Aaron King - CHI Health Bariatric Surgery Patient

CHI Health Bariatrics Program: www.chihealth.com/bariatrics
Hello, my name is Aaron King. I am a patient of the bariatric weight program at CHI Health Immanuel. I started my journey in September of 2018, and went through the whole program. I had my surgery, which was full sleeve gastrectomy, in July of 2019.
What was the best thing about the program?
I think the best thing that I took away from the bariatric program is just the overall support system. Whether it was from the staff, to the doctors and their consultations, their assistants, and also the folks that give advice and share experiences at the Bariatric Support classes that we have monthly. It's very valuable to the program.
What challenges did you face on your journey?
Some of the challenges that I faced going through this was basically uncertainty. The whole program is a mindset change. It's not just one simple thing. You can get into a rut, and you think you are doing everything you can. You can get into denial and make excuses, and I think the biggest part of bariatric surgery is just changing your mindset. For example, I had to take advice from my doctor and know that I’m doing this for healthy reasons. You do these things prior to actually having the surgery; you can't make the decision to have the surgery and then change. You have to change your mindset prior to surgery, and so some of the challenges that I had prior to the surgery was what I was putting into my body and holding myself accountable for that. I also had to learn to not listen to the outside pressures or comments such as, “No that's not necessary.”
What have you learned about yourself?
Some of the things I learned about myself going through the program is that I'm a stronger person. I don't need to make excuses of hiding behind food to be happy. I find other things to be happy. I don't have to listen to negative comments, or punish myself if I do get off track. There are just lots and lots of resources available out there to use to get back on track. I always track my food intake and hold myself accountable for what goes into my body. One of the things that I did before surgery was I drink tons and tons of soda, energy drinks, things like that. So be mindful of what you put in your body. Believe it or not, writing everything down helps. You don't realize how much not having structure will get you off of what your plan is. I think just sitting down and thinking about it, even if it's on a weekend day and writing down what your week looks like, or that morning when you get up and do a little mini-meditation helps you focus and move forward.