From Super Morbidly Obese to a Healthy BMI...Karleen's story

I had always been a fairly normal weight all my life.  In my mid 20s as a bright, young, educated and experienced IT professional, I headed over to London to travel, work hard and play even harder.  In my 4th year in London, several traumatic events occurred that led me back home to NZ.  One of those was the diagnosis of Endometriosis. It really was the lowest point in my life and being so far away from family really took its emotional toll.

I started rebuilding my life back home in NZ and gradually started putting on weight.  It wasn’t until I gave up cigarettes that my weight gain started to skyrocket.  I was a heavy smoker at 25+ cigarettes a day for 19 years.  A year after quitting smoking my Dr pointed out that my BMI was now in the obese range and asked me to do a diabetes test.  The result was positive, I had Type 2 Diabetes.

After 5 years of working with my GP to gain control of my weight and diabetes, by being active (at my largest I walked the Milford Track), paying attention to food and what I was eating, dieting, the weight just continued to climb.  The turning point came when my BMI was 54 and I was classified as Super Morbidly Obese. 

I discussed WLS with my GP.  After doing my own research and talking to others who had had WLS, I made my initial appointments with Dr Schroeder’s team on the 30 September 2015. 

Although I had co-morbidities and a Super Obese BMI, my GP indicated that the likely hood of getting it covered publically was virtually nil.  I bit the bullet and paid for surgery privately.  David performed my RNY Gastric Bypass in Hamilton on 15 December 2015.  It was the best money I have and will ever spend on my own health and well-being.

I am now 1.5 years post op and WLS has literally saved me from what was a bleak future of diabetic problems.

I have shed the excess weight I was carrying and now sit in the healthy BMI range.  My blood results show I am no longer diabetic, and I stopped taking medication for diabetes and high blood pressure the day after surgery.

I look better in my 40s than I did in my 20s.  I feel healthier, fitter, stronger and am so much happier in life.

Earlier this year I had a hysterectomy to end the 16 years of living with Endometriosis.

There really is no way to explain just how living life without chronic pain, without the suffering of carrying more than twice your weight and the negative vibrations that feed through into your daily life feels.

Going through this life changing process with the team at Weight Loss Surgery really has been truly amazing.  The two years of follow-up appointments and ongoing support that is included with the surgery costs has been absolutely critical to my success.

WLS is a tool that will help you on a physical level, but it really is up to you to change the way your mind thinks about letting go of addiction and staying motivated on a daily basis.  One question you must be willing to answer if you are looking down this road is; WLS you will change your life, are you prepared to change with it? 

All I can recommend is take it all in your stride, take every day as an opportunity to do your best and most of all, keep the joy in your heart as you head down this journey.  I remind myself that not everyone gets the chance to change their life in such a profound way!  Make the effort to get your mind in the right place and the rest will surely follow – every success is yours  x