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Thanks to weight-loss surgery performed by Medcenter One's Dr. Brent Bruderer, Toni Devaney can now work in her garden.

It’s been a long time since Toni Devaney looked down at a scale and saw the numbers she now sees. “It’s incredible” said Devaney, who is now 130 pounds. “I weigh less than I did when I graduated high school.” The retired Goodrich woman had gastric bypass surgery in August 2003. At her heaviest, she carried 299 pounds on her 5-foot-5 frame and wore a size 28. Devaney, 65, realized she had a weight problem at age 16. “I tried every diet I knew,” she said. “The weight kept coming back.” A myriad of weight-related health problems accompanied Devaney’s obesity. She became

Her quality of life was also affected in other ways.

“I enjoyed canoeing, boating and water sports,” she said. “I couldn’t do those anymore. I wouldn’t humiliate myself by going to the swimming pool. I couldn’t even mow my grass or weed my garden. Two months before I had gastric bypass surgery, I had to hire someone to plant my flowers for me. I decided, ‘No, this is enough.’”

It was a decision that changed her life. She talked to her family medicine doctor who recommended Dr. Brent Bruderer, a Medcenter One surgeon who has performed more than 2,000 successful weight-loss surgeries—more than any surgeon in the region. His patients have collectively lost more than 200,000 pounds. Medcenter One is a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence, a prestigious designation ensuring patients receive support, quality care and excellent results. “Dr. Bruderer was very positive and told me if I was willing to make the commitment, he could do the surgery and give me the foundation for a healthier life,” she said. “And he did.” To be eligible for gastric bypass surgery, patients must be more than 100 pounds overweight

Dr. Brent Bruderer Weight-loss surgeon

“Having a goal and a reason to lose weight, as Toni did, is the first step toward success,” Dr. Bruderer said. “If patients use the surgery as a tool and are committed to following the program, they’ll achieve their goals.”

Devaney weighed 256 pounds before the surgery. She lost 70 pounds within four months and another 10 during the first year. She has since lost close to another 50 pounds.

Critical to success is ongoing support. Medcenter One sponsors a monthly weight-loss surgery support group. Patients also have access to various Medcenter One services to address specific needs, including nutrition counseling and physical therapy. Dr. Bruderer’s nurses are also available by phone to answer questions.

“The monthly support group meetings were invaluable,” Devaney said. “I could learn from others who had faced the same challenges.”

Devaney followed the program, changing her eating habits drastically and becoming more active as her weight fell.

“I stayed away from fatty foods and looked at healthier ways to prepare meals,” she said. “Food no longer was the only important thing in my life. Before, I ate anything I wanted in huge quantities.”

The response of family and friends was encouraging.

“People would say, ‘This can’t be you. You look so different,’” she said.

“It’s a positive feeling knowing I have changed both inside and out.” She is no longer insulin-dependent and has discontinued her high blood pressure medication.

Her sedentary lifestyle is history. She walks and only uses her car when she leaves town. “It’s wonderful to be able to walk around my yard, mow the lawn or pick up a bag of garbage and carry it to the street,” she said.

Said Dr. Bruderer: “When people who have gastric bypass get their weight controlled, it completely changes their lives.”

Devaney and her beautiful flower gardens, which she now lovingly tends herself, are living proof.

Click here for more information on Medcenter One’s weight-loss surgery.