Email to Oprah RE: Her Carni Interview (longish)

[Guest guest]

Folks, I thought I would share with you an email I just sent to Oprah

(below). I also posted most of it on her comments board on her website.

In Charlottesville, VA

Thank you for your interview of Carni and her experience with gastric

bypass surgery. Your show is so influential that doing a positive show on

gastric bypass surgery may well help others as desperate as I was or more so

to find a solution to help them finally succeed in losing weight and

maintaining that weight loss.

Like Carni , I, too, had gastric bypass surgery, on March 31,1999. I

have lost 125 lbs since then. Plus, I lost an additional 35 lbs before I had

the surgery, primarily through an exercise program.

At the time I made the decision that I really, REALLY needed to lose weight,

I weighed 350 lbs and was well on my way to 500 lbs, becoming a house-bound

recluse, and probably dying young. I realized that I needed to make lifestyle

changes and make them for a lifetime. I knew I had to join a gym/health

club/wellness club to exercise, and exercise on a regular basis (meaning at

least 3 times a week); and that I had to modify my diet, eliminating sugar

and fat as much as possible. I was not yet diabetic, but many of my family

members are or were diabetics; I could see that on my horizon. These changes

I realized MUST be for the rest of my life. I had high blood pressure, sleep

apnea, and Fibromyalgia. Notice I said " had. " Within a month of my surgery, I

was off the breathing machine to help me sleep at night; 6 months later, I

was off high blood pressure medicines; and Fibromyalgia is no longer a

problem for me.

Exercise and gastric bypass surgery have helped changed my life, my life

directions, and my well-being. During these past 20 months, I have also had

spiritual, emotional and intellectual breakthroughs that rival my physical

breakthroughs.

Is gastric bypass surgery for everyone? No, it is purely an act of

desperation, performed by desperate people who are literally dying or who

realize that they are killing themselves with food AND who has been

unsuccessful in maintaining a weight loss long term. I was one of these

desperate people, one who has been a yo-yo dieter since I was a teenager; one

who has done Weight Watchers several times, Optifast or its relations several

times, doctor-run programs several times, and many other diets numerous

times. I lost the weight: sometimes all of it, sometimes only part of it. But

it ALWAYS came back. I needed a lifestyle, lifetime change. Gastric bypass

surgery is a tool which helps with this change. I still have some food

issues; gastric bypass surgery does not remove these. But, I am eating better

now, and through the exercise program I now follow and will for the rest of

my life, these food issues will not lead to obesity again.

My life has qualitatively improved and I know it has also been lengthened.

There is help available.

If you ever plan on doing a full show on gastric bypass surgery, I would be

willing to participate.