Barbara
Gastric bypass for weight loss was not new to Barbara (Barb) when she first met with Dr. Ehrlich and his staff two years ago. A difficult pregnancy 10 years earlier had added to her weight problem when she was put on complete bed-rest for several months. “No exercise, so I just ate,” she says. And coping with infant twin boys after her c-section left her with little time to seriously address her obesity.
“I went on gaining and got close to 300 lbs, even though I did try diets,” she says. “At times I would look in the mirror and say, 'Hey, you don’t look so bad.' Then I’d see a photo and say, 'That can’t be me!’”
With a list of conditions including diabetes and high blood pressure threatening, Barb’s doctor suggested she have this ‘new’ surgery. “No one knew much about it. But with my health so bad, and wanting to be around for my family, I managed to find a surgeon who would do it. Insurance covered me, so there was no problem.”
She didn’t have to go through the informational seminar or counseling at the time, in the way that the Ehrlich program requires, she says. “So it all went pretty quickly.”
Maybe a little too quickly. If back then she’d had the nutrition and psychological counseling Dr. Ehrlich and his staff provide, or the support groups they offer, Barb thinks she could have kept off the 160 lbs she lost after that first surgery.
“Instead, I started gaining again,” she says. “Not up to 300, but I didn’t want to get there again — always having to wear sweats or ‘slimming’ black.” Mostly she worried because she wasn’t feeling well. “Something just wasn’t right,” she recalls.
Her GP had retired, and Barb and her family had moved to Trumbull, so when she was referred to Dr. Ehrlich, she made an appointment right away. “He had tests done and there was a fistula,” she explains. “The bypass I’d had was no longer working. Dr Ehrlich did a revision of my first surgery, which corrected the problem.”
Now, two years on and a trim 120 to 125 lbs, Barb is committed to using what she learned in the nutrition classes and the self-awareness she gained from therapy and her support groups — all part of the Ehrlich program. “Not that it’s been easy,” she says. “It isn’t the easy weigh (she spells that, and laughs) some think it is. But I give a lot of credit to Dr. Ehrlich and his staff. He truly loves his patients, yet he always tells it like it is. Then he gives you your choices and makes sure you have the resources you need to succeed. His staff never judges, and they are always there for you.”
Her family is proud of her achievement, Barb says. “And I’m proud of me. I love being outdoors, hiking or bike riding, trying new things and meeting new people. I’ve never been happier. And — by the way — I rarely wear black anymore!”
