Lynda lost 180 pounds!
It was the best thing I ever did for myself. I’m a new person!
Lynda lost 180 pounds!
I’m 3 years out in December 2011 and have kept the weight off. Was the best thing I ever did for myself. I’m a new person!
Took a long time to decide to have the surgery and glad I did. Feel healthier than ever!
Francesca lost 165 pounds!
I didn’t realize how obesity can cripple you from doing so much in life until it is all taken away from you.
Dear Healthy Step Members and Future Clients,
I am writing my story today to share with the world. I recently had gastric bypass surgery to save my life. I was a 37 year old mother of three, and I was setting myself up for an early grave.
I am writing this story in hopes that it may help, inspire or motivate others. I had Gastric Bypass in August 20th 2007. I was a pre-diabetic with high blood pressure, sleep apnea, no circulation to my lower extremeties, venus status, and other co-morbities stemming from Obesity.
My ultimate breaking point was when I fell at work and came down on my tailbone, breaking it in half…….. I still remember very clearly to this day how it took 4 full grown paramedic men saying, “On the count of 3, Lift”………as I lay there on the stretcher as they loaded me into the ambulance.
The words are so clear in my mind, I can still hear their voices to this day. From that moment on, I knew I had to change my life, and knew that I could not continue living my life with all that pain and embarrassment anymore.
It wasn’t the bar at the amusement park rides that didn’t go down, or fitting in a booth at a restaurant, or fitting thru a turnstile, it wasn’t til that specific moment in time did the light bulb go on for me
However, even though I knew I needed to take action, it still took me about a year to fight 3 denials from my insurance company, but I never gave up the fight, I knew I had to do something if I wanted to be around to see my three children grow up. I had to write many letters, phone calls, and interviews, but I made it. I was finally approved in June 2007.
I have a wonderful husband of 14 years and unbelievable group of friends and family who never gave up on me. They never treated me differently even at 368lbs!
For once in my life I got clear on what it was that I wanted and I chose LIFE.
My surgery was done in my hometown of Santa Rosa, CA. The surgery was performed by Dr. Robert Woodbury. I can not tell you what an unbelievable surgeon and team they have at Healthy Steps. They are full of compassion and support and Dr. Woodbury has the best bedside manner ever.
Here I stand nine months later, happy and healthy. I have lost a total of 165lbs, and I work out 7-10 times a week at two different gyms. I no longer have high blood pressure, or sleep apnea, and my venus status is completely gone! My blood work and blood pressure prove that I am healthy as can be.
My son and I fit in my old pants and we took a picture to celebrate my success. Today I hike, I swim, I run, I play with my children in the park. I didnt realize how obesity can cripple you from doing so much in life until it is all taken away from you.
I believe the reason for my success is that I am thankful for all that I have. I go over my list of gratitudes daily, and I thank God daily for giving me the power to reach inside and love myself enough to know that I am in control and have the power to do, be, and change anything in my life. It’s my birthrite. Thank you again Dr. Woodbury, and the entire Healthy Steps Team! You are my angels.
Sincerely,
Francesca
Ed lost 150 pounds!
Don lost 58 pounds!
Jenifer lost 90 pounds!
I am celebrating everyday of my new life.
I am celebrating everyday of my new life. I am two years older, 90 pounds lighter and have dropped 14.2 points of my BMI. Life before my surgery health was not a concern of mine. I was extremely overweight suffered from reflux and a lack of energy I was very unhappy; but sadly had become content with the direction my life had gone.
I began working for the same medical foundation as Dr. Robert Woodbury, I became very intrigued when I would see all of his patients leave his office smiling and discussing amongst each other about the weight loss they were experiencing.
I meet with Dr. Woodbury and with his guidance researched the different weight loss surgery options and attended a seminar. Ultimately deciding I could no longer face this battle alone and needed the help and support of the healthy steps team. I opted to go with the lapband for many reasons it’s less invasive with no stapling or cutting and most important is adjustable to fit my personal needs as I progress done my weight loss journey.
I cant count how many times prior to sugary Dr. Woodbury tried to instill in my head this was not a quick fix, it was not a crutch to my existing problem, this is a life change and will require me to be dedicated to changing my lifestyle eating and exercising habits. When I first looked into having surgery it was strictly for cosmetic reasons and wanting to improve my appearance. Living in a society where thin and fit equals beauty my goal was to look good.
I learned very quickly I was in it for all the wrong reasons. During pre op preparation and testing I was informed I was at high risk for a number of life threatening health issues, my future and my health was in my hands. Since my surgery my life has taken a turn for the better; the thought of exercising used to make me tired, I now incorporate it in my everyday routine. I am able to pass on the knowledge and importance of healthy eating to my four sons. It is my responsibility to devote time to me my body and my health, I have reached my healthy weight. I have Dr. Woodbury’s support and constant encouragement to thank for the fact that my weight no longer controls my life.
– Jenifer
Gwen lost 162 pounds!
Thank you Dr. Woodbury for giving me my life back!
Gwen lost 162 pounds!
Growing up I was always skin and bones, could eat anything and as much as I wanted. Everyone thought I was sick but my mom always told them “don’t worry; she will be fat by the time she is 40.” Went shopping on my 40th I couldn’t fit into a size 14 so I went by Baskin Robbins, purchased myself a birthday cake, went home, started eating, crying and thinking my mom was so right. Since then I have tried every diet known and each time I lost I would gain it back plus more.
In 2003 my oldest son Kurt passed at the age of 33 then in 2008 I lost my nephew Chris at the age of 29 with each of these there was more weight gain. My son loved the beach at Goat Rock so every year we go out that to celebrate his life, the first year I could make it over the sand dune by myself, it was hard but I did it, each year thereafter my son Karl had to help me over the dunes; each year I thought if I don’t do something I might not be able to go anymore, but did nothing. My turning point was two years ago when I went on a road trip with my oldest granddaughter and my nephew’s mother Linda to visit with my nephew’s wife and son. On the way there we didn’t get to do much because of my health. We went to Chris’s gravesite which was up on a hillside, when I finally got to his grave Linda said to me “you know you have two angels looking down on you; I am sure they would like to see you healthier don’t you want to be around to see all your grandchildren grow up, have you thought about that surgery!” She thought I would be mad, but finally someone cared, I wasn’t mad at all. Well when I got back home, I called an old friend Francesca that had the surgery to see how she was and she told me to call Dr. Robert Woodbury, he saved her life!
October 2009 I called and found out all the requirements and started working on them………at that time I couldn’t walk around the court I live on, legs hurt, out of breath so each day I went a little further worked up to being able to walk a mile and lost 50 lbs before surgery according to my records. August 2, 2010 I had my surgery and can honestly say, I didn’t have second thoughts, just said a prayer and when I woke up I wanted to get up and walk. I had all the medical problems, high blood pressure, borderline diabetic, sleep apnea, asthma, knee problems which kept me from walking. Everything is gone except for the knees, they still hurt but not as much; I can walk around Spring Lake now which is three miles plus. I continue to walk everyday and exercise three to four times a week, feeling healthy and happy!
I started off at 324 lbs wearing a size 28-30 pant back in October of 2009 and now October 2011 I am at 162 wearing a size 10, yes I have lost one of me! I can’t keep the smile off my face….loving life, playing with the grandchildren and I ran over the sand dunes this year. I want to give thanks to God, Auntie Linda for having the courage to tell me I needed to do something, my angels, Kurt and Chris!
Now for Dr. Woodbury….soft spoken, great smile and loves what he does! He spoke at a meeting during a film of the actual surgeries and he said he just loved it, being in there rearranging us, not his actual words, if you heard the love in his voice as he spoke you wouldn’t want anyone else working on you. He loves what he does and he does it well along with his team at Healthy Steps! Thank you Dr. Woodbury for giving me my life back!!
Sincerely,
Gwendolyn
Natalie lost 110 pounds!
I truly value Healthy Steps and Dr. Woodbury and would do this over again in a heartbeat!
“I’ve lost 110lbs and kept it off for 2 years!!
From early childhood I had always been heavy. As a young adult I had already tried dieting, lifestyle change, healthy eating etc., and was not able to keep the weight off. At 18 I started looking into bariatric surgery and found Healthy Steps. I had a great consultation with Dr. Robert Woodbury and we discussed what procedure would be best. I wanted a permanent surgery so the lap band was ruled out and we didn’t feel the gastric bypass was the best option either. So I had a vertical sleeve gastrectomy in March 2010 at the age of 19. My biggest goal going into the surgery was to go through my 20’s and 30’s healthy and not have weight get in the way of everything I want to do.
One of my greatest achievements since surgery is that I’ve completed a 10k and a few 5ks. Running was never an option for me before, but now it is a huge part of my life. I also have been inspired to change my major to Kinesiology with hopes to be a personal trainer specializing in body transformation. I truly value Healthy Steps and Dr. Woodbury and would do this over again in a heartbeat!”
Crystal lost 130 pounds!
It has been a life changing experience and I’ve never felt better about myself
“I’m 27 and have lost over 130 pounds after having the Lap Band 2 years ago. It has been a life changing experience and I’ve never felt better about myself! Knowing that I’m healthy and active gives me such personal confidence. I feel that this was the best thing I’ve ever done for myself!”
Sharon lost 167 pounds!
Thank you Dr. Woodbury and Healthy Steps for facilitating my journey to health and wellness!
I was obese when I started kindergarten and morbidly obese by the 6th grade. My dieting career started in the first grade. While I can not a recall a time when I was not obese, I cannot remember a time when I was not on a diet. I’ve been on them all; I lost well over 700 pounds between the ages of six and thirty and I regained every single pound and then some. Throughout it all I was relatively healthy and reasonably active. But a life time of obesity started to catch up to me in my thirties, when I was diagnosed with poly-cystic ovarian syndrome (a metabolic disorder). It became harder and harder to lose weight and my mobility was more and more compromised. All those years of yo-yo dieting took their toll and at forty my metabolism came to a complete halt. I enrolled in a supervised diet program and followed it religiously… and gained 6 pounds over three months on 1200 calories a day.
My primary care provider started encouraging me to consider weight loss surgery. She’s watched me struggle for 10 years, knew I was giving it my best effort, and believed that I would not be able to lose any appreciable amount of weight without surgical intervention. I was very resistant to surgery. I was scared that the malabsorption aspects of the surgery would lead to nutritional deficiencies. I was frightened of general anesthetic, worried I wouldn’t wake up. But most of all I was afraid that I would fail once again, that I wouldn’t be able to make the necessary life style changes. In 2009 my doctor sat me down for a heart to heart, expressing her concern for my rapidly deteriorating health. My asthma was out of control. I couldn’t walk 100 feet without needing to use my rescue inhaler and I was going through 3 inhalers a month. My back and knees hurt so badly that I was taking Motrin every 6 hours and pain pills as soon as I got home from work. My fasting glucose was 105 (boarder line diabetic) even on glucophage. My cholesterol and triglycerides were elevated and I was hypertensive. I frequently lost my voice due to reflux unresponsive to medication. And the larger & more immobile I got, the more depressed I became. I gave dieting one more shot, having promised my doctor I would pursue weight loss surgery if my weight wasn’t consistently coming off in six months. I managed to get down to 275 pounds and stalled for 3 months. Knowing I had given weight loss my best effort, I called Healthy Steps and made an appointment with Dr. Woodbury.
After meeting Dr. Woodbury and the Healthy Steps staff, I knew I was right where I needed to be. During our first visit with Dr Woodbury, we discussed that surgery was a tool – a powerful tool, but only a tool. I took this to heart and opted to take the “slow train” to surgery, spending about 8 months actively working on building healthy life style habits and working on the emotional issues that allowed me to become so obese in the first place. The lovely folks at Healthy Steps supported and encouraged me every step of the way! Finally I was ready and on October 19, 2010, I had a roux-en-y gastric bypass.
My highest weight was 297 pounds, I wore 5X pants, I currently weigh 130 pounds and size 4 pants. My co-morbidities have all but disappeared – no more reflux or PCOS, joint pain is minimal and requires no medication, labs are normal, blood pressure is low, and I’ve used my rescue asthma inhaler 3 times in the last 2 years. My prescriptions dropped from 11 to three. My physical health has never been better and I have energy for the first time in my adult life. Making healthy, conscious choices has become my habit. I choose to nourish my body with whole foods, because I love how I feel. When I am having a blue day, I now love and respect myself enough to face whatever is causing the turmoil, rather than to numb myself with food. I feel a freedom in my body that is new for me. My body actually craves physical activity – something I never expected to experience! Exercise has become a part of my daily routine that I look forward to. I love bicycling on Sonoma County’s gorgeous trails; on my bike I feel like a little kid again! I also enjoy walking, dancing, and working out on my rebound trampoline. I love that I can fit anywhere: airplane seats, booths, carnival rides, theater seats, public rest rooms, turnstiles, & chairs with arms. Weight is no longer an obstacle; I can do things I’ve never been able to do before like zip-lining and horseback riding without a second thought. I no longer feel negatively judged when people look at me, which has freed me to be more outgoing. My confidence has blossomed and I feel at peace with myself for the very first time. Committing to a radical life-style change and weight loss surgery was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made. I am so grateful that I found the courage to say yes. Without a doubt, having my RNY was one of the very best decisions I’ve ever made for myself! I believe it saved my life. Living in a healthy body has certainly given me back the life I’d put on hold for so many years. Thank you Dr. Woodbury and Healthy Steps for facilitating my journey to health and wellness!
