Meet Dawn

A year after her gastric bypass surgery, Dawn’s nurse practitioner checked her pulse and asked an unexpected question: “Have you always had a low resting heart rate?” Dawn laughed and said, “No! I had high blood pressure!” Her nurse said, “Well, your heart rate is 48, but we sometimes see that in athletes.” Dawn laughed again – “I’m thinking, whatever!” But as Dawn described her exercise routine, her nurse said, “Well, you are an athlete.” And it finally hit her: “Wow! I’m an athlete! I never, ever would have considered that before.”

Since her gastric bypass surgery with Providence Center for Weight Management, Dawn has lost more than 80 pounds. She no longer needs any blood pressure medication. She no longer needs the CPAP she used for sleep apnea. And her osteoarthritis is so much better that she’s started running. Today, she runs a 5k five days a week. “That was a major goal for me,” she says. “Major.”

As her health and pain have improved, so has her energy. Recently, her husband commented, “You never sit down anymore.” And Dawn realized, “I don’t have to anymore. I’ve always been an active person inside, but my body limited me. Now it doesn’t.”

Dawn turned 50 just before her surgery. That was a little over a year ago, and today she wishes she’d had the surgery sooner. “If I could have lived my 40s, or even my 30s, the way I’m living my 50s…it’s amazing. I’m just so grateful.”