In This Issue

* Stay Inspired to Succeed
* Research Article: Post-Surgery Pregnancies
* Preparing for Surgery: What to Ask the Surgeon
* Recipe: Beef Medallions with Saucy Shiitakes
* Success Story: Bonnie Merchant

Are you:

	Suffering from emotional eating and can’t stop?
	Grazing on carbohydrates and can’t control it?
	Lacking inspiration to lose the weight you have regained?
	Feel you don’t know what to do now that you have had surgery?
	Dying to be in better shape`?

 Then you are in luck! My Back on Track Internet
Mentoring Program is just what you need!

View a FREE Lesson and Listen to a FREE Telephone Seminar by
clicking here and scrolling down to the bottom of the page.

Hi Barbara,
I read your book, Weight Loss Surgery; Finding the Thin Person Hiding Inside You and have a question for you. Can you give me more questions to ask the surgeon?

Thank you
Melissa

Hi Melissa,
There are so many questions that you can and should ask, but here are a few. I’m sure our readers can come up with additional questions.

1.  Ask what follow-up program the surgeon has.  An educational program and support from a psychologist, nutritionist and a support group will make a huge difference in your safety and success.

2.  Ask if they are a Center of Excellence. A Center of Excellence means they have been evaluated by an independent corporation in terms of their safety, services, and educational program. Here is a link locate a Center of Excellence in your area http://www.surgicalreview.org/locate.aspx

Here is a link to an article that I wrote on Centers of Excellence for WLS Lifestyles Magazine
(Please note that this is a large .pdf file that will need extra time to download.)

3.  Ask how many weight loss surgeries the surgeon has performed. It should be over 200.  There is a huge learning curve with weight loss surgery and the more surgeries the better in terms of your safety.

4.  Ask the percentage of the surgeon’s practice that is devoted to bariatrics.  This will give you an idea if the surgeon does bariatric surgery as a side line, or is devoted to helping the morbidly obese improve their lives and health through surgery.

5.  Ask if the surgeon transects the stomach which means that the stomach is completely and forever separated from the new pouch.  If it is transected, there is less chance of developing a fistula or of food going from the pouch into the old stomach which can cause horrible pains and additional surgery.

If there are additional questions that you think should be asked, email them to me at Barbara@WLScenter.com.

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Ingredients
1 Tbl. plus 1½ tsp. oil
4 beef tenderloin medallions (about 4 ounces each), trimmed of all fat and patted dry
¼ tsp. Kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, about 12 medium, stemmed
2 shallots, coarsely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
¼ cup Cognac, or other brandy or Madeira
¼ cup chicken broth
3 Tbl. light sour cream
1 Tbl. chopped parsley

Preparartion
Heat 1 Tbl. of the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Add the medallions to the pan and cook about 3 minutes on each side for medium rare, or until desired doneness. Remove from skillet and set on plates and keep warm.

Add the remaining 1 ½ tsp. oil to the skillet. Add the mushrooms and cook over medium-low heat until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the shallots, garlic and salt and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes. Take the skillet off the heat, add the Cognac, and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits that cling to the pan. Return the skillet to the heat and cook until the liquid is reduced, about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth and cook until saucy, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the sour cream and parsley, and season with salt and pepper. Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional Information (per serving)
353 calories, 34 grams protein, 1.5 grams carbohydrates, 15 grams fat

If you have a recipe that you would like to share in future issues of this newsletter, please send it to me at Barbara@WLScenter.com

I want to offer a special thanks to Bonnie Merchant for sharing her story with us. Although Bonnie is a success, having lost more than 100 pounds, she is not sure that the weight loss is worth what her life is like now.  There are others who feel this way, and their stories are just as important as those who are thrilled with their lives following surgery. Here is her story:

Dear Barbara,
I enjoy reading your newsletter so much and look forward to each new one that you publish.  But the March 15th letter from Joy made me realize that I had been looking for someone else that feels the same as I do about the negative consequences of our surgery.

I had my gastric bypass surgery performed on February 7, 2008, by Dr. Naziri, of Southern Surgical, Greenville, NC.  He did an excellent job and I had no surgical complications.  Kudos to this excellent caring surgeon.

My weight started at 288 and I am currently at 181, so 107 pounds are gone!  Yea!!  But I, like Joy, have to be so careful with my food choices that oftentimes I choose not to eat, and just have a protein shake instead.  It hurts so bad to get sick from eating a food that my pouch perceives as evil and, as we all know, that can be any food on any given day. 

I can eat salads, most crunchy carbs, moist ground beef, oatmeal, and chili.  Meat still can make me super sick, especially chicken. Sugar alcohols found in "sugar free" products cause severe and uncontrollable flatulence.  I have had several very embarrassing moments with this at work so I avoid those foods like the plague.

I went on a cruise in June, 2009 and even though I am a size 14  I still had to dress like I did when I was a size 28, in 3/4 length sleeves on shirts and pants/Capri’s that cover the entire thigh area.  Bathing suit, even the ones with skirts do not cover all the sag on my thighs.  My face has sagged so much that I was embarrassed to be seen by friends and family who joined us on the cruise.  I look 70, and I am barely 59.

So, yes, I too wonder if I did the right thing in having this surgery.  I have to wear the same type of ugly clothes and in addition to that, I cannot eat!  My blood pressure is still sky high and my sleep apnea is still plaguing me.

Yes, I am thinner and yes, I can buy smaller clothing.  I am able to tie my shoes and paint my toenails.  I can run up a flight of stairs, and, I am sure, in spite of the high blood pressure, my heart is in better health,  which over all are good things.

But, do the pluses offset the minuses?  Some days I think they do, but other days, I am not so sure.

Would I do it again?  Probably. But I feel like I traded one set of problems for another.

Sincerely,
Bonnie Merchant
brogers@ec.rr.com

Congratulations Bonnie