At age 48, Penny was classified as super morbidly obese, with a peak weight of 384 lbs. A friend led her to the Center for Weight Loss Surgery at the Wood County Hospital where she entered a medically supervised weight loss program and made the decision to have gastric bypass surgery.
She had her surgery in December of 2008. To date, she's lost 225 lbs.
Peggy has some advice for anyone considering surgery. "You have to decide this is what I'm going to do. You are going to have to work at it. There are sacrifices. There are foods that I can't eat now."
"Gastric bypass works by mal absorption and restriction... Because we rearrange the intestines, what is eaten is not absorbed very well," explained Peggy's doctor Peter Lalor. He counsels patients that weight loss surgery is a tool, not a magic solution. But, if people combine the surgery with healthy lifestyle changes, "it's not uncommon for people to lose 40 pounds even in the first months and immediately they see benefits," he says.
Peggy works hard to maintain her success. "I don't want to put foods in there that are going to stretch. That stomach that I have is the size of an egg."
The surgery is not free, and, since it is a medical procedure, experts caution people to choose accredited facilities like Wood County Hospital.
As for Peggy's decision to pursue bypass surgery, she couldn't be happier. "I have learned that I wish I would have done it a long time ago. The weight loss journey has affected me in ways that I did not think it would affect me. My husband introduces me as his new wife."