A burden lifted

With stapled stomach, woman loses 200 pounds, gains freedom

  Michele Lester wasn't always big.

  Tall, yes, but not fat. An active child, she loved basketball and played on her high school team in Kansas. She moved to Joliet in 1984 and worked as a correctional officer at Stateville for six years.

  Even after having a baby in 1990, she was still an average size. While working with disabled adults in 1997, she was kicked in the knee and was so badly injured she can't work and now lives on disability.

  She underwent two knee surgeries, which sidelined her. That began her slide into obesity.

  At her heaviest, she weighed 410 pounds and wore a size 32-34. She's 5 feet, 11 inches.

  She tried dieting. She tried Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, NutriSystem, the Atkins diet and Richard Simmons. She even, briefly, tried Phen-Fen. Nothing worked for her. Any weight she lost, she would put right back on and then some.

  She needed a permanent solution, for her health, but also for herself and her daughter.

  "When a person is fat, you are not comfortable with yourself," she says. "You may tell yourself that you are, but you're not. You're not happy."

  This is Michele's story of how she lost 220 pounds through gastric bypass surgery. She chose to share her private struggle with the public because she knows there are a lot of people who are desperate for help and don't know where to turn. She knows because she was once one of them.

  It's her ardent hope that they will seek help.

  Our story starts about two years ago when Michele was first contacted by Herald News photographer Liz Wilkinson Allen.

1999

  Michele decides (after research) to undergo a stomach stapling procedure called Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Pop singer Carnie Wilson, who had the same surgery that year, is Michele's inspiration.

  She knows that the surgery, where the stomach is stapled off so only a 2-ounce pouch remains, will force her to change her lifestyle and the way she eats. She is finally going to lose weight.

  Michele is an attractive, confident, intelligent woman. She's positive and fun to be around. But she is morbidly obese. It's not just for vanity reasons that she wanted to lose weight. A divorced mother of one, she wanted to be healthy to care her daughter.

  At this time, she is borderline diabetic, has high blood pressure, degenerative arthritis, sickle cell trait and joint pain, especially in her knees. She has trouble exercising because of the pain, and because of her weight.

  Her daughter, Robianna Michea Jones, 11, is her joy. Robianna — Robi — is an active girl, and it hurts Michele that she can't do more with her.

  In Michele's mind, this is her final hope. She isn't scared about the surgery, even though some of her friends try to dissuade her. She knows she is going to be in pain for several weeks; she knows there are risks. Still, she is eager to do it.

  Before the surgery, Michele and Robi decide together that Robi will spend the summer of 2000 in Wichita, Kan., with her grandparents while Michele recovers.

June 9, 2000

  Michele goes to a pre-surgery doctor's appointment at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. (Due to an insurance problem, she will actually end up having the surgery at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.)

  Her friend, Annette Travis of Joliet, is with her. She's clearly not excited about the prospect of Michele undergoing this major operation.

  "I just don't want anything to happen to her in the process of having this done," she says.

  "I'm in pain every day carrying all this weight. In a year, I will feel so much better," Michele says.

  Annette shows her pictures of a barbecue spread in a magazine.

  "You're not going to be able to eat this anymore. We won't be able to go to restaurants anymore."

  "Yes, we will. I'll just be eating less," Michele tells her.

  Robianna, then 9 years old, has her own opinions about what her mother is about to do.

  "I think it's good in some ways and bad in some ways," Robianna says. She is set to leave for Kansas the next day. "It's good because how she is now, she can't do a lot of things with me. When she loses this weight, she can go to the 'Y' or to the park and take a walk, and she'll be in good shape."

  She's looking forward to shopping with her mom, as well as doing things outdoors.

  "Most kids can just jump on a bike and go, but she can't do that with me because of her weight. Sometimes I just think, 'Oh, why can't we do this.' I want us to be able to do different things that we've never been able to do before.

  "I want to see her be able to walk again and keep up with my pace."

July 6, 2000

  Michele arrives at Loyola Medical Center at about 6 a.m. In tow are her closest friends, Annette Travis and Annette Edwards of Bolingbrook. Michele is wearing a blue denim dress and neat white sneakers. Her hair is perfectly coiffed, and she's in high spirits. She's not scared.

  "I'm in better hands than the doctor's," she says, pointing heavenward.

  Her girlfriends are nervous for her. One is excited, the other still has her reservations.

  Annette Travis purses her lips, then says a bit later, "This just don't make sense. I want you to look at the pros and cons of this."

  "OK. I will continue to gain weight and be debilitated," Michele tells her. "This is a need, and a want. It's for the betterment of the long term."

  "She's just too happy," Travis complains.

  "Wait till 120 pounds later, then I'll be really happy," she said. "I got my 20th high school reunion in October. I'm gonna get me a slinky black dress with a couple of slits up the sides."

  Her goal is to be in a size 13-14 by her 40th birthday, May 30, 2002.

  Dr. John Brems, then-associate professor of surgery, is performing the operation.

  "OK, let's get this party started," Michele says, grinning from ear to ear. "Let's do this." She is rolled away. It is 8:20 a.m.

  The Annettes settle in the waiting room.

  "You think she's scared?" Travis asks.

  "Yeah, I think she's a little scared, because she's human. But she's thinking in the long run," Edwards says. "She might not get a chance to change things. She's gotta do it now while she's got the courage to do it. She's gonna be more secure with herself and her appearance. I think it's a good thing."

  The surgery takes 2 1/2 hours. Afterward, Michele is given fluids intravenously, and a tube is run through her nose into her stomach to keep the area drained and to prevent nausea and decrease the risk of a leak from the stomach.

  After a couple of days, the tube is removed, and Michele is allowed small amounts of fluids. By the time she leaves the hospital, on the fifth day, she is on a soft diet. When she returns home, she is eating small portions of baby food and energy drinks.

Ideal candidate

  Brems believes Michele was ideal for the surgery.

  "She is a good candidate because she was morbidly obese, she tried numerous diets, and she started to sustain some complications of obesity," he says. "She's an intelligent lady who understood the operation and the new diet. It forces them to stick to the diet, it's about behavior modification. She knew what was expected, she understood the diet, and I thought she was motivated."

   Michele gets this. She knows that having her stomach stapled alone will not make her thin. She knows it's possible to stretch the pouch or even rupture it if she overeats.

  She knows it's an entire lifestyle change, a completely new approach to the way she eats.

  "The hope is that patients will lose weight and keep the weight off," Brems says. "They usually plateau out when they get to their ideal body weight, and they can usually maintain that. With her, I expect it to take one-half to two years for her to get down to her ideal body weight."

  Ten days out from the surgery, Michele has lost 32 pounds. By this time, Annette Travis is happy her friend had the surgery. Michele tires easily, but is getting her strength back slowly.

   Her post-surgery diet consists of Boost energy drinks, baby food, applesauce, mashed potatoes, pureed green beans, pudding and lots of water. She is instructed to drink water after her meals, not beforehand, otherwise she would risk filling up on water. She still needs to eat, after all.

  "It takes about 30 minutes to eat, and I take my time," she says. "I consume about 2 ounces, then I'm full. So far I haven't had any side effects, no vomiting. I feel good. The pain's not bad."

  She'll eventually get to the point where she can eat 4 ounces of anything she wants at a sitting, but that is the most she'll ever be able to eat. And's she's fine with that.

  "I notice when I sat down in a narrow chair in the waiting room of the doctor's office that I could sit all the way in the chair," she says. "The last visit, I had to sit on the edge because I didn't fit all the way in."

September 2000

  By September, Michele has lost 65 pounds. She's wearing a size 24-26. When she picks up her daughter from the airport, after she had been away for the summer, Robi is amazed and excited to see her mom.

  "When my daughter got off the plane, she yelled, 'Mommy's wearing a belt!' She's never seen me in a belt before," Michele says, grinning. "Every time I put something on that's too big, it's a great feeling. I've got these khaki pants that were too tight before — now they're loose. I love it."

  When some of her girlfriends come out for a visit, she takes them to the Empress Casino for a buffet.

  "Buffets are lost on me now. I can barely eat half a cheeseburger from McDonald's," she says. "I get a lot of doggie bags."

  There have been a few times since the surgery when she's eaten too much and vomited. A lesson learned, she tells herself.

  "When I'm full, I quit eating," she says. "I'm back to eating normal foods."

  At this point, there's no sign of diabetes, and her blood pressure is down. She has a month to go before her high school reunion, and she'd like to lose about 20 more pounds.

Dec. 18, 2000

  Michele met her goal of losing 80 pounds for her reunion, and had a great time.

  "It was really fun," she says. "Most people I hadn't seen in a while. My friends and family were surprised to see me. My mom took me shopping, we bought all new clothes."

  She's had a good few months. She's in a size 22-24, and has been walking with a friend in the mornings.

  She even went roller-skating at her daughter's 10th birthday party recently, a last-minute decision that Robi begged her to try.

  "I fell on my butt," she says, laughing. "But it was fun. I'd do it again."

  By February 2001, Michele has lost 95 pounds.

  "I carry a picture in my wallet of when I was at my heaviest. I was 400-something," she says. "I showed it to some people at church, and they were like, 'Wow, that was you?' It makes me feel so good. There was a point at the end of October-November when I wasn't losing as fast as I wanted to. There were clothes I wanted to fit into by that time, and I couldn't get into them yet. There was a realization that I'm not going to lose it overnight."

July 2001

  One year later, her mother sends her a box of pictures. Looking at the photos, Michele can't believe the woman captured on film is her.

  She's lost 125 pounds, and is amazed at how good she looks and feels.

  "It feels good to me to know that I have self-control now. My mind is not controlling what I eat, my stomach is. My mind says, 'I want to eat four tacos.' My stomach says, 'You can only eat one,'" she says. "That's the best thing about this, the lifetime of control of your eating habits, because you are only able to eat a certain portion."

  And she knows her weight loss has had a positive effect on her relationship with her daughter.

  "Last year, we were on a band field trip for school, and I was just wearing big sweatsuits, anything that would cover it all up," Michele remembers. "I knew Robianna was concerned about what I would wear. She would say, 'Don't wear those big, baggy sweats.' This year, when we went to Chicago on a field trip, I looked neater, not bummy looking. I was so proud because I wore jeans and a shirt tucked in, and I looked nice. She (Robi) doesn't have to hear, 'Your mom is so fat,' anymore. We were sitting in the same seat on the bus this year. Last year, I had to have my own seat."

December 2001

  Michele Lester has lost 150 pounds.

  "I still have that dress from the day of the surgery," she says, grinning. "It's my memory dress. It fits me like a robe now. It's a size 34. I'm in an 18 now. I'd still like to get to a 13-14. My neighbor told me I look like a teen-ager again. I can't believe I'm almost 40."

  She's given away all her old "fat clothes."

  "I wish I was rich so I could splurge on a whole new wardrobe," she says wistfully.

  Dressed in jeans and a pink sweater, she's sitting at her dining room table, which still has crafts on it from a sleepover her daughter had over the weekend. A glass of water is in front of her.

  She and Robi, now 11, are getting ready to move to Wichita, to be close to her family. When she was out at Thanksgiving, people at her childhood church didn't even recognize her.

  "Everybody was really surprised when they saw me," she says. "Some of them didn't even know who I was until they saw Robi next to me."

  Shopping is much easier.

  "I can go to Wal-Mart and buy jeans or shoes. I couldn't before," she says. "I can go to JCPenney's and buy a coat off the regular rack instead of ordering one out of the large women's catalog. If on a Saturday night I realize I don't have stockings for church Sunday, I don't have to run out to Lane Bryant and try to make it there before the mall closes. It makes such a big difference, it really does."

  She says that every so often her weight will plateau, and then she'll begin losing again. And she hasn't gained any back, which she was worried about.

  "I had to get a Cortisone shot for the degenerative arthritis in my arm," she says. "You gain weight with those. But miraculously, I've still been losing. I know I would do better if I exercised more. I try and get some exercise every day. People get the idea that once you have the surgery, you don't have to exercise, but you do. You've got to walk right after the surgery."

   She eats anything she wants to, but small portions. Even though she gets cravings for sweets, the surgery discourages patients from eating them. When she does, she gets diarrhea and stomach aches.

  She and Robi usually split a meal. Or she'll have half of a sandwich half.

  "I never complete a meal," she says. "I have three small meals a day. I don't get hungry; now I just eat to survive. And I have to take my arthritis medicine with food."

  The weight loss has increased her energy level, she says.

  "I'm not as tired, I don't take my blood pressure medicine anymore, which is one of the best benefits to me," she says. "And with my arthritis, I probably would've been in a wheelchair by now if I had waited."

June 2002

  Michele and Robi are in Wichita, where Michele is helping to take care of her sister, who has sickle cell disease.

  Michele now weighs about 190 pounds, down about 220 pounds from where she started. While she wasn't able to meet her goal of wearing a size 14 by her 40th birthday on May 30, she has come very close. She's still losing weight, and is in a size 16 now. She has set a July family reunion as her new date to meet her goal of a size 14.

  She still has a lot of extra skin in her hips, thighs and stomach area.

  "If I had a tummy tuck, I could probably fit in a size 14 now," she says. Unfortunately, her insurance company won't pay for it.

  Although she's not in danger from her weight anymore, her arthritis is spreading, causing her to be in a lot of pain. She's seeing a rheumatologist to work on pain management.

  "It keeps me from exercising. It was bad then, but it wasn't as bad as it is now," she says. "If I was still weighing now what I did before, I wouldn't be able to walk."

  Through all of this, Michele has come to understand that food is not life. It's an easy concept to hear, a harder one to live.

  She makes balanced meals high on meats and vegetables, low on carbs and starches.

  "I don't tell people which diet to try anymore," she says. "A lot of people tell me they want the surgery, and it worked for me — praise God — but there's no guarantee it would work for everybody. I've heard the horror stories about people that it didn't work on. But you can't gorge yourself on food and expect it to work. It's not magic. You've got to work with it and put effort into it or else it won't work."

  The surgery has even had an effect on her daughter, Michele says, because Robi has become very conscious of what she eats. But she is happy for her mother. Now, they are able to exercise together, and shop together, a favorite pastime for both of them. Her daughter is fashionable, just like she is.

  "I hated not having clothes to wear. I love clothes, I love shopping, I love to look nice. I'm Miss Fashionetta," Michele says, chuckling. "Things fit better. You don't have so many struggles finding clothes. Everything has worked out great. I have no regrets, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

  "The best thing about having the surgery is that this is permanent," she says. "Even if I don't get any smaller, I'm still better off than I was before. I look and feel 200 percent better."