手术结束数十年的肥胖，新生活开始

"I was waving to him from the car and he thought, 'Who is that strange woman waving at me?’”来自加州诺瓦托的拉菲-拉希德说. “然后，当他看到我时，他说，‘哦，我的上帝!'" His mother had undergone a transformation after weight-loss surgery.

2011年7月，拉菲-拉希德 胃分流术 在 减肥手术中心 在加州大学旧金山分校医学中心. At 5 feet, 3 inches tall, she tipped the scale at 340 pounds by age 58. 从小肥胖, she battled her weight problem for decades but didn't have time to pursue the surgery.

Then, when laid off from her job at Wells Fargo Bank, she found a silver lining. 她有时间做手术.

Even though she's now a slim 155 pounds, "我还是像个胖子一样思考," she says. "My head still thinks it wants more, but my body tells me that it doesn't.但她补充说，“现在，我能控制自己的饮食。."

你是否一直在与体重作斗争?

If you look at pictures of me from kindergarten, you can see I was already obese at age 5. I remember sneaking food before my parents came home from work and stashing food in the bathroom. 我很早就学会了吃大量的食物. Even if I ate until I felt like exploding, I always wanted more.

你试过很多节食法吗?

在五年级和初中的时候, 我瘦了很多, 但后来又赢回来了. My father did an exercise program with me every night and my parents had me join a gym back in the '60s, 在健身房流行之前.

1994年，我开始了液体禁食. 我一整年都不吃东西，只喝液体. 我减了198磅，然后在两年内又全部反弹回来. When you don't practice how to eat healthily, you go back to your old habits.

你什么时候决定做胃旁路手术的?

I had tried to have the surgery years ago, but wasn't approved by the insurance company. 2011年，我被解雇了. My GP (general practitioner) suggested surgery and I said, "Why not? 我终于有时间了."

It took about four months to do everything to qualify for the surgery. There were many medical tests as well as being seen by a pulmonologist for what I learned was a sleeping disorder, 我去看了一位营养学家.

Since I wasn't working, I was able to concentrate on the tests and pre-work I needed. 这成了我的工作. (Raffi-Rashed was rehired by Wells Fargo Bank in September 2011, just two months after her surgery.)

你有很多因肥胖引起的健康问题吗?

I had bad arthritis in both knees, which was a severe problem for me. 我差点就得糖尿病了.

I was taking two different kinds of blood pressure and cholesterol medication and still my blood pressure was always high.

I also had fatty liver disease from a lifetime of eating and drinking too much. 现在我已经完全戒酒了.

你现在的饮食是怎样的? 你一天摄入多少卡路里?

我每天都计算卡路里. 我的目标是每天摄入1700卡路里或更少的热量.

I also exercise almost every day now, either 在 gym or by taking a walk. 我现在真的很喜欢运动，因为它让我感觉很好.

你是如何适应这种新的饮食方式的?

我真的很难用语言来表达. 我仍然担心我会吃得太多, like when I sit down at a restaurant with my family for dinner. 我还是像个胖子一样思考. My head still thinks it wants more, but my body tells me that it doesn't. 现在我能控制自己的饮食了.

你是如何改变你一生的饮食习惯的?

I had a lot of counseling from a psychologist who helped me through the whole process of having 胃分流术. I also go to a support group at UCSF once a month and that really helps me. 这是一个很好的工具，但你仍然需要有自制力.

我整天都在自言自语. 我告诉自己, “我不打算吃东西, 我不饿, 我只吃对身体有益的东西." I used to want to eat a 16-ounce steak and potato with butter and sour cream, 但我不怀念那样吃东西. 手术改变了我对食物的口味, 所以我不想吃我以前爱吃的东西, 比如牛肉和鸡蛋.

做这个手术最困难的部分是什么?

Believe it or not, it wasn't the surgery, the recovery or the incision. 它在磨药丸, which you then have to swallow in liquid for the first few months after surgery when your stomach is too sensitive to manage the digestion of whole tablets and capsules.

我要花一整天的时间把所有的药片都吞下去. I had to take my multivitamin, thyroid meds, calcium, Prilosec and Cymbalta. All the pills had to be ground into a powder that I could mix with pudding, yogurt or applesauce. 它很难下胃，而且味道不好. 这种情况持续了几个月.

The hair loss was also really hard, but it grew back after a couple of months. 手术后脱发是很常见的. I think it has something to do with your body going through a major change. 这是一个短期的负面副作用. And compared with the improved overall health effects, it was not bad at all.

术后生活中最美好的部分是什么?

我很正常，我能适应各种地方. 之前, 当有人邀请我去他们家吃晚饭什么的时候, I was afraid they wouldn't have a chair big enough for me to fit into. 我觉得我哪儿都去不了. 我甚至不再去杂货店买东西. 我让我丈夫帮我买了所有的东西.

My husband is from Egypt, and we used to go there every couple of years and visit his family. Eventually I stopped going because it was too uncomfortable to fly. 去年8月，我又去了埃及. 我能钻进我的座位，使用小桌板. 这是一种很棒的感觉.

你对未来有什么目标吗?

好吧，我想减肥. 我继续减肥. I've lost 185 pounds and I have 2 pounds to go to reach my goal of 150 pounds. 我最初的目标是130磅, but now I can see that I would be much too thin at that weight and below a safe BMI.

我的十大赌博平台排行榜，加州大学旧金山分校减肥和移植外科十大赌博平台排行榜. (Andrew) Posselt, was wonderful and continues to be a supportive part of my recovery. He has encouraged me to seek out plastic surgery because he knows that having all the leftover skin (after weight loss) degrades how I feel about myself. 他是对的. It changes how I look and now I want to be the one in control of how I look. 他了解我们的想法.

What advice would you give to other people considering weight-loss surgery?

手术对我来说是个奇迹. 我会告诉别人:“一年后你就会像我一样." People look at 200 extra pounds and think, "I'll never get it off.“但是你可以。. 你必须为自己去做.