WAOW - Newsline 9, Wausau News, Weather, SportsBariatric Surgery: a year long journey
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by Cami Mountain
MARSHFIELD (WAOW) -- For millions of Americans obesity is a daily struggle and losing the weight isn't always easy.
When diets don't work, where do you turn? More and more people are opting for bariatric surgery or weight loss surgery.
Meet Laura Kruse, a Marshfield woman who allowed our cameras to follow her this past year on her bariatric journey.
We met Kruse in August, 2008. Then, she struggled with simple activities like playing with her dog. Work became more challenging and daily life was overwhelming.
She blamed her weight.
Kruse says, "With my job, I'm up and down off the floor. I'm moving all over the place an it's gotten harder. My knees are getting sore, my feet are getting sore. I just want to get rid of all of that."
Kruse struggled with weight most of her life and when college sports ended, inactivity and motherhood began. That's when obesity set in.
Five years ago, with diets not working Kruse began contemplating surgery. She made the first step, to go to a weight loss meeting.
"I talked to my family after I did the orientation, my husband and my kids, and I said 'If I do this, it's the whole family doing it. It's not just me." Kruse says, "I'm doing the major part of it but the whole family will be eating differently. They were all very, very supportive."
She'd need support from more than just her family. Her insurance provider gave the go-ahead but she still needed to convince a Marshfield Clinic dietician and psychologist that she needed surgery. A mental and physical evaluation took place and she even re-learned how and what to eat.
Cindy Stenovich, a dietician who worked at Marshfield Clinic, started Laura on her weight loss trail.
"A person needs to be in the habit of eating 3 meals a day with no snacks in between which is a big change for some people." Stenovich says, "People are sometimes used to skipping meals or grabbing their meals. So, getting into a regular eating period is very, very important."
For many patients, just like Laura, it's the new eating pattern that proves difficult. Stenovich advises slowing down at mealtime and completely chewing food, a habit that takes practice.
"They'll need to be chewing their food 20 times to make sure it's at a consistency that can pass through the smaller pouch successfully and not get into any trouble." Stenovich adds.
David Winemiller, a clinical psychologist, also helps Laura through the journey.
"Bariatric procedures can be likened to a freight train." Says Winemiller, "It's a very powerful tool. But, for any freight train to do it's job a set of tracks that's in reasonably good repair and is headed in the right direction. The rails on those tracks, of course, are diet and exercise."
Winemiller's part in Laura's surgery is perhaps the most important. He works to ensure that Laura is mentally capable of completely changing her lifestyle for the rest of her life, both with food and exercise.
He adds, "They might say, 'Well, after I lose the weight it'll be easier for me to exercise' or 'I don't need to change my diet until after surgery. I'll have to. I won't be able to eat as much.' Both are recipes for disaster."
It's a commitment Laura knows she can and needs to make and she's optimistic about the results.
"I want to be healthy. Kruse admits, "I know I'm not going to do this and be a size two. I was probably born a size two. I was never super petite and I'm not looking for that."
She's looking for a new way of life and that's what bariatric surgery is to her.
It's not just about losing the weight. It's about changing from the inside out.
Kruse says, "It's not a cure. It's just a tool. It's just a way to get you to the weight you need to be. You still have to watch what you eat and do all those things or you could end up right back where you are."
Tuesday morning on Wake Up Wisconsin, see Laura just months after surgery. She how she's doing and how she's coping with her new lifestyle.
Online Reporter: Cami Mountain
