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Surgeons: Prof.Dr. R. Weiner and Team (Dr. Winterberg, Dr. Stubbig, Dr. Pomhoff), Clinic Sachsenhausen/ Frankfurt a.M. - Germany
Surgery Date:08/14/02
Pre-op weight/ BMI: 330.7/BMI 50.70
Current weight/BMI: 246.9/BMI 37.86 (as of January 06, 2003)

 
Above: one day pre-op, approx. 300lb.

 
Above: November 22, 2002, 228 lb. (down over 70lb.)

by Kerstin:

Hi,

my name is Kerstin, I am a 26 year old from Germany and my story is probably not so different from most of the others you can read here.

I had been overweight all my life. (To be blunt...most of my childhood pictures look like images of the marshmellow man/ woman.)

My first attempt to loose weight with professional help was when had been 8 years old. I don’t remember the exact weight, but it was enough for my doctor to urgently suggest a treatment at a children's health resort. I actually did loose quite some weight during those 6 weeks but as you probably know, loosing weight is not the hardest task. Keeping the weight down is a lot harder.

So I gained all of it back (and even more) in a short time.

In the following years I literally tried everything, even the most obscure methods I found, to loose weight.

Food was never just to nourish myself, but it was a friend as well. I used food as a substitude for everything I desired or longed for and could not get. Love, friends, attention....etc.

My self-esteem shrank the older I got. I had to watch my friends doing sports, fun activities and find their first boyfriends. And the more frustrated I got, the more I ate and the more I ate, the more I gained. So I circled down and down until I hit rock bottom ’99 when I was so depressed that I even tried to commit suicide . Fortunately there must have been someone who held a guardian hand over me and I survived. Somehow I managed to get my life back and keep „trucking“

January 2002, when I lost my job and found myself weighing aprox. 330 pounds, I felt that I had to reach for the last straw I thought could help.

I had heard about the LAP-Band and the chance to loose weight with it. I had found a website where someone recommended a very competent surgeon in Frankfurt/ Sachsenhausen.

That’s how I met Prof. Dr. R. Weiner. He explained the procedure to me and advised me, that the BPD with DS instead of a LAP-Band would be the best solution for my obesity problem.

I was operated August 14th 2002 in Frankfurt/ Germany by Prof. Weiner and his team.

Unfortunately I encountered some complications wich resulted in a longer hospital-stay and following surgeries.

But with the help of the surgeons and the nurses I quickly recovered and by now I have lost 80 pounds in 4 month and am experiencing a whole new body-feeling.

I can say, that Prof. Weiner an his team have given me a chance for a whole new life, and that I would have this operation done again, even with all the complications, at any time.

I am looking forward to a life as a “normal” person, without the fears of being stared at in restaurants, without having to hunt for fitting clothes, without having to worry if I fit in certain chairs...

I am looking forward to be an active member in sports and maybe even find a person to share the rest of my new life with.

If you like to know more details I’d be happy if you mail me.

send email to Kerstin

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