Baptist Health bariatric patient loses 113 pounds with surgery and lifestyle changes

Paula Woodford, of Paducah, was just plainly missing out on life. She felt "too fat" to be seen in public and, therefore, stayed in bed most of the time watching TV.

Paula Woodford, of Paducah, was just plainly missing out on life. She felt “too fat” to be seen in public and, therefore, stayed in bed most of the time watching TV.

It took her adolescent daughter to wake her up.

“All she had ever seen me do was lie around,” Paula said. “When she turned 13, my daughter told me, ‘Mom, you never get out of bed.’ I realized then that wasn’t right for her to see.”

Her daughter’s observation was the motivation Paula needed to make a change. At 43, the mother of two had never really seen a doctor, except for a recent diagnosis of sleep apnea because of her extreme fatigue despite hours of sleep.

With her daughter’s encouragement, she headed to Baptist Health Paducah Weight Loss in mid-2016. For the next six months, she began going to the gym and modifying her diet.

Surprisingly, I had to eat more,” she said. “Ironically, I was never a big eater, I never drank soda. But I also had no structure in my diet, and my metabolism was off. I had tried diet after diet, but this time, I began eating several small meals a day. The more I ate regularly, the more weight I lost.

By December 2016, she was ready for a sleeve gastrectomy, performed by Dr. Anthony Davis.

A little over a year later, she is amazed at the difference in her life. She lost 113 pounds, she got a job, she works out daily, she no longer needs her sleep apnea device, she feels energized and, best of all, she feels like getting out of the house with her daughter. As simple as it sounds, this is her new happiness: “We go places and do things.”

For one whose weight had kept her confined to the house for years, that is remarkable.

It hasn’t been easy, she noted. “Some people say, ‘Oh, you took the easy way out with surgery.’ Well, it’s not easy. You have to be willing to change your life. I was, and I did. And I am so grateful my daughter sees me the way I am now.”

The Baptist Health Paducah Weight Loss Team will host a free information seminar April 3. Reservations are required at: 270.443.4519.