varieties of rice because they seem to expand in her stomach pouch and cause mild pain. She also has decided that if she can’t eat very much, she will make the most of what she does eat by using fresh ingredients and packing each meal with flavor. Never, she says, have fresh zucchini, beans and other vegetables tasted so good. Her fiancé, Daquan Thomas (she calls him a gentle giant), continues to lose weight, as well. “He’s been amazing throughout this whole process,” Grant says. “He took a week off work without pay to stay home and look after me. He stayed both nights at St. Joseph’s sleeping in a chair. If I needed anything, he was just there. That speaks volumes about his character.” It’s now mid-November—nearly six months since Andrea Grant awoke from the June surgery that, as she suspected, would change her life. When she was rolled into one of St. Joseph’s operating rooms for the hour-long gastric bypass surgery with Dr. Baranov, she weighed more than 300 pounds. Today, she weighs 225 pounds—well on the way to her goal of 180 pounds. She has settled into her regimen of metered eating and has become used to a stomach that is threequarters smaller than it used to be. She’s exercising regularly, too. But right now, there’s something else on her mind besides her weight and her two jobs— her April 14 wedding to Thomas—a year and two days after her first information-packed meeting with Dr. Graber’s practice. Enough has changed now, Grant says, that her friends—both close and casual—have witnessed what a difference gastric bypass surgery can make in a person’s life. She was facing collateral health problems before the surgery, but those are gradually waning. A new set of “problems” now face her, but they bring smiles to her face. With her weight dwindling steadily, it’s difficult to predict what size wedding dress she’ll need next April. She has finally found a bridal salon willing to wait until very close to the service before settling on a size. There will still be some alterations needed here and there, but those are the problems that any young woman doesn’t mind facing. “My friends tell me that in a few years that final wedding gown won’t even fit,” Grant smiles. “I tell them I’ll wear it when I’m pregnant.” Her mother will be making the wedding cake, but Andrea has no problem with that, either. She just plans on eating the tiny morsel that her new husband will feed her for the photographers. These wedding plans bring smiles to Grant’s face, but when she discusses the surgery, she takes on a serious mien, again considering, perhaps, Robert Frost’s figurative “Y” in the road that she faced only months ago. “I could have taken the other road just as easily,” Grant says. “I already had clues where it would lead—guaranteed health issues the rest of my life. So do you stay with the road you know even though it will probably have dire consequences, or do you take the unknown path? I knew there were risks along the road less traveled, but I chose to imagine a bright, serene meadow at its end.” And that has made all the difference. l
www.sjhsyr.org
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Shopping for gowns on Sept. 23 for her April 2012 wedding, Grant is more interested in the style of dress than the size as she continues toward her goal of losing 140 pounds overall.
winter 2011
ONE FREE HOUR WITH A ST. JOSEPH’S PHYSICIAN
Weight Loss Surgery: When Is It the Best Option? Presented by William Graber, MD, FACS Board-certified surgeon specializing in weight loss surgery (most insurance plans accepted) n Learn what qualifies as obesity n Review how obesity affects health n Find out when surgery is the best option n Review what can be expected after surgery
Monday, Feb. 27, 2012 at 6 p.m. St. Joseph’s Medical Office Centre Suite 809-810 104 Union Ave., Syracuse, NY Free parking Monday, March 26, 2012 at 6 p.m. Northeast Medical Center 5th floor conference room Medical Center Drive, Fayetteville, NY Free parking Space is limited. Register at 315-744-1244 or email community.programs@sjhsyr.org.
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St. Joseph’s hospital Health Center
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caring Connection