Gastric Bypass Surgery Success Story Linda Ellis from Austin, TX *

“I don’t even feel like I’m working hard to lose the weight anymore because of the motivation from Dr. Patel and the surgery!”

Highest Weight: 302
Current Weight: 190
Weight Loss Goal: 150
Procedure: RNY on June 18, 2014

Linda Ellis first came to see Dr. Patel in April 2014.  At the time, she weighed 302 pounds, suffered from multiple co-morbidities, and was approaching sixty-eight years old.  In her youth, and well into her adult life, Linda had enjoyed a healthy life-style with activities ranging from walking and hiking to water sports and gardening. Linda’s weight had never been an issue even into her mid 50’s.  Her healthy lifestyle was partly due to Linda being a vegetarian. This life-style would take a dramatic turn for the worst when she suffered a neck injury in 1995.  The accident fractured her neck resulting in cervical spine fusions. This would require a halo and other neck braces during recovery over an eight month period. That treasured active life-style Linda once enjoyed became very limited and had major restrictions.  Linda did, however, make a full recovery from her neck injury. During that 8-12 month time span she was gaining weight without fully realizing it and ended up putting on 75 lbs.  She believed she could lose the weight on her own and get back to her regular activities. She tried many diet plan options and was on a long roller coaster ride for many years, losing some weight but always ended up gaining it back, plus some more.  Linda said, “They had all left me feeling like a failure and deprived.”  Then, at 59 yrs old, the excess weight Linda has gained had put more stress on an old knee injury. The weight gained by Linda now resulted in a full knee replacement surgery being necessary in 2005. The surgery took away the joint pain but, further reduced her mobility.  Over the next 9 years, still working full time sitting at a computer all day, and getting less & less exercise, more weight crept on, and 50 pounds later, she was feeling desperate and hopeless.

After a visit with her primary care physician to check the status of her high cholesterol and blood pressure, he informed her that her A1C was just a fraction below the diabetic level. Her doctor informed her that unless she could lose weight and get it under control he would also have to put her on yet another medication.   The thought of having diabetes, and coping with her other existing health conditions had scared Linda enough to attend a Texas Bariatric Specialist surgical weight loss seminar and see how Dr. Patel could help her get her life back.  Following the testing phase, Linda says that, “without seeing Dr. Patel I would not have learned that I had sleep apnea, as well.”  Linda was not getting proper sleep at night, she was stressed, and felt tired every day. With all of these medical issues, finding a timely solution was imperative.   Dr. Patel reviewed all her medical information and recommended that the Roux-en-Y (RNY) gastric bypass was her best option. He said it is the Gold Standard procedure and would ultimately be the fastest way for her to drop the weight to improve her overall health, and possibly, even eliminate her serious health conditions.

Even though she did not like how she looked at that time, she wanted to have a picture of herself before the surgery, to use as a motivational tool.  So, she had her co-worker take the picture (shown above) the day before her procedure.  The next day, June 18^th 2014, Linda’s surgery date had arrived, she said she was nervous about it but, went in with optimism and success in her mind.  She now describes her surgery as a complete success, “Dr. Patel and his staff were great in the follow up and I had no real problems or complications at all!”  The only thing Linda described as having any difficulty with, was learning the new portion sizes of her meals, however, that the issue was minor.  She said further, “The meal planning for me was an adjustment at first but, became simpler each day going forward and seeing the actual weight start to come off really increased my motivation to stay on course!”  She says, “My focus after surgery is being much more physically active and healthy like I use to be!” She now enjoys doing all her favorite activities again even after work and, “My health has dramatically improved and I am now off of all medications!” Linda expressed gratitude in knowing first hand, how the bariatric surgeries have been improved, how great she feels, and that “Dr. Patel’s skill and his approach is the main reason why!”

When she first began the process, she did not understand why the psychological, other evaluations & medical tests were so important. Linda says “I now sees the value in knowing your true health status from all those tests, and how they can give you confidence and a sound foundation for being able to achieve long term success!”  As of mid July 2015, in the recent picture of Linda shown above, she has lost 112 pounds, is feeling great and looking forward to losing 38 more to meet her ultimate goal of losing 150 lbs.  In December, she will be celebrating her 70^th birthday but, says “she feels like she’s 50 again!”