SWEET success

WEIGHT-LOSS SURGERY helps KACIA get PREGNANT

But when her period was late, Kacia bought a home pregnancy test. She’d been disappointed so many times before that she didn’t expect any other result. “When the test immediately turned positive, I had to make sure I was reading the directions right,” she says.

When Kacia telephoned Shawn at work to share the results, they agreed she needed to go to the local clinic for a “real” pregnancy test. “When the nurse told me it was very positive, I must have looked like a deer in the headlights,” Kacia says with a laugh.

“We didn’t know what do or say,” Shawn recalls of their joyful reunion later that day.

“We never thought it would happen,” Kacia says. “Being pregnant was a life blessing.”

Kacia and Shawn delivered their “miracle baby” on Jan. 4, 2015. They named her Megan and brought her home to her brother, Ryan.

The Enges and their Essentia Health bariatric surgeon, Dr. Daniel Smith, credit Kacia’s pregnancy to her weight loss after gastric bypass surgery in 2010. Kacia, who weighed 275 pounds, had suffered from polycystic ovary syndrome, a condition that can affect obese women and make it difficult for them to conceive. Smith says it is not uncommon for women to be able to become pregnant after dramatic weight loss because of the metabolic and hormonal changes in their bodies.

Kacia didn’t have surgery with the expectation that she’d get pregnant. “I wanted to have the surgery because it would benefit me for the rest of my life and I wanted to be around for my son,” she says. Shawn, who weighed 325 pounds, also decided to have gastric bypass surgery three months after Kacia.

The couple chose Smith and the supportive team at the Essentia Health – Park Rapids Clinic and CHI St. Joseph’s Health Weight Management Center in Park Rapids because of the team’s extensive experience and positive reputation. Even though they live in Gwinner, North Dakota, the couple was willing to travel to Park Rapids, Minnesota. They say Smith and the team have always been available by phone or email to answer questions or resolve any problems.

Kacia, now 40, and Shawn, now 44, learned together how to adapt their diet and lifestyle

LEARN MORE ABOUT WEIGHT–LOSS

You can succeed in losing weight when you use a plan created just for you.

Essentia Health offers both surgical and non-surgical weight-loss programs. To learn more, watch a new educational video at essentiahealth.org/weightlosssurgery after surgery. They say they were well-prepared for the changes by Smith and his staff. “Any question we had, they answered it truthfully and honestly,” Shawn recalls. “We didn’t have any surprises.”

If you are considering weight-loss surgery, you can rely on the supportive team at the Essentia Health – Park Rapids Clinic and CHI St Joseph’s Health Weight Management Center in Park Rapids, Minnesota. To make an appointment, or for more information, call 218-732-2800.

Smith attributes the couple’s success to their commitment to making the necessary changes and their commitment to supporting one another.

“We could lean on each other,” Shawn explains. “It’s a huge learning curve, like starting all over in how you eat and what you eat.”

Kacia now weighs 180 pounds while Shawn is 230 pounds. He’s off blood pressure medicines and no longer has sleep apnea, which had required him to sleep tethered to a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine.

Shawn and Kacia say they have much higher energy levels and can do more of the things they love, such as hunting and fishing. Kacia can better tolerate the heat so she can take her children to the pool or park.

“The best part is that my son can wrap his arms all the way around me when he gives me a hug,” Kacia says.