Revision Surgery: Amber’s Amazing Comeback

Patient: Amber 

Age:  36

Would you believe a woman at three hundred pounds would transform into excelling in three fitness arenas - including walking through fire in a Spartan Race ? This is Amber's journey.

Height: 5’1” 

Highest Weight: 300 lbs. 

BMI: 56.7

Current Weight: 130 lbs.

BMI: 24.6

Goal Weight: 130 lbs.

Bariatric Surgery: gastric sleeve (different surgeon) 

Surgery Date:  August 2017

Revision surgery: due to gerd: gastric bypass - immediately got rid of gerd (acid reflux)

Revision surgery date: November 2023 

Largest Size: was wearing elastic pants

Current Size: 4

Weight related diseases: Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) 

Medications: Wellbutrin

Preliminary Procedure: Gastric Sleeve

When Amber woke up one morning and couldn’t walk due to back pain, she was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease at the hospital. The doctors told Amber she'd lose her ability to walk if she didn't lose the excess weight. At the time of Amber's first bariatric procedure, a gastric sleeve in August 2017, she weighed 300 lbs.

Losing half of her original weight, Amber went down to 150 pounds after the gastric sleeve. As she lost weight, Amber became increasingly active.

What started as strength training at the gym led to Olympic weight lifting, becoming certified in personal training, and mastering archery during Covid when the gyms were closed. Extremely dedicated, Amber even continued Olympic weight lifting into her third trimester when she was pregnant.

After giving birth in May 2023, Amber faced two significant obstacles: 

• Pregnancy Weight Gain: Before pregnancy, Amber weighed 150 pounds. After giving birth, she gained 70 pounds, putting her weight at 220 pounds. Struggling to lose excess weight postpartum is common for women. According to a study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology, after a year postpartum, more than 20% of women weigh 20 pounds or more than their pre-pregnancy weight.
  

• Severe Acid Reflux: After her pregnancy, Amber struggled with severe Gastroesophageal Reflex Disease (GERD), which was unable to be resolved with lifestyle changes. 

Revision Surgery with Dr. Korman

Due to the GERD and postpartum weight gain, Amber met with the surgeon who performed her original gastric sleeve. Knowing she was a candidate for revision surgery, he referred Amber to Dr. Korman.

Meeting Dr. Korman

Highly regarded for his expertise and surgical skills for both bariatric and revision procedures in Los Angeles and Southern California, Amber placed her trust in Dr. Korman to perform the surgery.

Her first impression of Dr. Korman was that he is empathetic, patient, and kind- all qualities patients look for in a surgeon. Amber admits that she wishes Dr. Korman had “been my surgeon both times.”

Revision Surgery Postpartum

When Amber underwent the gastric bypass revision surgery three months later, she was six months postpartum and actively breast feeding. Undergoing surgery while breastfeeding can be very challenging. Amber was able to maintain breastfeeding with the help of Dr. Korman’s team with the exception of the first two weeks post-surgery. 

Life After Surgery

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Diet

Amber focuses on a diet of whole, plant-based foods. Since her pregnancy, she does incorporate more meat into her diet for its high source of protein. 

Breakfast: Comprehensive nutrition shake in proteins, fats, carbs  + vitamins + b12 drink with no sugar. Amber is a big fan of the Vega protein powder, particularly the pumpkin spice flavor. 

Lunch: nutritional shake or protein and vegetables and quinoa or beans 

Dinner: Protein (meat) and vegetables 

Exercise

After Amber’s initial gastric sleeve surgery, she started going to the gym twice a week to do cardio. Wanting to start weight lifting but not having the proper knowledge base, she hired a personal trainer. She increased her activity to working out six days a week: three days of cardio, three days of weight resistance. Amber didn’t stop there. Over time, she tacked on the following accomplishments to her fitness resume: 

• Olympic weight lifting: right before covid, was able to squat 250 pounds

  
  

• Spartan Races:

• Archery: Amber started the sport during covid and has since received three awards and is now a level two coach

• Personal Trainer 

• 2019: filmed a mini-documentary of her weight loss 

• Unrelated to her fitness resume, Amber can add Hollywood to the list: she made a guest appearance on the Netflix show Orange Is the New Black. 

Favorite Things

• MyFitnessPal- to log food intake 

• Apple Watch - Amber uses the watch significantly to track all the available metrics

• Withings Smart Scale - Used at home, this high-tech scale not only measures your body weight, but also generates a full body composition of your muscle mass, body fat percentage, bone weight

• Eteckcity Smart Nutrition Scale -scale to weigh foods and tells nutrition composition that you can upload to phone 

• Lumen- described on its website as the “world’s first handheld metabolic coach.” Amber explains that to use it, you blow into the device and receive data about your metabolism based on factors such as sleep and stress. 

• Vani Hari- Follow @thefoodbabe on Instagram. Vani is a content creator focusing on investigating what’s really in your food and challenging companies that use unhealthy additives.  

Words of Wisdom

“This is a mental health journey more than a weight loss journey. It’s super important to define why you want to do this.”

“Even if your weight plateaus, keep going because your body is still adjusting!” 

“You need to have the proper mindset and be 110% ready.” 

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From Dr. Korman and his staff: Amber, you are a true inspiration!