Eydie Garcelon lost her best friend the day she had weight-loss surgery.

The food. The junk food.

Chips, candy and soda pop at one time brought her comfort, day or night, without judgment: all gone.

“When I was happy, food was there to help me celebrate. If I was sad and woke up at three in the morning, food was there for me, unconditionally, to fill in any gaps,” says Eydie of Park Rapids who lost 170 pounds following weight-loss surgery at St. Joseph’s Center for Weight Management.

She has sustained that loss by making behavioral changes, attending support group and nutrition classes, and incorporates exercise into a healthy lifestyle.

When she weighed 323 pounds and suffered from uncontrollable type 2 diabetes, it was evident that food wasn’t such a good friend after all.

What’s incredible for Eydie was that she had been taking two different types of insulin, four times daily, (in addition to six other medications for other life-threatening conditions) in an attempt to control her diabetes.

Two weeks after her gastric bypass surgery on Dec. 7, 2009, Eydie was off all insulin. By week four after surgery she was off all medications once needed to treat her other life-threatening conditions; high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

She is a model example of why weight-loss surgery, in combination with behavioral modifications, should be introduced earlier as a treatment option for morbidly obese patients with type 2 diabetes. The latest position statement from the International Diabetes Federation Taskforce on Epidemiology and Prevention position says as much.

Momentum

“I knew surgery was literally my last chance at life and my only way to get some control of the diabetes,” she says/

Eydie knew she was sick, really sick.

Anyone who has diabetes or has been tested for diabetes takes an A1c test. Normal results range from 4.8 to 5.9. Eydie’s type 2 diabetes number came in above 15. She was told it was “off the charts,” some charts only go as high as 12.

Tears of frustration and fear welled up during an appointment with Dr. Dan Smith, bariatric surgeon, and St. Joseph’s Center for Weight Management bariatric coordinator, Leah Walters, RD, LD, CDE, several weeks prior to her surgery. Eydie worried she wouldn’t live long enough to have the procedure.

(Many insurance companies have policy prerequisites requiring patients to get psychiatric evaluations, lose weight prior to surgery and other stipulations.)

“I was afraid I would die before I could have the surgery,” Eydie admits.

She tried every diet possible, some professionally established and others of her own making. Walking any distance became brutal without suffering from joint pain and increasing lack of stamina. During the day she would sleep so she could have the energy to care for her children when they came home from school.

“When I quit taking care of myself, the weight came on fast,” she says. “The quicker it came on, the less I was able to do. It was a spiral in the wrong direction.”

Anyone who knows Edyie knows she always has a smile on her face, but Eydie will tell you it was a mask during that time in her life.

“I realize it now,” she admits. “I was crying inside. I hurt. I was sad and very, very down on myself.”

She still wears that same smile, but today it radiates from the inside. “I feel it now.”

Weight-loss surgery was the tool she needed to build enough momentum to turn the downward spiral on its ear.

As the weight came off, Eydie started moving. She lifted one leg five times while laying in bed. Then she lifted her other leg five times. It was baby steps at first, but she never stopped moving.

Trips to the gym, strength training, resistance training and toning are all a part of her exercise regime. Walking is now her passion. At one time, Eydie had applied for a handicapped accessible permit because the walk from her van to a store was too much for her to bear. On April 13 she hit her stride with a 4-mile walk. “That’s 12 laps through the school!” she reveled in the moment.

Friendly foods

Eydie used the opportunity immediately following her surgery to kill her cravings for the junk foods she knew were toxic to her system.

“They are my enemy now,” she says. “The pop, candy and chips were actually poisoning me. The important thing for me now is to avoid those foods completely… to not even take one sip or bite of those foods.”

She plays by the rules and is rewarded by the results.

Her new motto for life: Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels.

“And I feel fabulous!”

She is healthier, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. She eats proteins, fruits and vegetables and stays away from breads and pasta, she views them as carbohydrates that trigger cravings.

In combination with a new exercise regime, Eydie notices that even her brain works better. With improved memory, there is more clarity in her thinking. She is better equipped to be more organized and juggle her kids’ busy schedules with ease.

She cringes at the thought of having even one chocolate egg for Easter.

“That chocolate egg didn’t do me any good before. I know one egg will lead to two,” she says. “I am taking control over what kinds of food I eat. As the saying goes, I am eating to live, not living to eat.”

Hope

Edyie knows she has to work to continue to make healthy eating and lifestyle choices for the rest of her life, but doesn’t feel deprived by any means. The opposite, actually, is true.

She is using her experience, motivation and new-found discoveries to enrich her life by helping others who are struggling or suffering from the complexities of morbid obesity.

As a volunteer in St. Joseph’s Center for Weight Management bariatric department, Eydie is available to bariatric patients at any level of their weight-loss journey.

She participates in support groups, nutrition classes, pre-surgical education sessions and is a source of inspiration for them after their surgery. She knows what they are going through.

“There is hope,” she tells others and encourages them to stay focused. She has a pocket-sized photo book of her “before” photos to show them, the ones that weren’t shredded.

Eydie has gone back to school. Her dream is break into the dietary manager-medical nutrition field so she can educate and inspire others. According to her blog at purpleminnesota.blogspot.com, she wants to be able to inspire others and share her passion for good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. She wants to give others a taste of what feeling good is all about.

St. Joseph’s Center for Weight Management in Park Rapids has surgical and non-surgical solutions for bariatric patients. Anyone who would like to learn more about options available can call 218-237-5757.