After gastric bypass surgery, ‘I feel like I’m me again’

Vickie Coleman, 69, of Covington, struggled with her weight for decades.

“I was in an unhealthy relationship for 30 years,” she explains. “Food was my friend. That’s how I reached 300 pounds.”

Coleman tried diets and programs like Atkins, WeightWatchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem and Golo, among others.

“But I didn’t follow through with any of them,” she admits. “I’d try, but then I’d quit.”

Coleman left her relationship, but says she continued eating poorly.

“I didn’t have a lot of respect for myself to lose weight,” she says. “That’s why I didn’t succeed on my own.”

Bone-on-bone hip limits mobility

Since retiring in 2016, Coleman has had hip pain so severe, she can’t walk. She uses a walker around the house and a scooter when she’s outside.

X-rays confirmed her hip is bone-on-bone, but joint replacement surgery hasn’t been an option.

“I’ve wanted to get my hip replaced so I can walk again,” explains Coleman. “I’ve seen three surgeons over the years, and they all said I couldn’t have surgery because I was too heavy.”

The first two doctors told her to lose weight, but they didn’t do much to help.

When she met with the third — MultiCare orthopedic surgeon Kevin Lawson, MD — he had a solution. He recommended MultiCare’s Center for Weight Loss & Wellness.

Making the decision to have gastric bypass

“When I met Dr. [Benedict] Hui at the Center for Weight Loss, we had a lengthy discussion to make sure surgery would work for me,” she says. “I came away from that appointment knowing surgery was the right thing for me to do and these were the right people to do it.”

Dr. Hui compared the different surgeries, and together they decided gastric bypass would be the right one for Coleman.

“Making the decision to have gastric bypass so that I could have hip replacement surgery gave me incentive, desire and the want to follow through,” she says. “I knew having surgery was my last chance to be able to walk again and to have a life.”

‘MultiCare has changed my life’

Coleman had gastric bypass surgery last July at MultiCare Auburn Medical Center.

Coleman before and after gastric bypass surgery

“Surgery went really well,” she reports. “I experienced very little pain and spent only one night in the hospital.”

She says she can’t say enough good things about Dr. Hui and the staff at the Center for Weight Loss.

“They are such good people and so thorough with everything,” she adds.

“She was really happy at her first post-op visit,” recalls Dr. Hui. “She had already lost 20 pounds, was feeling better and was looking forward to getting the joint replacement surgery.”

Coleman has lost about 80 pounds since having surgery.

“I’m at 220 right now. I haven’t been at this weight in over 30 years,” she says. “MultiCare has changed my life.”

Support when she needed it most

Coleman joined MultiCare’s weight loss support group on Facebook after she had surgery and found it to be a tremendous support.

By reading other patients’ experiences, she felt reassured what she was going through was normal.

“The surgery caused such a drastic change in my sense of taste,” she explains. “Food I used to enjoy no longer appealed to me. I struggled with finding the right protein. It was really difficult, but others in the support group gave me ideas and tips of what to try.”

No more GERD or incontinence

Coleman suffered from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) for years. Sometimes it was hard to breathe; other times, she would vomit.

“My GERD was so bad at work one day,” she recalls. “I was on my way to the bathroom to throw up, but I didn’t make it. It was the most humiliating thing.”

She was taking antacids and omeprazole every day, but now she doesn’t have to.

Coleman also had problems with incontinence.

“Aside from my hip pain, incontinence was one of the biggest reasons I didn’t go anywhere or do anything,” she explains. “Now I have no problems with it.”

Hip replacement — and dancing lessons — on the horizon

Coleman is happy to report she has an upcoming appointment with Dr. Lawson, which means she can schedule hip replacement surgery.

“I’m at a weight now that Dr. Lawson will do my replacement,” she says. “Once I have surgery, I will be able to walk again.”

“Having surgery has been a life-changing journey,” she adds. “Whatever I have left in my life, I want to make it the best. I owe it to myself to do that.”

Being mobile means she can be more active and reach her goal weight.

“I live in a senior community with a pool and workout room; it’s all right here,” she says. “This will get me to my ultimate goal, which would be to lose another 40 pounds.”

“It’s really life-changing surgery,” Dr. Hui adds. “People seem to think with obesity it’s just numbers on a scale, but it’s more than that; it affects your entire life. Those, like Vickie, who lose a significant amount of weight, are able to change their life and enjoy it more.”

She’s looking forward to activities she has wanted to do but couldn’t.

“There are so many things I missed out on in my life that I’d like to do now,” Coleman says. “I want to take dancing lessons, attend my two grandsons’ baseball and football games, and do the breast cancer walk with my friend from grade school.”

She’ll also be able to take her golden corgi, Ocean, out on walks without using a scooter.

70 is the new 30

Weight loss has not only changed Coleman’s body — it has changed her outlook. She recalls staff at the Center for Weight Loss commenting on her upbeat, positive demeanor at her follow-up appointments after surgery.

“Someone at the clinic said, ‘I don’t remember seeing you like this!’” she says. “And it’s true. I feel like I’m me again — the person I was all those years ago — and it shows!”

Coleman, who turns 70 in May, told a friend 70 is her new 30.

“Having surgery has been a life-changing journey,” she adds. “Whatever I have left in my life, I want to make it the best. I owe it to myself to do that.”