Teacher’s weight loss drives her to earn PhD, train for half marathon

Mother of four and special education teacher Laura Walker, 42, of Tacoma, was interested in weight loss surgery for several years. The excess weight she carried made her feel sluggish, affected her ability to be active with her family and caused her to be pre-diabetic.

“I couldn’t get on the floor to play with my kids,” she explains. “I couldn’t go on a simple hike with my husband.”

And it was hard for Walker to perform certain aspects of her job, like lifting students onto the toilet and chasing after them.

“Everything hurt — my knees, my back, every joint,” she says. “I sounded like cornflakes as I walked up and down stairs.”

Another factor that led Walker to consider surgery: Her dad died from diabetes complications.

“He had a condition called steal syndrome, which caused him to lose fingers and toes,” she explains. “I didn’t want that for my kids. I didn’t want them seeing me lose pieces of myself.”

In June 2019, Walker decided it was time to discuss weight loss (or bariatric) surgery. She met with her primary care physician, Todd Chambers, MD, at MultiCare Family Medicine Center in Tacoma.

“Dr. Chambers told me I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, was pre-diabetic and morbidly obese, which made me a good candidate for surgery,” she says.

He referred Walker to bariatric surgeon James Sebesta, MD, at the MultiCare Center for Weight Loss & Wellness – Tacoma.

“Sometimes people feel — when they come to us for surgery — they have failed,” says Dr. Sebesta. “They have not failed. Obesity is a disease. And statistically, most people won’t be able to lose weight on their own and maintain the weight loss long term.”

Walker says Dr. Sebesta was straightforward and frank, which she appreciated. She recalls him saying, “It’s going to be hard work, but if you’re willing to put in the work, you can do this.”

She assured him she’d put in the work, and scheduled her surgery for that August.

“Laura is the type of patient you ask to jump, and she says, ‘How high?’” says Dr. Sebesta.

Walker explains there was quite a bit of preparation prior to surgery, and it wasn’t always easy, but she was committed.

“I had to go to nutrition classes, meet with a psychologist several times, and two weeks before surgery, I had to be on a very restrictive diet of 400-600 calories per day,” she explains.

Support at every step of the weight-loss journey

Walker only had to stay one night in the hospital after surgery and was up and walking the same day.

“The nurses and staff I encountered — both in the clinic and at the hospital — were amazing,” she says. “Everyone is rooting for you. I never felt judged.”

For the two weeks after surgery, Walker was on an all-liquid diet. Slowly she moved through various stages — mushy foods, like well-cooked, crumbled meat, then small amounts of softened normal food, until she could eat normal food again.

“You have to pay attention to your body to find out what you can and can’t have and how it will affect you,” she shares. “For me, meat and veggies and a little fruit work best. And I know if I have too much fruit or something like juice, it will go right through me.”

The support group through the bariatric program — consisting of people at all stages of their weight-loss journey — was and continues to be helpful to Walker.

“When you’re at the pre-surgery stage, it’s helpful to ask questions of those who have already gone through it, and it’s reassuring to be alongside those who are at the same stage as you,” she says.

Support also came through the reassurance of monthly appointments with Dr. Sebesta for the first year after surgery. The frequency slowly decreased over the next few years, and now she sees him once a year.

“It’s good to have these annual visits to get my labs checked and make sure everything looks fine,” explains Walker. “When I’m in the waiting room, I see where I was several years ago. I can say to those patients, ‘I know it’s hard now, but it will be worth it.’”

The comment Dr. Sebesta says he hears most often is, “Why did I wait so long to do this?”

“But the sooner someone has surgery, the more benefits they will experience — less joint pain, fewer medical problems and a longer life,” he adds.

‘Everything I couldn’t do before surgery I can do now’

This August will mark four years since Walker’s surgery.

“I have lost over 165 pounds, and all my numbers look great,” she reports. “My cholesterol is beautiful, and there’s no hint of prediabetes. And everything I couldn’t do before surgery I can do now.”

In November 2021, for example, Walker started walking 5Ks with a friend. Now, she runs 5Ks, as well as 8Ks and 10Ks — and she’s training for a half marathon.

“My son started running with me, and I can outrun him,” she says. “I can run up stairs and not be out of breath. Even the little kids at school can’t keep up with me!”

Also in 2021, Walker started her doctorate in educational and organization learning and leadership, which she will finish in June 2024. She says would love to run a special education program in the future.

“I wouldn’t be training for a half marathon or getting my doctorate had I not made this huge change to my life,” she says. “I didn’t have enough energy to do these things. But after I lost the weight, I thought, ‘If I can accomplish this, I can accomplish anything.’”

Learn more about weight-loss surgery at MultiCare.