Gastric Banding Surgery Helps Paw Paw Woman Meet Weight Loss Goals

Karen Pearson loves to travel. At 48, she enjoys hiking and she works out 4-5 days every week to maintain her fitness. This is the new Karen Pearson.

Less than two years ago, Karen, at 5'7", weighed 323 pounds. She struggled to tie her shoelaces, and even limited activity left her short of breath.

"Before my surgery, if you'd said I could lose 150 pounds I would have said, 'Are you kidding? That's never going to happen.' Today I can't believe the difference in how I feel. I have so much more energy. I've even lowered my heart rate and my blood pressure because of the exercise schedule I maintain."

Karen had gastric banding surgery at Bronson Methodist Hospital. It is one of several surgical weight management procedures Bronson offers for people who are severely overweight. Karen's doctor, Stuart Verseman, MD, used minimally invasive surgery to place an adjustable band around the upper part of Karen's stomach. Squeezed by the band, Karen's stomach became a pouch with a small outlet about an inch wide. Now that it is in place, the band can be tightened or loosened if Karen needs it adjusted later in life. Following the surgery, Karen adhered to a strict diet and exercise regimen to achieve her current weight of 180 pounds.

Karen, a nurse in the emergency department at Bronson LakeView Hospital in Paw Paw, uses her experience being overweight when she interacts with her patients.

"It gives me a different view of patients who come in and are obese," she says. "I know how it feels. Even how people treat you when your obese is different. I don't think it is intentional, it happens. And you can get to a point where you feel hopeless. I try to let them know that this is not hopeless."

Prior to surgery, Karen's weight affected her knee and leg joints. Though she had no other medical conditions, she watched her parents struggle with multiple health issues related to their obesity.

"My mother had open-heart surgery and my father has diabetes," explains Karen. "I didn't want to go down that path. I needed knee replacement surgery but couldn't have it because of my weight. The weight would have been too much stress for the new joint."

Karen said her family's support was an important part of her weight-loss journey. Today, she is planning to have knee replacement surgery and continues to eat healthfully and exercise regularly. She has set new goals, too. She'd like to lose an additional 20 pounds and hopes to travel to Alaska.

"You really have to have the mindset that you will be changing your life and your lifestyle," Karen says. "From the beginning, my doctor told me -no matter what kind of bariatric surgery you choose -surgery is a tool. It is what you choose to do with it that determines your success."