Eliza had made poor food and physical activity decisions most of her life. It wasn’t until she became a mother that she was inspired to change.
“I finally got sick and tired of being sick and tired,” she said. “I had a three year-old son and I got winded just walking up the stairs. It was time for a change.”
Eliza decided to attend a bariatric surgery information session at Lancaster General Health. After backing out once, she went to a session and was so impressed she signed up for a consultation that evening and shortly thereafter, decided to have adjustable gastric band surgery.
A Turning Point
After participating in the pre-operative program for a month and gaining two pounds, Eliza was becoming discouraged. However, through conversations with one of the bariatric team exercise physiologists, Eliza realized she needed to stop doing this for other people in her life—her husband, child, friends—and commit to the journey for herself. That was a turning point. After that, she began to lose weight.
Support from the Staff
Eliza appreciated the knowledge, compassion and guidance of the entire team—surgeons, receptionists, schedulers, nurses, case managers, exercise trainers, dietitians, case managers, and psychologists.
“From day one, I felt they all wanted me to succeed,” she said.
The staff made it clear that surgery was a tool; not some kind of miracle fix.
“If I went back to eating like I did before, or stopped exercising, they told me I would probably put the weight back on,” said Eliza, who had tried many other diets in the past and always regained the weight.
“I was sick of the yo-yo dieting. I wanted to get healthy and be around when my son graduates high school and college, and gets married. I also wanted to fit into some of my old high school clothes. When that day came, I literally cried I was so happy. Now the clothes are now too big for me!”
A New Life
Now that Eliza has lost weight, she actually enjoys exercise. The self-proclaimed “couch potato” used to spend hours in front of the TV, most of the time eating.
“Ryan and Cory [exercise physiologists] really helped change my perspective on exercise, and also showed me that small steps lead to big steps. Now I'm a gym rat. I go at least four days a week and love it.
“Deciding to have the gastric band has been one of the best decisions I ever made,” she said. “It has given me my life back! It taught me not only how to lose weight, but how to keep it off.”