Bariatric Surgery San Antonio Success Story – Mary McKaskle

Read the details of our Bariatric Surgery San Antonio Success Story – patient Mary McKaskle.  Growing up Mary was always the chubby kid. She was taught by her grandmother, who survived the Great Depression, that she needed to clear her plate which played a large roll in her weight increasing throughout childhood. She slimmed down in high school due to being active in sports, but once she got to college the freshman 15 quickly turned to the freshman 40. Once she got married the weight only continued to creep up.

Mary McKaskle
Highest Weight: 290
Current Weight: 160
Goal Weight: 130
Procedure: RNY 1/23/12

As an adult Mary tried everything and anything to lose weight but never had any luck so she stepped out of her comfort zone and started considering weight loss surgery. She did her research and shopped around but ultimately, she decided to pursue Texas Bariatric Specialists because “I had friends that went through Dr. Patel and I felt they had so much more to offer.” After getting started at TBS Mary decided to go with the Gastric Bypass procedure because she felt that it was the best option for her to keep her the most accountable. She had surgery on 1/23/12 and lost a total of 155lbs, though she gained some back she is still making huge strides towards her goal weight. Mary stays motivated by knowing she doesn’t want to go back to who she was. She is also feels motivated by the fact that she has learned that food is not a fix, “I have finally learned not to eat my feelings.” Mary’s family helps keep her motivated too because they are always reminding her of how amazing she has done, even when the old body image issues creep back in and she can’t help but see the same fat person she was, they remind her of how far she has come.

Mary definitely had her struggles in the beginning that made the her have a rough time adjusting to her new life. A few months after Bariatric Surgery in San Antonio Mary began to get really sick and have a hard time keeping anything down which led her to lose more weight than she should have. After suffering from malnutrition and abdominal pain for a while she reached out to James who, after a brief exam, learned that she still had her gallbladder and the source of her discomforts was from gallstones. She was soon able to get into surgery to have her gallbladder removed and was now on the right path for feeling better and being successful. She found that once she was feeling better from the second surgery she was faced with a whole new problem of trying to learn how to eat properly. After being sick for so long she hadn’t really had an appetite and now it was returning and she needed to learn what she could and could not eat. Mary has a weakness for chips and other salty snacks that has taken her the better part of the last five years to beat, but she is doing better every day. She did say though that “learning over time how to eat gets easier.”

Though due to theses struggles she initially regretted her choice to have surgery, and struggled with being able to admit to others that she had the surgery due to fear of judgment, Mary is now very happy with her choice. She said the changes she feels mentally and physically are “like night and day. I have more energy, happier, can move easier, and I don’t immediately start sweating when I walk outside.” She has also gotten more comfortable with the fact that she had surgery to help her do it because she doesn’t think she could have done it without that tool and she is happy to share her story with others now instead of hiding. She reminds herself everyday that surgery was not a magic fix and she has to work hard to maintain her new lifestyle. “It is a whole mind, body, and spirit change, if I didn’t change my whole life then I would have ended up back where I started.”

Mary said when asked whether she would do it again, “Yes! But hopefully I would never be in that position again.” She would also tell anyone that is considering surgery to go for it and realize that it is a hard process but worth every second. “It’s not easy as magic and the weight won’t just fall off, don’t ever feel discouraged, there are people there to help.”