NOTE - In the first part of this two-part article, we took a cold, hard look at the reality of drugs, pills, and weight loss. Now, in Part II we'll reveal the alarming truth about weight-reduction surgery.
PLEASE - If you were even remotely considering surgery for weight loss, don't make a move until you read this article!!
Hi, this is Dr. Frank B. Smoot, MA, DD, aka "Coach Frank" or" Dr. Frank."
For the first time ever, I am going to share with you the entirety of a heart-moving letter that was sent to me by one of my coaching clients, Nancy Curtis. She was extremely courageous in giving me permission to share, not only her words, but her name as well.
As you will see, there is nothing I can say that would be more powerful than her own words:
"Dear Dr. Frank,
"I need to write this while my emotions are in touch with my thoughts.
"When I think about my childhood, specifically in relationship to family members that I love…I think about the pain they have experienced because of their weight…and continue to experience. I recall my aunt, that I loved deeply, and how she truly hated the way she looked and felt. I remember the size of her legs and the trouble she had moving.
"She would say “Nancy, can you get that for me, you’re younger than I am.” In reality she was saying that it was too painful to walk from point A to point B and so she would ask that I do the moving for her.
"There’s a weird irony in there…if she had moved more, she wouldn’t have been in that amount of pain. She went through Weight Watchers and hypnosis and tracking her food intake all with zero success until finally she was desperate enough to have the surgery done. I remember the day she had the surgery, her family had begged her not to do it.
"There were complications during the surgery and she never did come back to us. It was one of the biggest losses I can recall in my life as it seemed like such a futile waste. She left behind a husband that adored her and 3 great children, all under the age of 12. I am leveled to tears every time I think of her struggle, it was enormous.
"Yet, years later, in spite of the fact that they lost their sister to this surgery, my other two aunts had the same surgery done. Both nearly lost their lives in the process…and did I mention that both weigh more today than they did before the surgery? I struggle with that. Why would you put your body through the rigors of such a surgery if you are not going to then take care of yourself?
"But then, it wasn’t a magic pill, and you still have to take care of yourself after it’s all said it done.
"Now I think of my cousin who weighs over 500 lbs and had to be transported to the emergency room in a “special” ambulance and had to “craned” out of bed into the ambulance…yet, when told her needed psychiatric assistance, he refused! I believe his exact words were “ I don’t need a shrink.”
"So sad. When I use the word “fear” in conjunction with my 65lb weight gain, it’s a deep rooted, real, honest to goodness, earth shattering, fear that I feel. This is why I am ready to track my food choices and my exercise…because I don’t want to end up as their story.
"My story is different. I am in control of my story…by making the right choices…by tracking my food and exercise…but not out of fear anymore. Now that I realize that I was operating out of fear I can let it go and begin operating out of faith. That’s why tracking my food and working on my weight will work – this time – because I will be functioning from a place of faith.
"Faith that God truly is in control…but that I have to do my part. Truly, this is a new beginning."
Are still thinking about weight reduction surgery? Please, please hear me when I tell you there are better, safer, and much more effective options.
If you'd like to know more about them, please contact me at DrFrank@CoachFrankSmoot.com
Yours in total health,
Dr. Frank
