Greetings from the
Editor
My
name is Jody Abrams. I am sixteen months
post-op. The journey of gastric bypass
for me began at another large Boston
hospital, as this is a popular procedure
now performed at most major medical institutions
and some other ones.
As with most choices one makes, I chose
Tufts Tufts-New England Medical Center
because it was the right fit for me personally.
Like most of us who have arrived at the
decision to have major surgery as means
of dealing with obesity, I came to the
decision because the nerve damage I had
been suffering made it impossible for
me to move. Physically, I couldn't get
out of my own way.
I've been fat all of my life and like
many of you, participated in the colorful
array of diets and programs available
to people of size. In 1986, I had an
accident jumping onto the deck of a boat.
I ripped up my knee. At the time, my
sisters considered it a punishment from
God that I was fat. While convalescing,
I found the National Association to Advance
Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), a human rights
organization that promotes quality of
life for fat people and fights discrimination
on the basis of size. I helped found
the New England Chapter and for the past
15 years I have been working with Representative
Byron Rushing and other legislators in
adding language to the civil law statutes
on height/weight, making it illegal to
discriminate against an individual on
the basis of size or height.
It has been my experience that when
you are subjected to discrimination and
alienation, you either withdraw or you
look for unity in community wherever
you can find it. I chose the latter and
I have been advocating for others and
myself as a person of size for many years
now.
Making the decision to have gastric
bypass surgery for me has come with a
lot of ironies. In the late 90's as a
member of NAAFA, I ran an event in Santa
Monica, California that was televised
around the world called the "Million
Pound March." In addition to the sea
of fat people gathered for this event
on the Santa Monica pier, both Carnie
Wilson and Camryn Manheim joined us.
Both of these women are members of NAAFA
and both of these women spoke about the
pain of growing up fat, about being treated
poorly by others, and about learning
to celebrate oneself. This particular
event was very empowering. There is nothing
like being connected to a group of people
who share the same struggles and triumphs.
Herein lies the basis for this newsletter.
My entire experience at the OCC in Tufts
Tufts-New England Medical Center has
been about connection and it has been
about community. Like many of you, I
remember obsessing about the surgery
and when I was finally going to have
it, I was frightened about being opened
up because I had never had any major
surgery. In my meeting with Dr. Shikora,
I remember him explaining to me that
I had the choice of being opened up with
the traditional procedure, or I could
choose to have it laparoscopically if
I lost some weight. I don't know what
came over me, but right then, I understood
two things; first, the surgery wasn't
all that important, the ability to change
my lifestyle and lose the weight en route
to the laparoscopic procedure was... and
it was thrilling... the second thing was,
I was being involved in the process as
part of the team. This program isn't "being
done to us." We have choices. We are
part of a community.
The ability to achieve community and
connection is of paramount importance.
We have experiences that will connect
us in ways that, while our loved ones
may be able to support are not as fully
understood by those outside as they are
by one another.
This newsletter is a means of bringing
us all closer. I have been speaking with
many of you. People want information
on subjects running the gamut from pre-op
to post-op. Support for those of us who
are single and in relationships. You
want to talk about food. You want to
talk about recipes. You want to share
resources about shopping, exercise equipment,
vitamins, nutrition, clothing swaps... Essentially,
you want to talk about your lives and
what they will be going forward.
We want you to write about yourselves,
your experiences, your struggles, and
your triumphs. We want you to raise questions
and issues that you would like to see
addressed in our forum. We are planning
themes to the newsletter and gearing
articles around those themes and varying
stages in the program. We are hoping
for a great deal of participation because
there are a lot of us here in this community
and all of your voices are important.
The staff of the OCC is part of the community
and will also contribute to the newsletter.
However, it's important for you to know
that this newsletter is patient driven.
I am excited about this newsletter.
I have been talking about wanting to
put this together from the beginning
of my experience with the OCC. For me,
creating community is an important venture
wherever I am. I would like to thank
Dr. Saltzman for making this happen.
This endeavor involves a lot of paperwork
and red tape. It's a hospital after all.
It took months to make this happen, but
Dr. Saltzman persevered. I would also
like to thank Phyllis Thomason and Dr.
Greenberg, who also actively support
this endeavor. I am sure in fostering
this project that they, with the rest
of us, honor the spirit of community
that Dr. Darrell Vogel brought to the
OCC. For those of you who are new, you
will learn more in the newsletter about
Dr. Vogel, who passed away, a year ago
June. Dr. Vogel embodied community and
I am sure that he would have been quite
pleased that this newsletter is finally
getting off the ground. I am sure that
he would be proud of all of us for having
the courage to share a little of ourselves
with one another.
We all came to this program to improve
the quality of our lives. I believe that
enhancing our connections with one another
by creating community also contributes
to our quality of life.
This newsletter is for all of us. I
look forward to hearing from you. If
you want to tell us about yourself, write
a story, share an idea, or ask a question... contact
me at [email protected]. Celebrate
yourself by contributing to the newsletter.
Thanks.
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