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On Paula Meyers’ wedding day, the 4-foot-9 Hellertown woman weighed just 98 pounds. But her weight crept up after two pregnancies and several health problems, including prediabetes and two painful autoimmune conditions – Sjogren’s syndrome and fibromyalgia.
By age 38, Meyers weighed 210 pounds. She found it harder to stand at her hair-salon job and stopped participating in fun family activities. “My husband hiked, swam and rode the ATV with our boys,” she says. “I just couldn’t anymore.”
Then her co-worker Kara Young underwent gastric-sleeve weight-loss surgery and lost 150 pounds. Inspired, Meyers met with weight-loss surgeon Richard Boorse, MD, with LVPG General and Bariatric Surgery–1240 Cedar Crest, and opted last July for the same laparoscopic procedure to remove most of her stomach, leaving a smaller tube-like section.
Meyers’ rapid weight loss transformed her life. “Most patients lose 60 percent of their excess weight in the first year,” Boorse says. “Paula shows how quickly surgery can improve your health and get you living again.”
My post-weight-loss surgery journey
Follow Paula Meyers’ steps.
Day 1: Meyers’ cravings for sweets and night-snacking stop immediately.
Week 1: She is down 18 pounds. The inflammation in her feet and legs has eased, and she can walk without cringing in pain. Meyers is less hungry and stops taking seconds at meals.
Month 1: She has lost 40 pounds. Her leg pain continues decreasing, and her clothes hang on her.
Month 2: Meyers begins sleeping through the night (partly from lessening pain).
Month 3: People treat Meyers with more respect, and her confidence grows. She shops for stylish clothes, trading in her size-18 jeans for size-8 “skinny jeans.”
Month 4: Meyers goes on family four-wheeling trips again. She begins roller skating and stands for 10-hour work shifts without tiring.
Months 5-6: Meyers starts hiking in the woods with her three dogs, easily covering 2 miles.
Months 7-8: She hits the gym regularly, working with a personal trainer, and prepares for her first 5K race.
Present: At 124 pounds, Meyers runs a mile without getting winded. Her prediabetes has disappeared, and the pain from Sjogren’s and fibromyalgia is mostly gone. Instead of sweets, she craves healthy vegetables and seafood. She is ready for swimsuit season and plans to make a bucket list of activities she couldn’t pursue at 200 pounds– ice skating, river kayaking and even sky diving.
–Sidney Stevens