Center for Bariatric Surgery

Patient Results

Reaching a Milestone in Weight Loss

CLEVELAND, OHIO (August 2003) – Trekking up to the Bridal Veil Falls in Rio de Janeiro’s Itatiaia National Park was much easier this year for Tracy Curtis-Warner after losing 140 pounds – the result of having gastric bypass surgery a year and a half ago. Each year, Tracy makes the trip to Brazil and climbs the rugged terrain to visit her favorite waterfall. This year, she not only conquered the trip in a fourth of the time, she reached a milestone in her life – her ideal weight of 145 pounds. “Walking to the falls this year was a huge accomplishment for me,” said Tracy. “Rather than dreading it, as I have in the past, this year I looked forward to it and walked straight to the top without stopping to rest. After I reached the top, I just couldn’t believe it. I feel better now than I have in 14 years.”

Performed by surgeons at the Center for Bariatric Surgery at St. Vincent Charity Hospital, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is a safe and proven effective weight loss procedure. During surgery, the stomach is divided in two unequal parts. The smaller part is used to receive food and is joined via a surgically created stoma to a segment of the small intestine known as the roux loop. The larger part is bypassed in the digestive process, but remains intact and continues to secrete gastric fluids through the intestinal tract.

Tracy first learned about the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure a few years ago after attending a free seminar at the Center for Bariatric Surgery at St. Vincent Charity Hospital. While there, she talked with a patient who had the surgery. She admits that she and her family were apprehensive about gastric bypass surgery. “I knew that bariatric surgery was what I had to do to get my life back,” Tracy says. “I remember thinking I would never do something like that – nothing that drastic. But, on the flip side, I knew I had to do this for myself.”

Today, Tracy has surpassed her goal weight of 160 pounds and is at the weight she feels most comfortable – 145 pounds. So much in her life has changed, including the ability to make decisions like taking the stairs instead of the elevator. “I always opt for the stairs now, which is a change for me,” she laughs. Tracy also points out that she’s finally in touch and at peace with her body for the first time in her adult life. “That’s the most important thing to me,” she says. “I look and feel better. I’m living healthy.”