Bariatric surgery leads patient to healthy lifestyle

Kiley Williams, at age 23, envisioned a future filled with diabetes and obesity.

Williams, now 24, did not have a crystal ball, but she did have a primary care physician who warned her that she would likely become diabetic if her weight and lifestyle did not change.

Williams weighed 315 pounds and had a body mass index of 42 when she decided she needed to make a change.

“They told me if I didn’t do anything I would be a diabetic,” she said. “I was just scared out of my mind.”

Williams works as an office assistant at St. Luke’s Internal Medicine. She looked into St. Luke’s bariatric surgery options and decided to have laparoscopic sleeve surgery.

The surgery removes part of the patient’s stomach that produces the hormone ghrelin, which makes a person hungry.

St. Luke’s Bariatric Nurse Coordinator Adrienne Williams, RN, ADN, prepared Kiley for her surgery.

Adrienne (no relation to Kiley) provides an education session for patients before they have surgery.

“She was just so loving and caring,” Kiley said. “I was just really in tears.”

Adrienne has been in bariatric for almost three years. She worked as a diabetes nurse before she joined the bariatrics team.

Adrienne said she sees crossover between the two specialties.

“If a patient is successful in losing weight, a lot of times they are able to control their diabetes,” she said.

Adrienne follows up with the bariatric patients for years after their surgery. She said she likes to see the positive results.

“A lot of the patients lose about 80 percent of their excess body fat,” Adrienne said.

But patient transformation extends beyond physical appearance.

“A lot of times prior to surgery a patient will come in kind of withdrawn,” Adrienne said. “After surgery these patients are happy. …You can see the change; you can see how they evolve into the person that they want to be.”

Kiley had her surgery Aug. 3, 2009, and has already lost 137 pounds.

“I’m one of their best success patients,” Kiley said. “I’m very, very in tune with my body now.”

Kiley works out five days a week and eats a low-fat diet with lots of vegetables. She said she wants to get her weight down to 135 or 140 to reach her target body mass index.

“To be honest with you, I just want to be healthy,” Kiley said.

Kiley worked with a dietitian and an exercise physiologist as part of St. Luke’s bariatric program.

Adrienne said St. Luke’s has a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary bariatric center that teaches patients how to maintain their weight loss with a healthy lifestyle.

Earlier this year, St. Luke’s Center for Surgical Weight Loss was named an American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence.

Adrienne spearheaded the project to obtain this credential for St. Luke’s.

Her efforts made the hospital accessible for bariatric patients. Adrienne made sure the hospital’s gowns, seating areas, exam tables and even toilets could accommodate obese patients.

“I orchestrated all of these things to come into place,” Adrienne said.

Kiley said she is grateful for the support she received from Adrienne throughout her journey to a healthier self.

“I feel like now I can present myself to the world,” Kiley said.

Adrienne recommends that people research the different types of bariatric surgeries if they think they might be interested in a procedure.

“We encourage patients to know about the procedure before coming in,” she said.

For more information about St. Luke’s Surgical Weight Loss Center, call (816)

932-5378.

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Write comment