My Story
The definition of Obesity by Webster’s dictionary is: "a condition that is characterized by excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body and that in an adult is typically indicated by a body mass index of 30 or greater."
According to the CDC (Center of Disease control, more than 1/3 of the U.S. population is defined as Obese. That is 34.9% or 78.6 million Americans that struggle with obesity on a daily basis. in the state of Texas, 30% – 35% of Texans are obese. The healthcare costs for obesity in in the U.S. is over $147 billion per year.
Obesity however, it so much more than what is defined by a dictionary definition. Although, I never had any serious health issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or sleep apnea; I knew it was just a matter of time before I did. Obesity also causes mental anguish and psychological problems.
Since I was a kid, people around me always thought I was such a happy go lucky person. They would tell me, your such a happy person, always smiling and laughing. What they didn’t know was the real Kara was hiding behind a thick cloak of pain and unhappiness. I found myself having no energy, depressed, self loathing, cutting my self off from the world, being angry, and I was barely able to stand in the kitchen to do dishes or cook for more than 5 minutes at a time because my lower back was killing me. It took all I had to clean or cook or to even get out of bed in the mornings. This was the real me, but to others, I was putting on a persona of strength and happiness in front of other people.
Yes, I had no severe health problems but, on a routine Dr. visit, I found out was that I was severely vitamin B12 and vitamin D deficient. I also found out that I was in the Pre-diabetic range, my white blood count was low, and I had elevated liver numbers. The elevated liver numbers, come to find out after my surgery was due to having a fatty liver caused by my obesity.
I have always been over weight all my life. Starting probably around 3rd or 4th grade. Over my childhood years, I was an active child. I swam and tried my hand at volleyball and basketball. I was only really good at swimming though. Then as an adult, when I moved out on my own, I fell in to the fast food, quick processed foods, potato chip, and all other junk food trap. I slowly began to gain weight. Over 20 years later, I found myself at 268 pounds. That is about 120 – 130 pounds higher than when I graduated from high school. I was miserable. I did lose weight off and on over the years, but always failed. I would lose 40 pounds and then a few months later, it would all be back on plus some. I realized that my eating and non active life style was out of control.
Through out my life, I would always try fad diets, Adkins, Weight Watchers (not really a fad diet), Grapefruit diet, etc.. anything out there, believe me … I TRIED IT! I failed each and every time. I even had a personal trainer for 2 years, lost 60 pounds and gained most of it back with in a year.
So finally at 40 years old, I decided that I needed help. I realized that if I stayed on the track I was on, I was going to end up having major health problems and possibly ending up dead at a very early age. I started thinking about bariatric surgery. I did hours of research on the procedures that were being done now and how advanced the procedures have become. The thought doing something so drastic to my body scared the living hell out of me.
I talked with family and very close friends about it. I had decided that I didn’t want to do the bypass surgery. It was too evasive for my taste and the thought of rerouting my stomach just didn’t sound natural or safe. I was looking at doing either the Gastric Sleeve or the Lap Band. Then it was time to research surgeons in the area for a consult. After researching the myriad of bariatric surgeons, I settled on Dr. David Kim. Yes, he is all over the DFW area with billboards, TV commercials, and radio ads. Which for some people is a huge turn off because it seems they do it to get business. However, Dr. Kim performs the Inverted Gastric Sleeve, which by the information I found was going to be much safer as far as risks down the road than the normal Gastric Sleeve.
In December of 2014, I had my consult with Dr. Kim and Dr. Holden. When I met with Dr. Kim, he informed me that my BMI was a little over 50. I wanted to cry. I damn near fell out of the chair. I had NO idea that I was this obese. I was labeled as Obese Class III which is morbidly obese. Dr. Kim and I discussed my options and we decided that the Inverted Sleeve was the best option for me. This means that I would have 75% of my stomach removed. This terrified me! At the same time, Dr. Kim put my mind at ease and went over the next steps.
Over the course of the next 4 months, I would have to lose 20 pounds, quit smoking, go in for a sleep study, have a stress test, have a scope done, full panel blood work, go through nutrition classes, see a psychologist, and be on a liquid diet 3 weeks prior to my surgery. So even before the surgery you have to go through a lot.
When they did the scope, they found that I had a hiatal hernia. I had no idea what that was. I had to look into it. I had no symptoms of it and I felt fine. The hernia was to be repaired during my Gastric Sleeve surgery.
Finally, on April 20, 2015 I went into surgery and Dr. Kim performed my Inverted Gastric Sleeve. This is the day, I got my second chance at life.
Collage of my journey so far
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