Brazos Bariatics

Bobby

VSG Patient

Hi – My name is Bobby.  I have had a weight problem for the past 25 years.  I have tried every diet in the world and nothing seemed to work.  Yes, I would lose some weight but after a while, I’d regain the weight, plus gained more weight.  I had given up dieting and exercising. At a weight of 350 pounds, it seemed like it would take an eternity to lose 100 pounds and the more I exercised, the more my feet, ankles and knees ached.   It was not worth the pain I put my body through.  I had given up losing weight until I developed Type II Diabetes and fought the diabetes for 2 years with medicine.  I was taking insulin pills and could not get the diabetes under control and was about to go on insulin injections which I did not want to do.  That is when my wife and I discovered Dr. Mason and attended a seminar.  He looked at me and said, “I can fix you Bobby.”  He told my wife that she would not recognized me in 6 months.  He was in the process of learning the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy surgery.  I was his first sleeve patient on November 12, 2007.  My body changed dramatically in a very short time.  In the first 6 months I lost 100 pounds and could not believe it.  I continued to lose another 30 and have maintained my weight loss.  My life has changed so much.  I can tie my shoes, ride in an airplane, play on the floor with my grandkids, dance closer to my wife plus I no longer am diabetic.  Thank you Dr. Mason for saving my life.  I will be eternally grateful to you.

Vicky

VSG Patient

Hi – My name is Vicky.  I had Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy on August 18, 2008.  I have had weight issues all of my life.  I have gained and lost weight many times using all the diet programs in the world.  Nothing seemed to work and keep my weight off.  I started researching weight loss surgery for my husband.  He had surgery in November of 2007.  I was totally convinced that I wanted this surgery for myself.  Not only did I want this surgery for losing weight but I wanted to be healthy.  I come from a family of heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.  My mother fought the weight battle her entire life.  I watched her suffer with pain through many surgeries, arthritis, diabetes and ultimately alzheimer’s.  She passed away in March of 2008.  I did not want to live my next 25 years like this.  I want to be old, happy, and healthy.  As you can see by my pictures, this surgery works.  It is a tool that enables me to eat anything that I want in small portions.  The sleeve limits the amount of food intake. The weight continues to comes off and with good choices, my weight will be maintained for the rest of my life.  Many thanks go to Dr. Mason and his staff for their loving support and help through my 80 plus pound weight loss journey. 

Barbara

Lap Band Patient

One of the hardest things about my weight problem is that I spent the first 40 years  of my life as a small person.  At 5'2”, my 110 pounds looked petty good.  Even though I gained some after marriage and three children, I could live with it.  Then, life blindsided me with a divorce.  My response to that event was to eat everything I could, as fast as I could.  Naturally it didn't take long to put on 90 pounds, then 100,  and you know the story.  I always told my friends that I was actually a Siamese twin, but instead of being connected side by side, one twin was inside the other.  Sometimes I could hear her calling...”Let me out!”  Yo-yo dieting became a lifestyle for me.  Every time I went to my doctor whether it was for the flu or a skin rash, he always put morbid obesity as a diagnosis.  Gee, I wanted to slap him silly.  When I first looked into bariatric surgery my insurance company said no.  Funny, they would pay for a heart transplant, knee replacements, and diabetic medication, but they would not pay for a surgery that would prevent those problems.  As soon as I became eligible for Medicare, I was at the surgeon's office.  I had Lap Band surgery in November of 2007 – the Monday before Thanksgiving of all times – and began the journey back to me.  Up to this point I have lost 135 pounds. With about 70 more to lose.  Earlier this year, I had a paniculectomy and that has been very personally satisfying to me.  For those of you who had young skin that just went back into place, a paniculectomy is the surgery that removes the apron of abdominal skin that hangs down following massive weight loss.  I love to say that, I'll say it again – massive weight loss!:)  God has an interesting way of intervening in our lives.  And even though I would have never chosen to weigh 350 pounds, because of that I am much more empathic with the patients I evaluate for bariatric surgery in our counseling practice.  My counseling partner and friend has never had weight loss surgery, but she has struggled with minor weight gain, which she lost the old fashioned way.  She is the best bari-buddy I could ever have. Now the two of us are starting a new path helping weight loss patients by being support group leaders, Success Habits teachers, Back on Track facilitators, and the first BSCI licensees in the big ol' state of Texas.  It has been a long 27 year journey, but I feel at home at last.

Lois

Support Group Coordinator

As Clinical Director of Comprehensive HealthCare Associates and a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor, I began my practice several years ago. I wanted to focus on helping others live life to the fullest. Stress and pain management has been my main focus, working with patients who have depression and anxiety. Chronic pain and stress programs have been developed to help bring quality of life back. I have recorded several relaxation response CDs on the topics of weight loss, stress and pain reduction. For several years I've loved working with bariatric candidates for surgery and helped those who needed stress management and coping skills prior to and following surgery. I found that many patients struggled with craving their comfort foods when stressors came along. Many overweight patient expressed feeling "empty" with and without comfort foods. As I worked with emotional eaters, myself included, I developed a 6-Step process to help curb craving comfort foods. I have recorded several CDs, one with affirmations and relaxation response for long term success in weight loss. When Dr. Mason brought Colleen Cook's book, "The Success Habits of Surgery Weight Loss Patients" to me from one of his training seminars, I read it and began recommending it to patients he referred to me for help. At that point I knew this book was an excellent resource to use. Little did I know at that point how very important this would turn out to be.

Weight has been a long term struggle for me. At four, I was hospitalized for nine months as a result of polio. Crutches, a brace, limited walking and loving food as a comfort contributed to being overweight. Clothes and shoes were problems. "Chubby" sizes were a nice term for fat clothes and stylish orthopedic shoes was a nice term for clunky, ugly shoes. I wanted to fit in like everyone else, with cute clothes and sandals. I remember when I was seven years old and being fitted for my new, white orthopedic shoes, seeing a pair of multi-colored sandals. I convinced my Mom to let me try them on. As I sat in the shoe store feeling them on my feet and not being able to walk in them, my Mom must have seen how much I loved them. A couple weeks later she brought them home for me, knowing I'd never be able to wear them. I slept with those wonderful sandals for a long, long time. Comfort foods became more and more important when fitting in with classmates was impossible. Looking back I see that my disability was more than the polio, it included being overweight. I can identify when I hear stories of not being able to run, walk much, or play sports. Going somewhere was a nightmare... scoping out where I could sit and be able to get up again. And the looks from other people, looking too long at me, feeling exposed and wanting to just be invisible.

The journey to self-esteem, confidence, and self-empowerment has been long and bumpy. Severe scoliosis is one of the resultant factors of polio. I've lived with this part of my disability so long now that I've learned to adapt. Several months ago my newest challenge came when I was having a routine orthopedic exam. But, this exam threw me for another loop. The doctor told me I had to lose 45 pounds because my spine had begun compressing. 45 pounds to some may seem like no big deal, but for me it was a mountain. I have tried most of the diets out there over the years to lose weight, but never successfully. Now my health was in jeopardy and I had to do something. My BMI was not high enough to have bariatric surgery. . .what was I to do. I looked at Colleen Cook's book from a whole new perspective, and began implementing the six success habits for myself using the principles, healthy foods and limiting calories. For the first time in my lifelong journey, I am no longer obese, I have reached my goal and have maintained it. I know I must integrate the six habits Colleen outlined in her book and beyond…this is a journey, not an arrival…so continuing to integrate the six habits is an important part of my journey. A new adventure and journey has begun.  As coordinator of Dr Mason’s support groups, my colleague Barbara and I decided to be trained and licensed by the Bariatric Support Centers International (BSCI).  This training helps provide the groups with a variety of cutting edge resources for the support groups, as well as Back on Track classes and Success Habits classes to help others achieve long term success.  I have realized how similar the journey is with any disability that challenges functioning and living life to the fullest. It is exciting to be on this journey. I've learned any journey has some bumps along the way. But, with a roadmap and a guide, the journey has a wonderful destination.