Richard knew he had to do something about his obesity when he found himself always short of breath and forced to give up even routine and important activities. Surgery seemed like a dramatic step, but one he was ready to take.

When friends asked Richard about the risks of surgery, he answered, “Look what I’m doing to myself now—I’m slowly dying now. I just refuse to give up. I’m going to do something.”

He attended an information session at the Weight Loss Surgery at Kettering Medical Center and Kettering Medical Center-Sycamore Hospitals Center and was surprised to hear from so many people who had shared his situation.

“Everybody there has been in the same boat as you. Those folks… have been your size before,” he said. “It’s comforting… You feel like, ‘Hey, I can do this!’”

Before surgery, Richard weighed at least 370 pounds and had trouble climbing a single set of stairs. Now he’s shed most of his excess body weight and doesn’t think twice about racing up several flights.

“It’s just made a tremendous difference in my life. You take a shower, you put your clothes on—everything’s just so much easier now. I can’t tell you how much nicer life is in general—just everything. They have given me back my life.”

Even something as simple as hugging his granddaughter has been affected by his weight loss. “It’s nice to grab and hug her and actually hug her rather than have her hang on the front of me!”

At first, Richard hesitated to tell people he’d had weight loss surgery, but then he decided to go ahead and spread the word. “Surgery has worked real well for me, and I’m confident for most people, it will work for them, too.”