Journalist -- interested in interviewing bariatric surgery patients

Dear bariatric surgery patients,

I’m a physician based in Berkeley, and also a freelance journalist doing stories in print, radio and internet for media outlets such as NPR, the BBC and others.  See http://www.photowords.com for details of my work.

I’m very interested in doing a series of stories about patients’ journeys through bariatric surgery – to portray an accurate experience about what these weight loss procedures are all about.  My goal is to follow patients over time, to track your experiences from the beginnings of your interest in bariatric surgery, through the procedures and into recovery. 

I’d like to talk with patients in the San Francisco Bay Area who feel they have an important story to tell.  The stories might be about a perfect success, a tale of complex struggles, or an account of complications and difficulties.  I’ll need to understand and document all of those aspects of bariatric surgery if I’m to provide the public with an accurate and realistic picture of the experience. 

I’m hoping to start this project by finding a select few patients who are in the process of getting the surgery – to follow them as they prepare, have the surgery, and head into recovery and weight loss. 

I’m looking for people who are willing to be open about who they are and not merely anonymous subjects.  I want to identify people by names in my writing so that it doesn’t  seem like those having bariatric surgery have anything to hide or be ashamed of. 

If you’re interested in talking about the possibility of working with me on these stories, please get in touch. 

I look forward to speaking with you and learning about your lives and experiences.

Best wishes,

Lonny Shavelson