- Men's Health, Women's Health, Wellness, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogLife has changed for Scott Zimmerman. He has a new attitude and outlook on life. He feels 20 years younger now that he is 70 pounds lighter and no longer needs treatment for diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and sleep apnea. How did this husband, father of two teens and HVAC specialist at AAMC do it? Last April, he had weight loss surgery. “The moment of truth came when I thought I wouldn’t wake up to see my kids,” says Scott, who knew his health was going in the wrong direction. “This wasn’t so much about weight loss as it was about health gain and getting back my energy. Now I want to do things and not just sit around the house,” he says. “I’m enjoying life again.”
- Men's Health, Women's Health, Wellness, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogWhen she saw her July 2012 vacation picture, Melissa Staud of Harwood knew she had to make a change for the better. She weighed 275 pounds and knew she needed to lose weight to improve her life and her health. “I honestly tried on my own to lose weight, but I wasn’t successful no matter what I tried, even Weight Watchers and working out at the gym,” says the 34-year-old. “For me, the problem was portion control, and I also made bad food choices. After vacation, I looked into weight loss surgery and decided it was a good option for me.” In January 2013, Melissa had gastric sleeve surgery, in which a portion of her stomach was removed. The surgery opened a whole new world for Melissa, who acknowledges that people used to treat her differently. “I don’t get stares anymore, and I like the way I look. Now I can bend over, tie my shoes, actually get boots on, and buy clothes from a store.” She’s thrilled to take longer horseback rides and ride smaller horses. “Horses are my passion,” she says. She expected to lose about 50 to 60 percent of her excess weight after the surgery and was pleasantly surprised. “Thanks to the surgery, my complete lifestyle change and formation of new habits, I have surpassed those average numbers and have lost nearly 90 percent of the excess weight,” she says. Not only that, she also eliminated her high blood pressure and sleep apnea. The change required a lifetime commitment to new eating habits. “I cleaned out my kitchen cabinets and restocked with healthy items. I only drink water and decaf unsweetened tea. I’ve learned to snack on fruits and vegetables, use spices to flavor foods [instead of salt], and eat correct portions.”
- Men's Health, Weight Loss, Women's Health, Wellness, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogMarcella Carter has a good reason to drive three hours to AAMC to see her doctor. “I could have found someone else,” the 47-year-old from Williamstown, New Jersey said. “But he’s the top in his field. If he’s in Maryland, I’m going to Maryland.” A well-known expert in bariatric surgery, Alex Gandsas, MD, came to AAMC from New Jersey to build the new Weight Loss and Metabolic Surgery Program. Many of his former patients, like Marcella, made the decision to enroll in the program despite the long drive. “What we are building here is comprehensive. It’s not just about the surgery. Weight loss is a matter of improving a person’s overall health and changing lifelong habits. Here, we support them every step of the way,” he said. Bariatric nutritionists and fitness experts prepare patients for surgery and the lifestyle changes they need to make through the Bariatric Optimization Program. They continue to support and monitor patients after surgery, sometimes for a year or more. “Everybody is here to help you and to make sure you are a success,” she said. For that, the three hour drive is well worth it. Within six weeks of surgery to reduce the size of her stomach, Marcella’s weight has dropped from 318 to 286 and continues to fall. She sleeps through the night for the first time in years, and her blood pressure is on the decline. “If I need to come back and have any type of procedure done, I would definitely come back to AAMC,” Marcella said, “I would recommend it to anybody else as well.”
- Women's Health, Heart Care, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogAt 44, Lynne Powell never suspected a heart attack was coming. For many who know her, it was an astounding wake-up call. The Severna Park mother of two had been a fitness instructor for 15 years. Her blood pressure and cholesterol were normal. Yet one morning she woke with pain in her jaw and a bit of tightness in her chest. She went about her routine and saw her children off to school, but something didn’t feel right. Powell went online to research her symptoms. Surprised to find they met the criteria for heart attacks in women, she called a friend, who insisted that she call 911. “It wasn’t the typical heart attack victim,” Powell says. “And I didn’t want to be overreacting.” But she wasn’t overreacting—she was having a heart attack. “It’s a common misconception that people who are physically very fit cannot develop heart disease,” says Marco Mejia, MD, interventional cardiologist with AAMC, who treated Powell that day. According to Dr. Mejia, women tend to delay treatment because their symptoms can differ from classic male heart attack signs. Women may feel unusually fatigued or have shortness of breath or a general feeling of being unwell. Powell’s ambulance team performed an electrocardiogram, and when she arrived at the AAMC emergency department, she was rushed to the cardiac catheterization lab for an emergency coronary angiogram. The imaging allowed Dr. Mejia to see that her arteries were narrowed across a broad area with no localized blockage to clear, so he determined that medication was the best treatment. The rapid response and quick diagnosis is part of a program called C-PORT, which AAMC adopted nearly 10 years ago. It requires a specialized team of physicians, nurses, and radiologic technologists who are on call 24 hours a day to rapidly evaluate and diagnose cardiac patients. “The C-PORT program saves lives,” Dr. Mejia says. “It also improves outcomes by minimizing damage to the heart, which, in turn, improves long-term health.” Dr. Mejia attributes the program’s success to the collaboration of emergency medical services in the field, the AAMC emergency department staff, the catheterization lab, and interventional cardiologists. Their quick diagnosis and rapid response made all the difference for Powell. Eight weeks after her heart attack, Powell returned to fitness instruction and recently added Zumba to her repertoire. “A heart attack was never a consideration for our family,” says her husband, Mark. “It has continued to be a reminder of how fragile and precious our lives are.” A personal story When I had the heart attack, there wasn’t enough information out there about the symptoms of a women’s heart attack. The symptoms are so different from men’s and I decided to get involved in educating in the community because it’s so important. Heart attack is the number one killer of women. I joined AAMC’s philanthropy council for the Heart and Vascular Institute about two years ago. We’re raising money to build a new heart station in the hospital. The current station was designed years ago, but it’s grown a lot in the last ten years. More than 200,000 patients get cardiac care and testing through the heart and vascular unit. So, they want to make the heart station bigger and improve the infrastructure, and consolidate it all in one place. My husband joined the philanthropy council with me, and now he’s on the Foundation Board of the Hospital. He’s someone who believes in paying it forward. He feels that if you have opportunities and resources that you can share with other people then he wants to do that. Obviously, the hospital saved my life, so it’s important to us.
- Men's Health, Women's Health, Uncategorized, Wellness, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogDaniel Fluharty, a weight loss surgery patient, describes his experience and life after surgery. My name is Daniel Fluharty, and I teach both high school and college, and I adore teaching. Growing up I was always fat so—no matter what—I was fat in my head. I was never good enough. If someone were laughing [I assumed] they were laughing at me because of my weight. Even though it had nothing to do with me—they could be telling a joke to a friend—I saw it as me. As a teacher, if kids were talking, they were talking about me. My highest weight was approximately 342 pounds. One of the health issues that I really had to deal with was high blood pressure and some of the medication caused weight gain. I was also pre-diabetic. My family has a very strong history of diabetes and I was close to a heart attack or stroke. I have used weight watchers. I’ve done lean cuisine meals. I’ve been a member of TOPS—Taking Off Pounds Sensibly. When I realized that I needed to do something for myself—I just couldn’t deal with dieting—I thought maybe I should look into gastric bypass. Right now, my weight is approximately 200 pounds. The moment the surgeon who did the surgery said to me, ‘Dan you are at the healthiest you have ever been, you are at the weight your body should be at for your age and your height’— that was it. There’s such a major change. I’m more confident than I was. There are things I’ll do now that I wouldn’t have done before. I have gone cave tubing. I have rock climbed. I’m going to go hot air ballooning. I’ve got a sky diving opportunity. I am as far from being diabetic as you can get. I haven’t had a real headache in seven years. I am a firm supporter in gastric bypass. If I could have, I would have done it years ago. I recommend it, but I’m not going to say I encourage it, because you need to find out first if diets work. But if you feel that you’re ready for it, go talk to the physician. See what you need to do to be eligible and then go for it. Watch the video of Daniel’s interview on our YouTube Channel.
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