I Had My Stomach Stapled At 14 Years Old. That Surgery Didn't 'Cure' Me - Far From It.

"285 pounds. Forty-three years old. Summer 2024. "Have you thought about GLPs?" my primary care physician asked as she listened to my heart. I laughed nervously. "No, but I am now." Humor has always been my shield. She didn't flinch. "Your BMI is over 40. You're at risk for all sorts of health conditions. Why don't you look into our weight-loss program?" My labs were fine. But that didn't matter. My body size alone was enough to warrant a prescription. I left feeling ashamed, reminded once again that medicine sees fatness as a disease in itself - regardless of actual health indicators."

"In 1995, I was 14 years old and weighed 367 pounds when an endocrinologist bluntly told my mother that I would "likely be bedridden by 20." He described my legs as "enormous" and referred me to bariatric surgery. Soon after, I underwent a stomach stapling procedure that left an eight-inch scar down my chest. At the time, pediatric weight loss surgery was quite rare. But to my doctors, my fat body made it acceptable - even necessary."

"The procedure turned eating into a cycle of pain and vomiting. Food lodged in the tiny passage created by the staples left me doubled over until I threw it back up. I became, in effect, a medically induced bulimic - praised, nonetheless, for my weight-loss "success." Within a year, I had lost nearly 100 pounds. Friends, family and even acquaintances congratulated me. No one saw the violence done to my body or the damage it did to my relationship with food."

A 43-year-old person weighing 285 pounds was offered GLP-1 medications and enrollment in a weight-loss program because their BMI exceeded 40 despite normal lab results. At age 14 and 367 pounds, medical providers predicted severe disability and recommended bariatric surgery, resulting in stomach stapling that produced an eight-inch scar. The surgery led to chronic pain, vomiting, food lodging, dependence on low-texture foods, and disordered eating while prompting social praise for weight loss. Physical intolerances to many fruits and vegetables and long-term dietary restrictions persisted. Medical emphasis on body size induced shame and ongoing health limitations.

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