Marsha's story

Throughout the entire process, my son was the most influential person to my success. He always is cheering me on, coaching me and making sure I know how proud he is of me. ~Marsha

Since first grade, I have been the “chubby” one in the class. I was teased for wearing plus-sized clothes. In high school, I became very sick with endometriosis, and it has continued to cause problems ever since.

Soon after my I married my husband, we decided to start a family. After struggling to get pregnant, my doctor prescribed fertility drugs, which caused me to gain additional weight. In 1992, I had my first child, and gained 85 pounds during pregnancy.

In 1996, I joined a weight loss center and lost 68 pounds of the baby weight. I kept it off for a year, then became pregnant with my second child. I gained 45 pounds with that pregnancy, and didn’t lose any of the weight – and that was 10 years ago. I tried other weight-loss programs, over-the-counter weight-loss drugs and diet shakes. Nothing worked.

Weight has always been an issue in my family. There is a history of heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol and many other weight-related conditions. Before surgery, I began having knee problems due to my weight, plus elevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and sleep apnea.

In August of 2007, I had bypass surgery at Park Nicollet Bariatric Surgery Center. I was worried about my children not having a mom around if my weight caused me to become ill. I know what the mortality rate is for morbidly obese women, and I didn’t want to be one of them.

Throughout the entire process, my son was the most influential person to my success. He was the one who came to me very worried, and expressed his concerns that he needed his mom to be around. That’s when I knew I needed to do something. He always is cheering me on, coaching me and making sure I know how proud he is of me. He sees that I am so much happier with myself and in my life.

I was so excited when my weight dropped to 300 pounds. Then 250. Then 200. I got rid of my plus-sized clothing. Each new step brought a sense of triumph – walking down a hallway without losing breath, walking outside on pavement and not experiencing knee pain, waking up in the morning without my accustomed aches.

In the year since my surgery, I’ve lost 165 pounds. I walk for an hour every day, and enjoy doing activities with my children, family and friends. Food is no longer a focal point. I’m now healthy, happy and looking forward to a long life ahead.

I can honestly say this surgery saved my life. Today, I can see the benefits of the fun clothes and compliments. However, in my initial vision and preparation for this surgery, all I could focus on was saving my life and to be there for my children.

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