Nothing Promised

In the spring of 1998, the 5'11" real estate agent Holly Harwig realized she needed help. She was meeting with a homeowner and with no notice at all, fell through the wooden deck. "I laughed it off," she says, "But inside I was dying." Eventually she underwent gastric bypass surgery with Dr. Daniel Baker. Within 18 months, the 42 year old woman lost 153 pounds, arriving at a weight of 132 pounds.

Because of the extreme weight loss, Holly eventually gained 18 "bounce back" pounds. Even more troubling was her difficult divorce, which caused her to gain 42 more pounds with alcohol. Although she had been sober for 3 months afterwards, the weight stayed on. She then met her thirds husband, Jim, at a bypass support group in 2002. Even though she has put some weight back on, she is still happier than in her pre-operation life. "I was a size 28 and now I'm a 16. I have to look at that and say, 'Hey that's really good.' I'm a work in progress," proclaims the mother of three.

Beverly Keating fluctuated from 250 to 310 pounds since high school. In 2000 she underwent gastric bypass surgery and was amazed at the results. "I'd always had a double chin and it was gone. I could never see my collar bone, and now I could. I could see my cheekbones. I had definition!" exclaims Keating. Over a few months she lost 108 pounds but had a hard time adjusting to her new body. "Men were taking notice where they didn't before. It was odd and scary," she says. The stress made her do what she had done before to deal with anxiety.she ate. Her doctor, Dr. John Snyder, recommended a diet high in protein but she reacted badly to meets. So she developed her own diet, eating cheese, yogurts, breads, and most the dangerous enemy: soda. Over 2 years she added 54 pounds back to her 5'3" body, eventually hitting 240 where she remains today. She says, "To anyone contemplating it, I'd make sure they're prepared for that day when they look in the mirror. A lot of obese people use fat as a security blanket, and they should make sure they're ready to give it up."

Source: People Magazine Vol 61. Issue 20

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