- Losing weight can be one of the most difficult
and frustrating things to do, especially as a young person.
Our Kamady Rudd joins us now to tell us
about a program looking to change that.
Good morning, Kamady.
- Good morning. Yeah. That's right.
So it's tough for anyone, right?
But imagine being a kid and doing everything right
and still not seeing healthier results.
There is a program in Akron Children's Hospital,
helping kids of all ages get healthy.
For some it's a few life changes for others,
it can take surgery to correct hormonal imbalances
or maybe something else that might be going on.
One resilient teenager shared her story with me take a look.
- I usually get up at--
- [Kamady] Change.
5:30 a.m, six o'clock.
- [Kamady] Is something that's hard to get used to.
- Go to the gym and come home by 7:45am, eight o'clock.
- [Kamady] But for Riley Ickes,
- And then I come home to and
- [Kamady] The change she is experiencing.
- Get something to eat before school starts.
- [Kamady] Is not. Riley is 16 almost 17
and she hopes things like school returned to normal soon.
- Hopefully we have prom next year
'cause I'm gonna be a senior.
- [Kamady] Riley has so much to be proud of,
besides doing well in school and adjusting
to this new normal, Riley.
- A 100 pounds I have lost.
- [Kamady] Okay. Let's pause and rewind a bit.
- It was around when I first
- Eighth garde.
- Yeah, when I first started going to the clinic.
- [Kamady] She's talking about a clinic
at Akron children's hospital and taking part
in their Healthy Active Living program.
See, as a young girl, Riley struggled with her weight trying
just about everything to get healthier.
It wasn't until she started going to the clinic
that she was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
which can be associated with obesity.
- I was the third person to get the surgery.
- [Kamady] Because Riley was dedicated to getting healthy
and doctors were confident she had the habits
to stay healthy, she was a prime candidate
for Pediatric Bariatric surgery and she got
it last September.
- I was 324 pounds.
- [Kamady] over a hundred pounds gone.
- So, now I weigh 222.
I think it's still crazy that I'm losing weight.
- [Kamady] In addition to losing weight,
family and friends gained a whole new side of Riley.
- Losing weight won't make you happy.
It's just the confidence you have for yourself.
And just being healthier is what is the most important part.
- [Kamady] Her original post-surgery goal was 70 pounds.
- And I'm way over that.
- [Kamady] Riley also wants people,
especially young girls to know she gets it and not
to forget we're all made differently.
- Said even if we all eat the same,
worked out the same we would all have different bodies.
- [Kamady] She also received some criticism
for the choice her and her family made, but she takes
it in stride.
- Some people think it's the easy way out.
I look at as towards if they doubt saying,
Oh, like you'll just gain a bunch of weight back.
That makes me try harder.
- [Kamady] The truth of the matter is.
- I just never thought never thought it was gonna happen.
- [Kamady] She's never been.
- But then it's happening.
- [Kamady] Happier.
So, Riley obviously on a roll, you know, I shot
this story with her a couple of weeks back
and since then she's lost even more weight.
She's now down more than 110 pounds.
- Wow Kamady, this is great.
I know in the story you mentioned Riley
had a hormone hormonal issue, PCOS.
I actually knew somebody growing up that struggled with this
and struggled with their weight as a result.
So, is that hormonal imbalance the norm?
Is there usually some type of extenuating circumstance
for patients in this program?
- It's a really good question and you know,
I'm not really sure if it's the norm
but there's almost always something going on there.
So, I spoke with one of Riley's doctors, Dr. Marnie Walston,
and she said you really can't compare patients.
- So, not everybody is on a level playing field
when it comes to weight loss.
And so it's hard to compare one person's journey to another
but we know that this can be a helpful treatment, especially
for those patients who may be again, doing everything right
but not seeing the outcome that they want.
- And since Riley was doing everything she could
and not seeing the results was this an easy decision
for her family to get behind?
- You know, this is one of the biggest questions I had going
into this story especially for Riley's family.
Were you as parents skeptical about surgery?
And they told me, you know,
her dad was actually the one who needed a little convincing
but with the Healthy Active Living program,
patients and families both go through at least 10 months
of the program to figure out what path is best for them.
- So it's not a quick fix and it's not a fast path
to surgery but we really take time to make sure
that patients and their families are prepared and are set up
to be successful.
Because surgery is a big undertaking and it involves risk
and we wanna make sure that the benefit is going
to outweigh that risk.
- You know, I also wanna mention
that the Healthy Active Living program
at Akron children's hospital is not just for kids who want
this surgery, It's really about teaching them
to live a healthy lifestyle and they're great resources
for families with kids of all ages from toddlers,
all the way through teenagers.
And we're going to have more information about the program
on our website, spectrumnews1.com.
- All right Kamady. Thank you so much.
And kudos to Riley. Our Kamady Rudd.
Thank you so much for joining us this morning.