To Whom It May Concern:
I am about to write you a little story of what my life was like before I met with Dr. Champion and had my operation.

Hi, my name is Kathy Corral. I am 45 years old, married, and have 2 daughters and 3 granddaughters, all of whom I love very much, I would love to be here to see them all grow up and have a happy life. But, due to my obesity and many health problems I was a very sick person and if I didn’t have this operation I probably wouldn’t be here to write this letter today.

I have asthma and high blood pressure and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and COPD. I was also told that I had sleep apnea and a hernia. I was on oxygen 24 hours a day. My life was slowly becoming a one-room existence. I felt like I was just waiting for the good Lord to come and take me home. I couldn’t walk from one place to another without having great difficulty breathing – even with the oxygen up to 6 Liters. I would go to the stores with my husband and children and I would wait for them in the car. I was slowly losing the ability to walk. My knees were in bad shape –they just weren’t able to carry all that weight around. I had a doctor’s appointment for my asthma and when I went, I asked him about some type of diet or weight controlthat could help me. He told me to eat just two meals a day.

When I came out of his office, I turned around and when I did, I saw him and his nurse talking and shaking their heads. I had never been so hurt and discouraged in my life. I think if I could have fallen into a hole at that minute, I would have. They both had looks of disgust on their faces and it hurt me deeply, but it also gave me the boot in the rear to do something about it. I had been thinking about this operation for a long time. One of my friends was watching television one day and Dr. Champion was on explaining this procedure. She wrote his number down and I called him the following week and got an appointment right away. When I got there, I thought, "Oh God, please let this be my salvation." I was looking at the prospect of this operation as being my only hope to stay alive. My whole life I had battled with my weight, taking it off and putting it on, along with more weight. One of my biggest problems was that I couldn’t exercise because I couldn’t breathe. Some people just don’t understand how depressing and unhappy being overweight is for the person; they just think, "Well if they wanted to, they could lose the weight." It is not always the way you eat; it could be many different reasons why a person is overweight. I never really understood that until I talked with Dr. Champion. He is a very kind and considerate and compassionate person.

I have never met any doctor that I felt comfortable talking about my obesity with until I met him. He has such an easy going manner about him and he really seems to understand how depressing it is for an obese person. He explained two different operations to me; one being the Vertical Banded Gastroplasty and the other the Roux-En-Y Gastric Bypass. We discussed the pros and cons of each operation and decided that the Roux-En-Y was the operation for me. That same day we set up the operation for March 17, 1998. I was operated on. I spent the first night in intensive care, but on the second day I went to a regular room, and on the third day I came home.

I was very sore because I also had a hernia repaired at the same time, but my recovery went along very well. Before I knew it, I had lost 30 pounds and then my husband and I started walking for exercise. It wasn’t easy for me, but my husband and children and even my grandchildren would give me support and little pep talks to keep me going. We walked a mile a day; seven days a week and when I lost 50 pounds, I stopped using the oxygen during the day; I only use it at night now, and it is on 1 Liter. I stopped taking all medications and when I lost 80 pounds, I finally made an appointment to see the lung doctor. He just couldn’t believe the remarkable change in me. I now only use the inhalers when needed and no longer have to take pills for my asthma. I can walk, run, play baseball with my grandchildren, swim –I have done a complete turn-around. I have gone back to the heart doctor and he would still like for me to take my high blood pressure medicine; I was borderline. My blood pressure was so high before, I think that he was actually amazed as to how things were improving. He told me that at my next visit we would discuss whether or not there was a need to continue taking medicine.

When I went to see Dr. Champion for the first time, I weighed in at 336 pounds and we looked at a chart and made a goal for my size and height. I should weigh 122 pounds. I went to the lung doctor in February of 1999 and I weighed in at 199 pounds. I have lost 137 pounds in a year’s time. I still have a long way to go — 77 more pounds! But now I know that it is possible, and thanks to the good Lord and Dr. Champion, I was given the chance to be reborn. Believe me, I intend to live it to the fullest. If you are thinking about this operation, my advice to you would be to do it. Make an appointment with Dr. Champion, discuss it, and I think you will agree that all the risks are worth taking in order to have a life that is worth living.

On behalf of my family and myself, we thank Dr. Champion from the bottom of our hearts. If there is anyway that I can be of any help to anyone, I can be contacted through Dr. Champion. Thank you again.

A Life Saved;

Love,
Kathy Corral

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