Gastric Bypass Surgery: A Real Life Saver

gastric bypassA recent post in the New York Daily News chronicled the weight loss of Jane Morgan, a thirty-eight-year old woman who at one point weighed 392 pounds.

Morgan is a single mother to sons Callum, 8, and Connor, 10. Callum however, sadly suffered brain damage at birth and requires round-the-clock care.

Morgan was told that if didn’t lose weight, she wouldn’t see Callum reach his teens.  Panicked that no one would be around to care for her son, she turned to her doctor and begged for gastric bypass surgery to aid in her weight loss.

“My boys are everything to me,” she said via the New York daily News. “Callum can’t eat, he can’t walk, he can’t talk but he’s still naughty and cheeky in his own way. I was terrified that I would die and leave him and Connor without a mom.”

Gastric bypass is still one of the most common types of bariatric surgery in the United States. Many surgeons prefer gastric bypass surgery because it generally has fewer complications than other weight-loss surgeries. Gastric bypass surgery is performed when alternative means of losing weight have not worked, and you are at risk of potentially life-threatening weight-related health problems including: Gastroesophageal reflux disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, severe sleep apnea, Type 2 diabetes, and stroke.

Like many, Morgan turned to food in her teens after being bullied at school. Her weight eventually became unmanageable. That is, until she received the news about Callum.

“The boys make everything worth living for. They were my motivation to change. If I’d kept going the way I was I would have been dead in five years.”

Since her surgery in September 2012, Morgan has dropped 16 dress sizes and weighs 210.