{"id":10091,"date":"2019-09-11T23:41:42","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T23:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prd-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/?p=10091"},"modified":"2022-09-01T19:05:31","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T19:05:31","slug":"10091-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/10091-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Heather loses 130+ pounds after bariatric surgery","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"<p>he didn\u2019t know it at the time, but horrible customer service and a rude airplane passenger changed Heather Clark\u2019s life for the better.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was on a flight from Dallas and in an exit row seat,\u201d says the Auburn woman.<\/p>\n<p>The seat belt didn\u2019t fit, so she asked the flight attendant for a belt extender.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReally loud, she said, \u2018Middle seats do not have seat belt extenders. We\u2019re going to have to switch you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s when passenger next to her decided to pile on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2019That\u2019s right, her sides are touching mine and it\u2019s making me uncomfortable,\u2019\u201d Clark recalls the passenger saying.<\/p>\n<p>The flight attendant chastised her, saying she would need to buy a second seat next time she booked a flight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was mortified,\u201d Clark says. \u201cI had to move all of my bags while people watched me. It was a watershed moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While she resettled in a new seat, Clark, 46,\u00a0says she thought about the humiliation she\u2019d just endured.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t deserve to be treated like this,\u201d she thought. \u201cWhile I can\u2019t control their behavior, I can control whether or not I\u2019m in this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Clark never thought bariatric surgery was intended for someone like her. She knew she was very overweight, but she thought it was manageable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t a candidate for \u2018My 600-lb Life\u2019 or anything,\u201d she says. \u201cIt never occurred to me I could have something like a gastric sleeve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But then she watched a friend shed pounds and gain confidence after weight loss surgery and started wondering about it.<\/p>\n<p>Clark\u2019s husband was reluctant to have her undergo major surgery, but after the experience on the airplane, she was sold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI came home and told my husband, \u2018I\u2019m done. I\u2019m booking an appointment,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Clark had her gastric sleeve surgery with James Sebesta, MD, at the MultiCare Center for Weight Loss and Wellness in October 2017.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started out at 268 pounds,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Less than two years later, \u201cI bounce between 135 and 140. It really has been amazing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Her clothing size dropped from a 22 to a 6.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI haven\u2019t been a size 6 since I was my daughter\u2019s age, and she\u2019s 10,\u201d Clark says.<\/p>\n<p>The change means shopping is easier than she ever imagined.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m never going to have to worry about finding appropriate work attire, or shorts or a swimsuit,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m not going to be embarrassed asking a clerk if it comes in plus sizes. I can go into any store and find something that fits me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps more important, Clark says she\u2019s able to have an active lifestyle for the first time in her life, training for the Seattle to Portland bike ride and doing fun runs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you\u2019ve been overweight all of your life, you automatically think \u2018I\u2018m not capable of this, I\u2019m not capable of that,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cWhen that physical barrier is removed that continually defeats you, a whole new world opens up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And her husband, who was reluctant about the surgery, is thrilled with the result.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe likes having an active partner,\u201d she says. \u201cNow we have such a different relationship because we share activities in a way we couldn\u2019t before. I couldn\u2019t hike with him. He mountain bikes, he windsurfs. How we ever ended up getting married I don\u2019t know,\u201d she laughs. \u201cNow we can go do all those things. It\u2019s allowed us to bond and spend time together as a couple that we couldn\u2019t before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Clark, having gastric sleeve surgery meant prioritizing her physical health, so she can live longer to spend more time with her husband, her children and all the people she loves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd not just living longer, but doing the things that you love,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>The MultiCare Center for Weight Loss &amp; Wellness supports you before, during and after the weight loss journey.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a id=\"Weight\" class=\"btn cta\" href=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/services\/weight-loss-wellness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Learn more and make an appointment<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a class=\"evalia-lightbox btn\" href=\"https:\/\/profilers.evaliahealth.com\/v3\/988251d3-b737-43d8-acbc-23af2b61a200?utm_source=MCwebsite-vitals&amp;utm_medium=Vitals&amp;utm_campaign=Heather&amp;utm_id=MultiCare-Website-EvaliaHRALinks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Is weight loss surgery right for you?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>he didn\u2019t know it at the time, but horrible customer service and a rude airplane passenger changed Heather Clark\u2019s life for the better. \u201cI was on a flight from Dallas and in an exit row seat,\u201d says the Auburn woman. The seat belt didn\u2019t fit, so she asked the flight attendant for a belt extender. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":315,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Heather loses 130+ pounds after bariatric surgery - MultiCare Vitals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/10091-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Heather loses 130+ pounds after bariatric surgery - MultiCare Vitals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"he didn\u2019t know it at the time, but horrible customer service and a rude airplane passenger changed Heather Clark\u2019s life for the better. \u201cI was on a flight from Dallas and in an exit row seat,\u201d says the Auburn woman. The seat belt didn\u2019t fit, so she asked the flight attendant for a belt extender. 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