Dawn Rose

I have been over weight since I hit puberty. Much like most anyone over weight, I yo-yo'd a lot. In high school I tried to lose enough weight to enter the Air Force, but I was never able to do it. High school was a rough time for a fat kid. I went through the typical things: being picked on a lot and not able to join in activities. I always felt like I lived in a little bubble where no one could get inside to me and I couldn't get out.

After high school I still continued to diet, but no matter which doctor I went to or what pill I tried, nothing seemed to work.  When I met my first husband, we talked about getting married. I tried the original Nutri System program in which you visited the office to weigh-in each week and picked up your food. I did great when my food was proportioned and I knew what I had was ok to eat. I ended up losing 75 pounds before my wedding. Due to reasons that are a separate story, I fairly rapidly put the weight back on and was again well over 200 pounds when we divorced.

I was again facing single life - overweight and no idea what I'm doing.  I started dancing and going to clubs where I made some very good friends, but never any dating interest.  Even as adults, I knew people could be cruel, they laughed at and made fun of me; who wants to slow dance with a fat chick.  That always hurt and many times I went home crying. 

In 2002 I started researching gastric bypass surgery. At that time, they had not yet approved the lap band in the United States so I found a surgeon I liked and had the Rou-N-Y procedure. I had now ballooned to 385 pounds! The surgery was very successful for me.  I was ecstatic to have reached my smallest weight of 180 pounds. Now I could go out and not be laughed at. I was going to the gym regularly, working as a sales rep and I was loving life.  When I turned 38, I met my current husband. We got married and a month later moved from Florida to Oregon.  Then things got a little rough. We were living out of hotels because I had a traveling job and we had not decided where to settle down.  I didn't go the gym and of course always went out to eat or ate poor quality microwave food.   The weight started packing back on and the dieting cycle started again.

In July 2014, I was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery.  This is where I met Dr. Chae. In addition to the problem that brought me there, he discovered my pouch had reattached itself back to my stomach, causing weight gain. He did a revision on the bypass along with fixing my other issue.

So here I am, 18 months later and I am down to 140 pounds! I lost a total of 130 pounds and I'm wearing size 10 jeans! I have not been this small since before high school and I am happy beyond words.  It still takes me by surprise when people call me skinny or when I can sit in a chair and my thighs don’t squish against the arms.

I am a very happy, skinny girl now.