Carol Valdez loves telling a good dad joke.<\/p>\n
So much so that right after her bariatric surgery, she told her surgeon one of her best jokes.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaughter is the best medicine,\u201d says Valdez. \u201cI knew that I was beginning a new part of my life and I was happy to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like so many others, Valdez struggled with her weight since she was young. She tried all the conventional diets, including WeightWatchers and Jenny Craig \u2014 even over-the-counter medications.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of it seemed to be working. I was desperate!\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Valdez sought advice from a friend who had bariatric surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy friend told me how much it helped her and how good she felt,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s when I knew it was time to look at bariatric surgery as an option for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valdez\u2019s primary care provider referred her to Monica Young, MD, with MultiCare Capital Bariatric & Obesity Surgical Services. She scheduled her initial seminar during the appointment, and that\u2019s when she realized this was exactly where she needed to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bariatric program coordinator is someone I knew from a previous provider,\u201d Valdez says with a smile. \u201cI loved working with her and knew that if she was part of the program that this program would be best for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t disappointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team is awesome,\u201d Valdez says. \u201cThey made me feel welcome and comfortable. I know I can call and speak to anybody on this team, and they will understand. I knew surgery would be easy with them supporting me.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that in mind, she was confident going into her Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure. Surgery lasted nearly two hours and required an additional repair of a hernia.<\/p>\n
Valdez was worried about the pain she might have after surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t have any pain,\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t have to take any of the pain medication, and I felt really good after surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n
A year later, Valdez is 70 pounds lighter and dropped from a size 22 to a 14. She can now enjoy long walks with her German shepherd and more time with her 17-year-old son.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a baseball player and going to watch him is so much easier for me now,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Prior to surgery, Valdez also suffered from Barrett\u2019s esophagus, a condition where the esophagus is damaged due to acid reflux. Since surgery, she hasn\u2019t had any reflux and is no longer on medications for the condition.<\/p>\n
She also stopped her diabetic medication and no longer needs to check her blood sugar multiple times per day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am no longer tied to my blood sugar machine,\u201d Valdez shares. \u201cAnd not having reflux has made a huge change in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s happy to be moving forward and living her best life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a great experience from start to finish,\u201d Valdez says. \u201cAnd now my sister is having surgery, so we can do it together!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Carol Valdez loves telling a good dad joke. So much so that right after her bariatric surgery, she told her surgeon one of her best jokes. \u201cLaughter is the best medicine,\u201d says Valdez. \u201cI knew that I was beginning a new part of my life and I was happy to get started.\u201d Like so many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weight-loss","category-profiles-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n