Gastric Bypass Surgery Success Story Wenona Parmer from San Angelo, TX *

Thanks to her gastric bypass surgery, Wenona was excited to say, “I use to not be able to walk to my mailbox without running out of breath, now I am walking 3-5 miles per day!”

Highest Weight: 208
Current Weight: 143
Procedure: RNY Gastric Bypass Surgery on April 11, 2016

Wenona Parmer first came in to Texas Bariatric Specialists on December 15th, 2015. Her first visit was with James Houston, PA-C and she said, ‘instantly I fell in love with James, he did a great job!’

Growing up, Wenona was always heavy set, she said, ‘I knew my weight was always an issue but I chose to ignore it.’ Right after high school she married her high school boyfriend and began her new life. During her marriage Wenona would stay home and raise the children and eat lots of food, especially peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. When her third pregnancy came about she was at the point where, according to Wenona, ‘You couldn’t even tell I was pregnant.’ She began going through a state of depression and with struggles in her personal life Wenona was, ‘constantly stressed.’ After her divorce from her husband Wenona had to pick up a job at the local Firestone store. Unfortunately for Wenona, there was a convenient McDonalds across the street. This would also contribute to her weight gain where she would find herself working 7 days a week and looking for a fast easy meal. After long work days she would crave the convenience fast food offered.  After a very successful thirty-year career Wenona decided to retire from Firestone. She was sitting at home one day and thought to herself, ‘there has to be more to retirement then sitting at home all day and watching game shows on the couch.’ So she decided to look up weight loss surgeries after hearing about the lap-band procedure. When she called Texas Bariatric Specialists she was surprised how quickly she was able to be seen, ‘I knew they had a lot of locations throughout Central and South Texas and was pleased to hear that they were going to be in San Angelo the very next week.’ Wenona came in for her appointment and after consulting with James Houston, PA-C they decided that they best procedure for her would be the Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery. After four quick months Wenona was ready for her procedure.

Like other Central Texas patients, Wenona had the option of going to either San Antonio or Austin for her gastric bypass surgery. She chose to have her gastric bypass surgery in San Antonio.

When she arrived at the hospital she was greeted by a friendly staff who catered to her every need. Wenona particularly was taken back by the effort of one staff member, Maria. Wenona described Maria as, ‘attentive, helpful, and kind.’ Wenona said that ‘If I ever have to go back to the hospital, which I hope I don’t, I look forward to seeing Maria and making sure she is doing well!’ Since her procedure Wenona has lost more than thirty percent of her body weight and looks forward to losing even more! She explains life after surgery and that, ‘There was a little learning curve after changing my diet but no longer is eating my top priority!’ Also, after her procedure, Wenona has stopped taking her medication for high cholesterol and has returned to a normal healthy life style. Recently, her cardiologist invited her to a walk in the park. ‘Before I would have never been able to complete a walk in the park, now I walk three to five miles every day!’ It used to be difficult for Wenona to walk to the mailbox and to do work around the yard. Now she has no problem getting up and being able to do all the things she has been wanting to do in her retirement. The staff at Texas Bariatric Specialists and her family could not be more proud of the rapid weight loss Wenona has achieved. Her daughter tells her that now they wear the same size clothes she will be coming over to go through her closet!