'Life's better,' says AtlantiCare bariatric surgery patient 20 years later
March 16, 2022
For Immediate Release: March 15, 2022
“You don’t wake up one morning and say, ‘I want to weigh 300 pounds.’ Obesity is a disease process,” says Laurie Paxton. She was among the first people to have weight loss surgery at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center’s Center for Surgical Weight Loss.
This month, the center is marking 20 years of helping individuals achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
Paxton had gastric bypass surgery October 30, 2002.
The team told me up front that the surgery would contribute to 10 percent of my weight loss,” she says. “They said 90 percent of my getting to, and maintaining a healthy weight would be up to me.”
Paxton, a registered nurse, was working in AtlantiCare’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the time of her surgery. She says having the procedure changed and saved her life. (Hear Paxton’s story here.)
“I made the decision shortly after having my third child,” she explains. I was 298 pounds at the time. As a nurse, I knew how bad diabetes can be. I wanted to avoid getting it. And I wanted - and needed to be healthy for my family – and myself.”
Paxton says she reached her goal weight within a year.
“Weight loss surgery is not a quick fix,” she stresses. “You must make lifestyle changes if you want to be successful with it. I am grateful for how comprehensive the center’s program is and how dedicated and supportive the staff are.” Based on her experience, she joined the team for part of her AtlantiCare career, before returning to the NICU.
“I believe that if I had not had the surgery and made so many healthy lifestyle changes, I’d be well over 300 pounds,” says Paxton. “I’d probably have needed hip or a knee replacement due to the stress this weight would have put on my bones.”
“Laurie was our 37th patient to have weight loss surgery,” says Alexander Onopchenko, MBA, M.D. FACS, FASMBS, founding and current medical director of AtlantiCare’s Center for Surgical Weight Loss. “She is an example to others of how and why it is important to treat obesity. As her physician and former colleague, I am proud of the hard work she has done to be healthy.”
“I was always an energetic person, but I have even more energy for my family, and friends,” says Paxton, who recently moved to Tennessee.
“Obesity is a disease process, and I don’t think a lot of people understand that. Before I was quiet and shy and stayed to myself,” says Paxton. “Since I decided to have surgery and make healthy lifestyle changes, my life is so much better.”
Since opening in February of 2002, AtlantiCare’s Center for Surgical Weight Loss team has performed more than 6,360 weight loss surgeries. It began by offering Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. It has evolved the bariatric surgery care the team provides to include sleeve gastrectomy, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch, all of which it offers laparoscopically - or minimally invasively, and revision surgery. In December of 2020, AtlantiCare became the first hospital in the southern NJ region to offer robotic weight-loss surgery. Since then, it has provided more than 160 weight loss surgeries robotically. It recently introduced a new Medical Management Plus program for those who might not qualify for, or might not want to have surgery. Visit www.atlanticare.org or call 1-888-569-1000 to learn more.
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AtlantiCare is an integrated healthcare system based in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, whose more than 6,000 staff, providers and volunteers serve the community in more than 100 locations in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May and Ocean counties of southern New Jersey. Its vision of building healthy communities together drives its mission of making a difference in health and healing, one person at a time, through caring and trusting relationships. A Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winner, AtlantiCare was also included in Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work. AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center was the 105th hospital in the nation to attain the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet™ designation in 2004 and earned redesignation in 2008, 2013, in 2018. Learn more at atlanticare.org or 1-888-569-1000.
