sincerely, Donna

When you asked for a picture of me doing something that I can do now that I could not do prior to my surgery, I thought about it long and hard for several days. I thought I can send you a pic of me on the treadmill, playing freeze tag with my kids, going down the slide or across the monkey bars, I could even send you a pic of me tying my shoes. I thought about taking a picture of my shadow, the one thing I use to hide from. I hated my shadow…it looked like a huge marshmallow with arms BUT now I love my shadow; I jump at the chance to chase it. But, the biggest change in my life is one that is hard to capture in pictures. Prior to my surgery I had so many medical issues like gout, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, fatty liver, severe sleep apnea, Meniere’s, arthritis throughout my spine, gull and kidney stones and I was just plain miserable. I remember lying awake at night fantasizing about what would make me happy again…a big house, winning the lottery, a fancy car or maybe moving out of the state or even the country…surely those things would make me happy. All the pain and discomfort and the sadness masked the fact that I had so much to be happy for because I have always had love in my life but I could not see it; I even think I stopped feeling it for a long while. I would smile at my loved ones and occasionally I would laugh too but it was more mechanical than anything else. It broke my heart the day my youngest son told his teacher that I never laugh. I thought he had to be wrong; surely I laugh but you know kids…they are not easily fooled. I think Jayson knew that I wasn’t feeling what you should feel when you are laughing or smiling. Finally I made the decision to go with the gastric bypass surgery and I can tell you, with each day of recovery after the bypass I began to feel again; I was crawling out of a depression that I did not even know I was in. Before I knew it I was even laughing and smiling and I was truly feeling it. I am off the c-pap machine and all of the medicine I was on and the nights of fantasizing about what would make me happy were replaced by happy memories of the day’s events and making plans for the following day. My happy memories are now of silly little moments like playing with the kids, dancing with my daughter, walking the dogs and laughing at random things my loved ones do. The plans I make for the future make me giddy; these aren’t huge plans of travel or spending money…these plans are bigger than that, they are of living my life…baking cookies, coloring with my kids, playing freeze tag, and walking my dogs. You see Cindy, the biggest thing this surgery did for me was to allow me to smile at my life…and truly mean it. So…I am sending you a picture of me smiling.

Webster's definition of JOURNEY--a trip, to travel. Joanie's definition est. 7/6/05--much improved health, a new excitement for life, learning and practicing good habits, reaching for new goals. Meeting and sharing with new friends, a new understanding of commitment. My HEARTFELT THANKS to Dr. Wilcox, Dr. Felix and the wonderful staff and friends at HOPE BARIATRICS.