My name is Kristine Maier and I live in Michigan.  I have been over weight since I was a teenager.  The last time I saw a size 14, I was 9 years old. I, as everyone else, have been on every diet known to man and all of the weight loss medications on the market.

In 1977, at the weight of 265 pounds I joined Weight Watchers and in 18 months I lost  127 pounds and kept it off for 5 years.  In 1981 I got married and got pregnant.  With the pregnancy came complications.  I was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder and was a case study at Michigan State University.  The treatment was steroids.  For the next 5 years and all three of my pregnancies I was on steroids. Needless to say I gained all of my weight back and then some.  

It seemed that after all of the years on steroids I could not lose weight. I was even on Phen Phen and then Redux with only a 17 pound loss.  I was on medication for hypertension, depression, and I had shin splints and heel spurs from all of the treadmill walking I was doing.

Last year I turned 50 and decided to give myself a huge present.  I went to an informational meeting on gastric bypass surgery and immediately set out to acquire all of the information I could gather on the subject. I found a support group unaffiliated with the facility that I was considering and attended all of the meetings to learn the good, the bad, the ugly and the beauty of the surgery.  I asked tons of questions and took a lot of notes.

Out of the blue one day a co-worker, who had had the surgery 7 years earlier came into my office and handed me a business card for Dr.David Kam who had just begun a program at Sparrow Hospital and was now doing the surgery.  I met with him and his staff and decided to go ahead. I began my paper work in March and had my surgery date by May 1^st.  Dr. Kam established a program where we had to be on Optifast for 6 weeks before surgery. It was suggested that we do the Optifast as so many people gain weight before surgery eating things that they think that they will not be able to eat afterwards. Plus it readies us for eating small amounts several times a day and drinking a lot of water. We had to weigh in and meet weekly for 6 weeks with a staff Dr., a nutritionist, a behaviorist, and an exercise coach. It is also required that anyone having this surgery attend support group meetings  for another 6 weeks after surgery with a staff doctor, a nutritionist, a behaviorist, and an exercise coach before “graduating” to a support group that now lends support to others.

I had my surgery on Tuesday, June 9, 2003 at 2pm at the weight of 289 pounds and at 6:00 pm on Thursday, June 11, 2003 I was home.  I walked several times a day.  Sometimes only a few houses past mine and back but I still did it.  I recovered quickly.

In 4 weeks and 3 days I was back to work at both my fulltime and part time jobs with no restrictions. I have had no problems or complications what so ever and I have lost a total of 135 lbs. to date.  I still would like to lose another 15 pounds and have begun a more intense exercise program to reach my goal. 

I have begun doing all of the things that I have always wanted to do. I have begun lessons in ballroom dance, I would like to go parasailing and I want to learn to roller blade. I am also thinking about buying a bike. We have many bike trails in my area and the exercise would be great. I out and out ran the other day; actually it was a sprint. 

I was amazed that:
#1. I could do it….
#2. My legs didn’t hurt and
#3. I was not the least bit winded.

I truly do not remember the last time I actually RAN.  I am a thinner person with a “fat” frame of mind.  I still gravitate to the Women’s sizes (some old habits are hard to break) and work my way down.  I still am amazed when I can fit into a size that I only dreamed of. I feel truly blessed.

Kris Maier

Before	After