Kathy & Tony

“I hadn’t considered weight-loss surgery for myself when Kathy started talking about wanting a Lap Band,” says Tony, a 41-year-old salesman from Naugatuck, Conn. Tony’s busy life since losing 85 lbs now includes running 5K charity marathons. But it was Kathy, his wife, who convinced him to “just come along as my moral support” at the bariatric surgery seminar in Connecticut being conducted by Dr Timothy Ehrlich. That was back in January of 2008.

These days, 37-year-old Kathy, a hairstylist at the salon the couple owns, admits she secretly hoped Tony would want the surgery, too. But at 242 lbs, she was prepared to go it alone. “For years, I’d been losing 50 or 60 lbs at a clip, only to gain it all back,” she says. “I did that at least 10 times. I was sick of it.” Her husband, however, had less than 100 lbs to lose. “I figured it wasn’t enough to qualify for insurance, so I wouldn’t be able to have the surgery, anyway,” says Tony.

He figured right — sort of. Upon meeting Kathy and Tony, Dr. Ehrlich discussed Kathy’s understanding of the program and her motivation. “I knew that some people who have the Lap Band think, ‘Oh, this will do the work for me,’” she says. “I really knew that it wouldn’t, that it would be up to me to follow through.” After talking to Kathy, Dr. Ehrlich turned to Tony and asked what his interest in the program was.

“I’m only here to support Kathy,” Tony told him. Says Kathy, “Dr. Ehrlich just looked at him. It was pretty comical.” Then this surgeon, whose expertise and focus on his patients has made him a leader in his field, suggested an option Tony might consider.

“There’s a low-BMI study currently underway,” Dr. Ehrlich said, explaining how the study allowed subjects to receive surgery at no cost. “It tracks the substantial health benefits of the surgery to people with a smaller body-mass index than insurance requires.” Tony recalls how he always worried his obesity would put him at risk for heart disease. “My father died of that at 64,” he says. “I had tried to lose weight because of it, but it seemed impossible. This was a chance worth taking.”

Kathy and Tony had their weight loss surgery one week apart in Connectiut — Kathy going first. A close couple, they encouraged one another to keep to the program. “We both changed our eating habits,” says Kathy. “With the Lap Band, you get to where you no longer crave the foods you once did. I’d always been an emotional eater and ate all the wrong things. Nowadays, I wouldn’t be able to manage even a bite of something like a Big Mac.”

According to Tony, both he and Kathy learned they actually like ground turkey as a beef substitute. “I’m always motivated by how well I feel these days,” Tony says. “We’re getting into mountain biking, for instance. I ran track as a kid, and now I’m a runner again. So making my fabulous Wedding Soup with healthy meatballs is, believe me, no sacrifice.”