Meet Tonya L.

What was life like before bariatric surgery?
My weight stopped me from so many things that I enjoyed doing. Playing with my grandkids and not getting winded. I love the mountains and wanted to do hikes but I couldn’t. I was unable to fly comfortably. I had tried all the things in the past WW, Contrave, all the diet plans – but I’d lose then gain even more back. I also was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy in 2015 my heart was enlarged and my ejection fraction was so low that I was at risk for sudden cardiac arrest. I was told at that point to not even exercise.

If you put off the decision to come in for a long time, why was that? What kept you from booking a consultation?

I considered surgery for several years. I was at odds with myself because I’ve seen success stories after surgery, but then I’ve seen the people who had surgery and lost so much weight they looked like they were dying. Then I’ve seen the ones who gained all their weight back. I didn’t want to be that person.
I finally decided to bite the bullet and have a consultation after I had ventricular tachycardia in March of 2022. It became an emergency situation because I could no longer convert on my own. I had to be transferred from NWTH Icu to OKC ICU for an emergency v-tach ablation, that lasted 10.5 hours. My heart was finally doing well in June 2022 but now Dr. Desai said I needed to lose weight. I was like how? I’ve done everything over the years without success. I asked him what he thought about bariatric surgery and he said do it, I’ll give you cardiac clearance.

I then talked with Dr. Bo. He made me feel so comfortable and assured me that I could be successful. BEST DECISION I EVER MADE for myself, personally.

What was it like to work with the team from the start of your journey to today?

Omg, I have worked in healthcare for 38 years. PWLC is one of the most organized clinics I have ever seen. Everyone from the admissions office to the NP’s knew exactly when and what I needed to get my surgery done and then to complete the after care. 5 stars to PWLC!
I love listening to the podcasts and Chelsey cooking on YouTube. They are really helpful.

What is your life like now? What’s the #1 thing you love being able to do now?

Energy, I’ve got lots now! I can now cross my legs, wear smaller clothes, I have bladder control, I lost inches, I got off my nightly 2L O2, I’ve stopped taking 3 medications (hoping for more) and people are complimenting me on how good I look. The non-scale victories are the best.
I’m down 96 lbs -30 inches and I’m 7 pounds away from my wedding weight from 37 years ago.