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Gastric Bypass Surgery Changes Woman's Life

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Mar 11, 2009 6:17 pm US/Eastern

Gastric Bypass Surgery Changes Woman's Life

Link: West Penn Bariatric Surgery Center

(KDKA) After years of struggling with her weight, one local woman decided to take some action and ended up dropping the pounds.

In 2003, Patti Arnett says she was dying alive after 25 years of losing and gaining weight. At 43-years-old Arnett was a staggering 295 pounds.

"I realized that if I didn't do something I was not gonna live to see my grandchildren grow up or even my children," said Arnett.

Diet and exercise just weren't working, so Arnett turned to Dr. Daniel Gagne at West Penn Hospital and decided to have gastric bypass surgery.

Her stomach was reduced to a fraction of its original size and now six years later, Arnett went from a size 28 to a size 6.

"The first time that I was able to put on a piece of clothing from a store that was not a plus-sized store, I sobbed," Arnett said. "That surgery changed my life forever."

But the surgery and the weight loss were only the beginning. Arnett says she's now a fitness fanatic, participating in activities like competitive cycling, marathon running and triathlons.

"I've done over 1,300 bypasses, and Patti is unique in that she was motivated from the start," said Dr. Gagne.

But it wasn't easy at the beginning. When Arnett first had surgery, she could barely walk to the end of her driveway.

"I couldn't even run a third of a mile without walking, yet in less than two years, I ran a full marathon," she says.

Arnett says to help in her weight loss process she hired a personal trainer, Sandra Ihlenfeld, from the Butler YMCA. Now, the two do workouts daily.

Arnett says she starts each morning with an hour of cardio and lifts weights. She has a team running The Race for the Cure this Mother's Day, and on top of all that she has finally found a healthy relationship with food.

"I love food now. I eat five to six small meals a day. I write down everything that I eat now, write it down and then you won't cheat as bad," says Arnett. "So, I still fall prey to some of the demons… absolutely."

That is when Arnett says a support system is essential and not just Ihlenfeld, but also her colleagues and friends, who she's gotten on the fitness bandwagon too.

"Right now, I truly believe, even at my age, there's not a lot I can't do if I wanna do it," said Arnett. 

Visit the West Penn Bariatric Surgery Center website for more on their team of doctors and to fill out a survey for more information on whether they're a candidate for the surgery.

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