the quest to lose weight can be a
never-ending battle for many and for one
woman it was a journey that transformed
her life
I'm joined by dr. Karl Pesta from our
friends at the bariatric surgery
Institute it at McLaren Macomb who
helped her thank you for being here
thank you all right so the woman that we
speak of is Stephanie och and here is
her before before her transformation now
I'm sorry Alec is her last name dr.
pesto's we looked at the looking at
these images Stephanie struggled with
her weight when she turned to you right
that's correct yeah so when she came to
us she came to us with a number of
diseases as well so it's not only about
the weight which is my goal to talk
about today but about the disease that
go along with it diabetes high blood
pressure high cholesterol she had all
these things and here is Stephanie today
Stephanie come on out and stop right
there so we can get a look at you you
look phenomenal thank you thank you for
sharing your story it really means a lot
so tell us briefly why you turned to dr.
pasta for help I think the biggest
misconception people have is you know
everybody struggles with weight but at a
certain point when your health becomes
the part that's it becomes very
frightening the time to manage diabetes
high blood pressure cholesterol 9
different medications or more several
times a day
you don't have that time to live your
life and I you know she was a good time
I'm not gonna lie she was a good time
but my kids were young too foreign in
six at the time and I realized I just
couldn't keep up with everything anymore
and when that scared me that I wasn't
gonna be able to keep up with my family
I had to do something and I had tried
everything like most people and nothing
had worked so when I turned to dr. pasta
and found out more about weight loss
surgery it it saved my life it gave my
family back their mother that my life
would never have been the same without
it that's so touching so doctor what is
bariatric surgery so bariatric surgery
is a
an operation where we perform an
operation on the stomach creating a
smaller stomach it basically helps us
control our intake but it also changes
the hormones and how the body interacts
with calories and absorption and that
type of stuff so more than just more
than just reducing volume it also
manipulates and the the metabolism that
type of stuff how does this help with
overall wellness that's a great question
so what a lot of people don't realize is
that you know just carrying the weight
is enough alone however it shortens
people's lifespan by maybe 10 to 15
years so you know the weight that we
carry isn't just on our butts tummies
and hips but it surrounds our organs so
the organs start to break down and like
I said we develop diabetes or high blood
pressure like Stephanie had and by
having the operation she was able to
reverse all those illnesses get rid of
all the medications and like she said
get her life back Stephanie what advice
would you give people who are facing the
same struggles that you had first of all
I would tell them to come in and learn
more I think there's a lot of
misconceptions about weight loss surgery
and that's gone over time but I think
that when you come doctor pasta offers
in from informative seminars that really
explain what this procedure does and you
know I just if I hadn't done this I just
think about the time I spent on the
beach with my kids now camping hiking I
walked up to the top of Big Bear Dunes
with my kids I would have never been
able to do that even after my surgery
when I hit a certain way too I I jumped
out of a plane and did skydiving because
that was not even an option for me
before so it's just I feel like I have
living time back it's just been amazing
it's it's it's something to really look
into now if you're not ready to change
the lifestyle the surgery alone is not
gonna solve the problem but there's a
lot more that goes with it but I think
people think it's it's a dreaded thing
to try to lose weight and it doesn't
have to be it's a lifestyle you know
Oreos in moderation are okay the whole
bag is a different story
that's that's you know that's how to do
it so while you're sorry it's so
powerful so doctor speaking of seminars
and programs events what do you have
coming up to help people learn more so
we'd like to do seminars for the
patients just so they get a good
overview of what you know what the
surgery is about and a lifestyle change
and I think our program really focuses
on that at McLaren Macomb Hospital so we
spent a lot of time educating the
patients we have a seminar coming up on
February 6th I mean a bunch more listed
on our website as well awesome thank you
both so much for more information on
this procedure and the seminar and to
schedule your first appointment
visit the website McLaren org slash be a
our I events thank you again thank you
so much