Becky & Lori
Forget sibling rivalry — Becky and Lori are proof-positive that a sister can be the best friend a girl could have. Raised in a family that bustled with kids (8 of them!), the two learned early on that success feels best when shared. So once Becky decided to take the challenge of doing something about her obesity and had her Lap Band put in by bariatric surgeon Dr. Tim Ehrlich, she made it her business to keep her sister Lori in the ‘loop’ on her weight-shedding progress.
“As a physician’s assistant, I was somewhat familiar with the surgery,” Becky says. “I had fought obesity since childhood and after the birth of my daughter, it had gotten worse. My husband, who is a surgical physician’s assistant, was very supportive of the idea of bariatric surgery for me, and that had helped me decide to have it.”
Older sister Lori says she watched Becky go through this decision-making with great interest. Over time, Lori herself had lost confidence in her own ability to take off the 100 lbs she needed to lose. “We live 245 miles apart, but we’re really close. I’m in upstate New York, but I get down to Fairfield, where Becky lives, about once a month. At the time, we were both very concerned about our dad, who was ill with terminal cancer. I knew he wanted so much to see Becky succeed in the program.”
Becky talked about seeing patients able to come off their various medications right after this surgery. “That impressed me,” she says. She assured her dad she’d be successful, and quietly hoped to inspire Lori into considering a Lap Band, too. With Dr. Ehrlich’s use of modified laparoscopic techniques, she knew, the surgery would be less invasive than it had been in the past.
At the time, Lori was feeling overwhelmed. Not only overweight, she was a life-long smoker and insurance wouldn’t cover the surgery. Semi-retired but still working at her husband’s liquor store, she seemed ok; but Becky constantly lectured her about smoking. “She hated it, but mostly I’d ignore her,” Lori admits now. “Then we went on a trip to Disney and in between walking, I had to rest so much. Becky kept saying, ‘You could have a heart attack!’ I knew she was right. I had to do something. I also knew that my grown son and my husband wanted to see me be really healthy again.”
A year after Becky made her decision (and lost 70 lbs!), Lori followed in her footsteps. As a participant in a bariatric study, her costs were covered. “I was lucky to be able to do that,” she says. “My surgery with Dr. Ehrlich went so well. Still, you have to work at it. I lost 100 lbs in all — I’m at 165 now — but I’ve had to learn to cope without turning to food. Eating right, concentrating on proteins. And of course exercising.”
“By the way, she gave up smoking,” adds a very happy sister Becky. Nodding, Lori chuckles. “That’s right. A hundred pounds and no more smoking. I’m a saint.”
