Posted - March 8, 2009

Traci Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass

My experience with Dr. Stewart

He was very friendly and knowledgeable…..He really emphasized the aftercare, they talked about it for several hours in the seminar. His program seems great and comprehensive.
He gave us a lot of information regarding the risks of all types of weight loss.  I would say both seem great.

My life before  surgery

‘Why WLS?’ That is the question I hear the most from my friends and family. ‘You’re not THAT big…’ Yet I hear them complain about losing their love handles, or that last 10 pounds. I am 26 years old and I have been a food addict for as long as I can remember. I have always used food as a coping mechanism against the sometimes-harsh realities of my life. However, this coping mechanism is slowly killing me. I have eaten my way into a size 24 on a 4’10 frame. I have terrible back problems, swollen ankles and feet, trouble sleeping, shortness of breath, and I can barely keep up with my kids (I teach preschoolers). However, despite these issues, they were not the things that finally made my decision to go forward with WLS. It happened appropriately enough at a routine annual check-up. They weighed me, I had gained 10 pounds this year, and measured my height…I had lost an inch..to some people this would have seemed like a small issue and one you would hardly have noticed. However, for a short person an inch might as well be a foot. My weight was causing me to shrink..the increased pressure on the discs in my spinal cords were causing them to compress..hence the pain and the shrinking. I am only 26..if I gained any more weight the problems would worsen

December 2006

As the New Year approaches, so many things are happening its hard to keep up..but I’ll try…..First..my New Year’s plans…..I am going to Dallas for New Year’s Eve. My boyfriend and I are going to paint the town red, I am soo excited. I have never had a boyfriend on New Year’s Eve, this will be the first time I have ever had someone to kiss at midnight, which sounds kinda sad now that I ‘say’ it out loud but it illustrates how much things have changed for me since my surgery. I have truly taken my life back from the self-imposed and society-imposed black hole I had lived for longer than I like to remember.