"I’ve always believed that every person has a story. I am also convinced that every person who is morbidly obese has an extremely complicated story. The story line of the morbidly obese individual is filled with shame, embarrassment, interventions, “hoping against hope”, as well as pain. Yet, many times friends, family members, colleagues and even physicians have offered advice to these complicated stories…and yet they don’t even understand the question…but they have all the answers.
My story is probably typical. I’ve spent my entire adult life struggling with my weight. I have tried every diet in the world. Purchased multiple pieces of exercise equipment. Joined and unjoined several fitness centers in my city, multiple times.
My weight continued to climb to over 300 lbs. So in 2006, I sought out a local surgeon to pursue the lap band procedure. Little did I know that according to a study in 2006 by Suter, Calmes and Paroz, lap band surgery failure occurs in up to 50% of all patients. According to this study, one of the leading causes of lap band failures is “band slippage”. Band slippage is when the lower stomach slips through the implanted band creating a bigger pouch above the band.
I sure wish I ‘d read that study prior to having my surgery because my band, like the bands of many others, slipped and needed to be removed.
As could be expected, after my band was removed I began to gain weight again. So I made the decision to have the lap band surgery performed again by a different surgeon, thinking that was the issue. However, after about 18 months this second band had to be removed because of band intolerance. I had symptoms of excessive vomiting and a continuous feeling of discomfort. Basically, I traded the negative quality of life associated with morbid obesity for the negative quality of life associated with having a device in my body that my body would not accept.
Getting the first lap band surgery was a mistake. Getting the band replaced with another band was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in my life.
After the second band was removed, my weight gain continued. My long time partner was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2013. My morbid obesity story was getting to the point of no return. I was looking in my crystal ball and my health issues were increasing. I knew that if I wanted a different life, I needed to do something to reclaim it.
I began researching Gastric Bypass surgery. Since my two lap band surgeries had failed, the cornerstone of this decision was going to be choosing the right surgeon, no matter how far I would need to travel to find this surgeon. My extensive research kept leading me towards Dr. Frantizdes in Skokie, Illinois.
Being from Illinois, I knew that Skokie was near Chicago, about 4 hours from my home. In February of 2015, I started this new chapter of my weight loss surgery journey by making an appointment for a consultation visit with Dr. Frantzides.
When I initially pulled into the parking garage at Dr. Frantzides’ office, I was completely out of my comfort zone. Dr. Frantzides’ office is in a professional building, and that professional building is in a mall. I am from a fairly small city. We don’t have doctors’ offices in professional buildings in malls. Despite this, I knew immediately upon walking into Dr. Frantzides’ office that I was in the right place as I was greeted by his fabulously efficient and caring assistant, Teresa, followed shortly thereafter with a warm welcome by Dr. Frantzides himself.
Dr. Frantzides took over an hour to explain the weight loss surgery options, the benefits and the risks of each procedure. He then explained to me the reasons behind my obesity. At no point during that visit did I ever feel like “I was just another overweight person seeking surgery.” In fact, he made me feel like I was the most important person he had to talk to that day. What a gift!
During my appointment, Dr. Frantzides assured me that he would be there to support me all the way. I couldn’t help but think that he was too good to be true. He said, “Call me day or night if you have any concerns, and I will personally call you back.” Much to my amazement, that is exactly what he did! I couldn’t help but think, “What?!?!? An answering service doesn’t call you back?!?! Who is this guy???” But Dr. Fantzides is a person of his word. He does call you back, personally.
Dr. Frantzides has incredible people skills, and skills of compassion for which he has won several awards. However, I didn’t choose Dr. Frantzides because of these skills. I choose him because of his surgical skills. I wanted the best surgeon in the nation! After months of researching gastric bypass surgery, that is what I got!
Assured of his level of care and convinced of his surgical skills, on May 27, 2015, I had my gastric bypass surgery. The surgical team he assembles, the hospital staff and the hospital provisions he puts into place are of the highest quality.
Since surgery I have lost 43lbs. But more importantly, I have started the process to reclaim my life. The morning I was discharged from the hospital I told Dr. Frantzides, “You surely have done your part. Now it is my turn to do mine.”
In closing, my advice to anyone contemplating this decision is short and simple:
#1: Do you own research.
#2: Don’t wait until you’ve gained so much weight that you’ve lost your vision for a better life. Today is the day for reclaiming your life and WRITING YOUR OWN NEW STORY!
Good luck and Godspeed!
Jill Grove
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