December 21, 2007
A Much-Smaller Tammy Lives Life Large
Gastric bypass surgery and 157-pound weight loss changes life for Genesis patient
DAVENPORT, IOWA - There have been times in her marriage when gastric bypass patient Tammy Shipman has lovingly told her husband to “get off my back.”
Well now, quite literally, he has. In one year, the 48-year-old Shipman has lost 157 pounds – the exact weight of her supportive husband, Bob Decker.
Thinking of how it felt to be carrying that much weight reminds her of how far she has come since she weighed nearly 350 pounds and first walked into the Genesis Center for Bariatric Surgery.
“I have lost an entire husband!” Shipman wrote this week in her final blog entry on www.genesishealth.com. “Now how many women would love to be able to say that? For me, that image puts things in perspective. To realize how hard it is on you to carry excess weight around all day, they say you should pick up 10 pounds of hamburger at the store and try to carry it around.
“Well, I am sitting here picturing me carrying my husband around the store. Besides being a very amusing mental image, I honestly can’t imagine how I was able to function at all. No wonder I hated shopping, and everything was an effort.”
Today, a year after her Nov. 29, 2006 laparoscopic Roux-en-Y surgery, Shipman has some amazing statistics to report:
- She weighs 190 pounds, just 5 pounds shy of what she weighed at high school graduation.
- Her BMI has gone from 51.4 to 28.9 and now falls in the “slightly overweight” category instead of the “severely morbidly obese” category, she says.
- Her clothing size has dropped from a size 32 W to size 12.
- Her waist has gone from 57 inches to 32 inches – over 2 feet smaller around.
- Her hips have gone from 64 inches to 42 inches.
- Her diabetes, sleep apnea and knee pain are gone. Her cholesterol is down to normal levels.
“I can walk and walk and walk without getting short of breath,” she says. “I am having fun with my family and friends, I feel like going and doing things. I enjoy challenges.”
Shipman’s surgery, performed by Matthew Christophersen, M.D., FACS, of Davenport Surgical Group, was unique because it was taped and then broadcast for viewing on the Genesis Web site. She also shared her reflections in an online diary. The blog and her surgery continue to be available for viewing at http://www.genesishealth.com/. (To see the surgery, click on “Bariatric Surgery,” and then “Watch a laparoscopic weight-loss surgery.”)
She has lost more than 70 percent of her excess body weight. “Prior to surgery, I didn’t really have a personal weight goal,” she says.
“My goal was to be healthier and be able to do things I hadn’t been able to do because of my weight. I wanted to go horseback riding again, water ski, swim in the lake, ride in a gokart, be able to shop in the ‘regular size’ part of the store, and basically, enjoy life. I’ve met all of those goals. I truly am enjoying my life again.”
If she never lost another ounce, she still would be happier and healthier than she has been in 25 years. In a few months, however, she hopes to be at her “optimal weight” of around 175 pounds.
Lessons for life
“The No. 1 question people ask me now is if I’m afraid the weight will come back,” says Shipman, a nurse and supervisor for Great River Home Health Care and Hospice in West Burlington, Iowa. “I know I never want to go back to where I was. I have been given the tools to keep me from doing that.”
She can never thank the Genesis Center for Bariatric Surgery team enough for “the gift of life.” Key to her success, she says, was the center’s multi-disciplinary approach of educational classes followed by consultations with the nursing staff, dietitian, psychologist, surgeon, physical therapist, pharmacist and recreational therapist. “The entire team is exceptional,” she says. “They have truly earned the Center of Excellence distinction by working together to achieve the best outcomes for their patients.”
The Genesis center has been designated a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. The designation also means the center is an approved center for Medicare patients seeking bariatric surgery.
In addition, the Genesis program has earned designation as a 2007 Blue Distinction Center for Bariatric Surgery by Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Soon, Genesis also will offer another option for weight-loss surgery patients – the LAP-BAND procedure.
For more information on the Genesis Center for Bariatric Surgery, call (563) 421-8361.
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