Nursing Student Loses Weight and Gains Healthy Habits with Bariatric Surgery

Ravyn, a 25-year-old nursing student, was always overweight, despite living a very active childhood. “I was very active in sports – I participated in basketball, track, dance and marching band,” said Ravyn, “It was never noticeable to me that I was overweight until I was in high school. That’s when I saw that I was bigger than everyone else. During routine check-ups, my blood pressure was not consistent, and I was prediabetic.”

In 2019, at 19 years old, Ravyn’s highest weight was 326lbs. In order to learn healthy habits and take back her health, she enrolled in the Henry Ford Weight Management Program from May to December of 2019, under the guidance of Dr. Puraj Patel.

“Ravyn was so young at 19 years old with so many years of life ahead of her and so many opportunities awaiting her. I encouraged her to enroll in our Weight Management Program to gain some formal education in diet and lifestyle management,” according to Dr. Patel.

In the Weight Management Program, Ravyn gained tools to manage her weight while being a busy college student. She also learned more about bariatric surgery.

Considering bariatric surgery

“I had been considering getting bariatric surgery, so I talked to a family member who already had it. They lost a lot of weight and highly recommended it.” Ravyn admitted “I shouldn’t have been waking up with joint pain at 19 years old. Being so young, it was something I needed to do to prolong my life.”

In January 2020, at 20 years old, Ravyn had a robotic sleeve gastrectomy. During this procedure, a small stomach pouch or sleeve is created to decrease the amount of food it can hold. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy typically takes about one to two hours and patients are able to go home to continue recovery within a couple of days. Ravyn recovered well from the surgery but now the real work was on to change her eating habits and lifestyle.

Over the course of a year, Ravyn lost 120 pounds while continuing participation in the weight management program until June 2020. “The surgery was a great tool for me, and I managed to lose a lot of weight. I ended up having surgery to remove my loose skin in August of 2021,” said Ravyn.

Not the easy way out

Bariatric surgery has a stereotype of being the easy way out for many to lose weight. Ravyn reflects, “deciding to do bariatric surgery is by no means the easy way out. There is so much that comes with that surgery that no one knows about. There is a lot of prep work prior to surgery you have to work through, and then once you have the surgery, your eating habits change immediately. You have a higher chance of vitamin deficiencies and have to adjust to how quickly your body begins changing. I really encourage people to exhaust all other weight loss options before trying bariatric surgery.”

Dr. Patel added, “I don't think that bariatric surgery is magic, nor should it be seen as "taking the easy way out.” There's a lot of hard work involved in the process. Following the steps of the program and having surgery itself is such a small part of the commitment to a lifestyle change. Patients really need to consider the change in mindset necessary to do well after surgery and maintain the weight loss after all is said and done.”

A new beginning with new habits

With the help of the gastrectomy and the tools she continues to use from the weight management program, Ravyn has now lost over 150 lbs.

In 2023, she began an accelerated bachelors of science in nursing program at Madonna University, and Ravyn began gaining some weight back. “When I had the surgery, I was in my sophomore year at University of Michigan. I graduated and decided to go back to school through Madonna University’s accelerated nursing program. Nursing school got very busy, and you really just try to stay afloat, so I didn’t stick to healthy habits very well at first,” Ravyn confessed, “I have had to be very mindful to keep snacks on me at all times and ensure I am eating small meals when I can.”

Now, Ravyn regularly sees the weight management program to hold herself accountable to healthy habits and to not gain the weight back. “I am so glad I have stuck with the program and used the tools that are available to me. The team has been nothing but supportive and available to me whenever I need them.”