Athena knew her life was not was it was meant to be. “I was severely hindered,” she explains. “I thought I was destined to always be obese.” Dieting, she says, never worked due to a condition called hypothyroidism, leading to a hormone deficiency. Fatigue and weight gain plague many people with this condition. For Athena, trying to lose weight was like swimming upstream. Her efforts produced minimal results. Not only was it frustrating, it was compounding other problems with her health. “I had high blood pressure, pre-diabetes, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, and many other health problems including PCOS and infertility.”
Then, in 2009, Athena met Dr. JoeBob Kirk and learned more about the program at The Center for Bariatrics at Bailey Medical Center. “He made it sound like I could have my life back,” she recalls. “That gave me so much hope.” The following year, Athena had bariatric surgery and began her journey to a healthier life, with one thing in particular in mind – having children. “Especially when he told me my PCOS could get better and I might have children. I had resigned myself to the idea that I would never have children.”
Following the guidelines of the program, Athena lost an initial 35 pounds, and then began to notice an additional two to three pounds at a time melt away. “The journey was definitely not easy like most people who know me tried to say it is,” Athena admits. “I was told it was the easy way out.” The work to be successful Athena says takes dedication every day. “Teaching your pouch how to tolerate food is taxing work and it requires diligence,” she explains. “It was hard at first, but became easier with time knowing what I could eat.”
At her goal weight of 140 pounds for more than a year, Athena enjoyed the ability to exercise and run for at least an hour at a time – a huge accomplishment. Her other health concerns – high 
blood pressure, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes, and sleep apnea – gone. “I was the happiest I had ever been,” she adds. The next item on the list to tackle – having children.
“I had been told I would have to have fertility treatments to have children,” says Athena of beginning the journey to have a child after weight loss surgery. Under the care of her health care provider to manage her PCOS, Athena became pregnant quickly and delivered a healthy baby girl, Annabelle, in 2013. Just a year later, Athena is once again expecting. “I cannot even fathom that bariatric surgery has brought me this far in my life. The staff at Bailey Medical Center and Dr. Kirk's office made my life possible. I was only existing before.”
Join us for our next FREE seminar on medical weight loss options. You can register by calling (918) 376-8410 or online at www.baileybariatrics.com/content/step-two-attend-seminar.