Jennifer Wick is very pleased with the results of her gastric bypass surgery.

The first time you meet Jennifer Wick -- tall, blonde and slender -- you might think she's a model. The truth is more complicated. Just two years ago, Ms. Wick, a 28-year-old single mom, weighed 265 pounds and had tried just about every weight-loss trick in the book, from fen-phen to the cabbage soup diet.

"I'd lose 30 to 40 pounds, but as soon as I went back to my 'real life,' I'd gain it all back, and then some," she says. "The final straw came when my three-year-old son almost ran into a busy street, and I couldn't move fast enough to catch him. He stopped when he heard me screaming, but at that moment, I knew I had to do something."

For years, Ms. Wick had researched gastric bypass surgery, which reconfigures the digestive system to make the stomach smaller and allow food to bypass part of the small intestine. After the scare with her son, she began preparing in earnest, attending bariatric surgery support groups and nutritional classes at The Bariatric Center at Southwest Healthcare System, part of Inland Valley Medical Center. That's when she met David Suh, M.D., a bariatric surgeon on the medical staff at Southwest Healthcare System who would perform her procedure.

"Dr. Suh was very reassuring. He also was completely honest in explaining that this was not a quick fix," Ms. Wick says. "On average, gastric bypass patients can expect to lose 70 to 75 percent of their excess body weight over a year and a half," Dr. Suh says. "But they need to be committed to making a complete lifestyle change."

A New Life
Ms. Wick had the procedure in August 2006. Dr. Suh used a laparoscopic approach, which required only a few small incisions and helped minimize pain and scarring. Recovery wasn't easy, but Ms. Wick was determined.

"The day I left the hospital, I told myself that I was reborn, I'd started a new life," she remembers. Gradually, she became accustomed to eating small portions of protein and vegetables. She also started exercising -- and the weight began coming off.

By October 2007, she had lost 120 pounds. To complete her transformation, she underwent reconstructive plastic surgery to remove extra skin from her abdomen.

Her inner transformation is still a work in progress. "I look at pictures of myself now and think, 'Is that really me?'" she says. But there's no doubt she feels healthier and more energetic, especially in caring for her son. "I can chase after him or get down on the floor and play. I'm the mom I want to be."

For information about weight-loss surgeries, weight management and upcoming seminars and support groups presented by The Bariatric Center at Southwest Healthcare System, please visit www.swbariatriccenter.com.

Inland Valley Medical Center 36485 Inland Valley Drive, Wildomar, CA 92595 (951) 677-1111 Rancho Springs Medical Center 25500 Medical Center Drive, Murrieta, CA 92562 (951) 696-6000