Patient Stories

Weight Loss Surgery

Memorial Hermann Memorial City

Bobbi, Weight Loss Surgery
Finding Joy and Success after Weight Loss Surgery

Bobbi decided to take charge of her weight while on vacation in Hawaii with her husband, Tony. A lover of water sports, Bobbi felt humiliated when there were no scuba wet suits available to fit her then 300-pound frame.
    
"For me, it was a quality of life issue," says the 47-year-old Cypress resident. "I just knew I had to do something. I came to the personal understanding that I was no longer living with obesity. I was dying from it."

Bobbi says she was obese even in junior high school. "My mother would tape a $20 bill to the bathroom mirror and tell me and my two older sisters that whoever lost 10 pounds first would get the $20." One older sister is overweight; the other is morbidly obese.

In the late 1990s, Bobbi had her first weight loss surgery at another hospital and failed to lose weight. "It felt like my last hope, and when it failed, it was devastating," she says. "I just wanted to be normal."
   

After several years of coping with disappointment, Bobbi decided to give surgery one more try. In May 2005, Bobbi had the latest kind of bariatric surgery – gastric bypass – at Memorial Hermann Memorial City. Her surgeon, Adam Naaman, MD, bariatric medical director at Memorial Hermann Memorial City, had performed a successful surgery on one of Bobbi's colleagues.

Before her surgery, Bobbi received nutritional education, counseling and emotional support from experts at Memorial Hermann Memorial City.

Today, Bobbi's life has taken a dramatic turn. She's lost 80 pounds so far and dropped several sizes. She intends to lose more weight and regularly checks in with Naaman as part of her plan. She also attends a support group for bariatric patients at Memorial Hermann Memorial City.

What's more, Bobbi is able to do things she could never have done before. On a recent cruise, Bobbi stopped off in Jamaica for a "canopy tour." She and fellow tourists hiked up a forested mountain and leapt from tree to tree while being hoisted by pulley. "It was exhilarating," she says.

Bobbi feels a certain responsibility to other people who want to lose weight. "I feel so much joy when I've hit a milestone, and I want others to experience that," she says. "I want people to know that success happens, and if it can happen for me, it can happen for them."