Nation-PYP-25-0605-EP 253

Jason Smith: [00:00:00] Hi. Welcome to Nation, where we support the bariatric community with humor, humility, and honesty.

April Williams: You've just tuned into a podcast that welcomes you into a community, a resource center, and a safe place that powers your [00:00:15] journey towards personal wellness.

Natalie Tierney: Our goal is you leave us today feeling hopeful, inspired, and ready to live your best bariatric life.

April Williams: Hey friends. [00:00:30] Welcome to the BariNation podcast. If you are listening or watching this episode on the day that it dropped or the week that it dropped, we are at A-S-M-B-S. We are in Washington DC representing you the patient [00:00:45] voice at the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons. And we are thrilled because we got an invitation to speak on one of the main panels on the last day of the conference.

And it is all about lifting shame and stigma around [00:01:00] revisional surgery. And funny enough, we have two revisionists on the screen with us today. We're really excited to, to have this voice and to have this presence there. Um, and to speak on a topic that means so much to us, [00:01:15] not just because Jason and Nat are revisionists themselves, but we have so many members of our community and listeners of this podcast that are revisionists.

Themselves. So the topic is on how we can lift shame and stigma, but Jason and Na, you guys really [00:01:30] worked through that shame and stigma. You pursued revisional surgery and now you find yourself in a completely different stage of life. So what has Revisional surgery allowed you to do now that you are kind of on the other side of that shame and [00:01:45] stigma?

Natalie Tierney: Oh, okay. I'm not used to that. I have been able to do a lot in terms of just everyday life, I think is, is the biggest one. But, [00:02:00] um, really traveling has always been a huge passion of mine. Uh, but being 400 pounds, right? I. Couldn't fit in a seat. It wasn't comfortable. My body, it took a toll on my body. Um, I would swell a lot.[00:02:15]

Uh, just the list goes on. It was so uncomfortable for me to do that. Um, and since losing over 150 pounds, I'm like, oh, I can fit in a seat pretty comfortably. I can, I don't have to splurge on like a premium seat or a first class [00:02:30] seat to feel comfortable. I can sit on the, the safer seats if I need to. Um, it's just overall.

A better experience in general. Um, and it's very near and dear to my heart. My grandma traveled a ton and I always [00:02:45] wanted to be able to do what she did, meeting people and seeing new places and having all of those experiences. So for me to be able to, to travel, uh, within the US over the last almost five years has just [00:03:00] been incredible.

I, I have traveled to places I never thought that I would. See, um, and I'm excited. We're going to New Orleans this, this fall, and that's another space that I, I've never, uh, seen before. So definitely just the [00:03:15] traveling, the airplane travel, the walking, the, um, being able to wear things that I want to wear while I'm traveling, feeling comfortable enough to just say yes and go on these adventures has been just immeasurable.[00:03:30]

Such an experience. Yeah.

April Williams: Yep. And it's important to call out this, this is what you're experiencing after revisional surgery. So you had your initial atric procedure, went back, had a revision, and life has been really completely different for you [00:03:45] after that. We hear people talk about all of these benefits, right, that they get with their initial procedure, but you really had to fight through that shame and stigma to pursue.

A third atric surgery for you to really be able to access this, this travel joy [00:04:00] in your life.

Natalie Tierney: Yeah. I had the, for anyone who doesn't know and any new listeners, uh, I had a lap band in 2009. I was 350 pounds at age 15. Um, so I had the LAP band. Huge success until I had [00:04:15] really severe complications, had to have a revision to Plication, which is a, I call it like a pseudo sleeve.

So instead of removing my stomach, they kind of rolled it up and sutured it into a sleeve shape. Um, and then [00:04:30] I gained all my weight back. And then some, I went all the way up to 403 pounds. That was my highest recorded weight. And, uh. That was a point in my life where I was like, okay, I gotta figure this out.

I was 27, I think, [00:04:45] 26, uh, and just thought, man. I, I can't do this anymore. I can't be 403 pounds and travel and do all the things, uh, that I want to do. My grandma had just passed away, and so we were just reminiscing about [00:05:00] all of the amazing adventures she had gone on, and I thought, man, I've always wanted to do that.

And then I. I realized the body that I was in and I thought, man, I can't do that if I'm this way. I can't live a long life, almost 90 years old being four, [00:05:15] three pounds. So yeah, it was definitely a turning point. Uh, decided to have VSG that September of 2020, and it was the best decision I could have ever made to, to leap over the shame and stigma, like you said.

[00:05:30] Um, because my first two surgeries failed and I thought that I was a failure. I thought, oh. Oh, well, I'm just meant to be 400 pounds my whole life and it just is what it is. And then something in me just thought something has to change. I, I'm [00:05:45] gonna give it one more shot, one last shot. Uh, and it was the best leap of faith.

If you're watching, I have a little poster that says Leap of Faith. It was the best group of faith that I could have ever taken, so, yeah.

April Williams: And at [00:06:00] this year's conference, what we're really focusing on is what practitioners can do, right? To help people. Patients lift that shame and stigma. And what we're really talking about is it's, it comes down to three things.

It is right, building trust with [00:06:15] your patients, it is connecting them with a peer support community. And then it's that ongoing education. Those three things are things that practitioners can really lean into. To help their, their patients, their, uh, their friends [00:06:30] move, move through that. And I know that both of you guys really tapped into those things as you were moving through your revisional process.

So if a practitioner can help you get there, it's really important that I think we talk about what patients can do with the life that they've been given. [00:06:45] Jason, you just got back from an amazing vacation in, in Hawaii and you were doing things that you could not have done before Revisional surgery.

Jason Smith: Yeah, no, absolutely.

Um, you know, much to Matt's point about sitting in an airplane seat, the, our flight was 12 hours. 12 hours one way. [00:07:00] And we ended up, uh, about 14 and a half hours coming back because we had some issues with this. One of the planes we flew on, and, uh, we sat on the tarmac with that one for over an hour, and I never would've been able to do that before.

Being in, in [00:07:15] Hawaii and, and waking up with a six hour time difference. So waking up what would've been two hours earlier than I normally wake up to go to the gym, to go to the gym while I'm on vacation, still have the strength, the stamina, the all the [00:07:30] things to be up the rest of that day going and, and walking.

You know, we stayed in a 62 acre resort and. Transportation for you. Like you can get on the tram, you can get, you know, all these different things you [00:07:45] can get around. But we didn't like, we, we did a couple of times, but we chose to walk the majority of the time. Like we would walk to dinner, we would walk after dinner, we would walk around and just check the place out because a lot of places you couldn't get to by the train would get you to like the general area.

But to be able to [00:08:00] go explore those things.

You know, there was the first couple of times I did it thinking, oh my gosh, this is so far. What am I gonna do? You know, how am I gonna do this again and again and again? Well, then I got to looking at it like the more times I did it, I was like, listen's even that [00:08:15] far. And then I go to find out, like when I started think, I was like, oh wait, I've got a tracker on my phone.

The tracks my steps. We started tracking stuff. I'm like, there was a day we, 13 day around. [00:08:30] With within the confines of, of where we were, but that was after a full workout at the gym, was almost two hours long. Getting up two hours early, doing those things and being able to still do all that, have the energy to all of those things.[00:08:45]

Never would've happened even after just regular, you know, when, after I had my VSG and started, you know, experiencing, you know, weight recurrence and having the, you know, some of my comorbidities coming back and some of those that never left, there's absolute, like I wouldn't have made the [00:09:00] flight, let alone being able to walk around the gym like that.

Or walk around the gym, walk around the resort, walk around, any of that. So I wasn't going, I didn't even know anybody named Jim when I had my vsg. Like I was, that's how far removed from the gym I was. But it really got to a point [00:09:15] where, you know, and you know, to your point, talking about practitioners, you know, who are helping us, like it was a practitioner who convinced me that I could have, that I was worthy of that revision.

Wasn't because I messed up. It was [00:09:30] because it was a.

There's to, because there are a lot people out there who still feel necess.

In that's case. That's what it was. [00:09:45] And it is that that way for a lot, for a lot of people. But for a lot of people, the medical necessity is weight recurrence because the sleeve only gets so far in certain cases. And that's really one of the biggest things as far [00:10:00] as stigma goes that I've had to deal with as a revisionist to say the, you know, post office people.

Oh, I thought that was only for people that had complications. What was your complication on weight recurrence? That was it. Like I didn't get as far with a sleeve as I wanted to. This was an option. It [00:10:15] was told to me by my surgeon that you. These, we go through the chronic disease talk, we go through the, it's never going away.

It's gonna try to outsmart everything we throw at it. We just have to have those tools in our tool belt to be ready to fight it. And if [00:10:30] we're not ready for, if we don't have these conversations loudly, openly, and honestly, people are gonna be blindsided. Like Natalie and I were. And that's just not something that I want for anybody in the community.

I know that neither one, you know, neither one of you're the same. You're [00:10:45] both the same. None of us want that. So I, these conversations are vitally important

April Williams: and the fact that well shout out to, to Dr. Joe Cribbins, he's the one that's presenting with us at A-S-N-B-S. It's because he is so real [00:11:00] and honest and open to having these.

Casual, but serious conversations with patients. It allows us the patient to drop that shame and stigma. I know Dr. Joe and his team work really hard on ensuring that the patient [00:11:15] education that they have for, for their practice, I is constant. They're using patient friendly language. They are on patient. Uh, platforms, right?

They're, they're open, they're visible, and they let people know that there's nothing wrong with you. You are battling a [00:11:30] lifelong, chronic, and progressive disease, and it took that conversation. I know for you, Jason, to get on the other side of that shame and stigma. And it's just so enjoyable. It's just so awesome for me to be able to see how much more of your life is now accessible to [00:11:45] you.

Because you busted through that shame and stigma. You said, Nope, I need to continue this treatment. It took a village, it took a lot of people. Um, but you were able to get it done. And at this year's conference, that's exactly what we are, [00:12:00] are presenting and I just have to take a moment and recognize it's because of.

All of the people that we've been able to interview on this podcast that we have been given this voice at the A-S-M-B-S. We've interviewed experts from Advent Health from the Kentucky [00:12:15] atric Institute, Dr. Anne Rogers, the current president of the A-S-M-B-S has been a guest on our podcast twice. Next week you guys are going to hear from the incoming president of the A BS, Dr.

Ey, Dr. Pesa, Dr. [00:12:30] McMahon. I mean, I could go on and on. Is. Is extensive, and because those practitioners got a little bit out of their comfort zone and decided to join us on this Patient Voice podcast, these messages are now being [00:12:45] heard by more people and more practitioners, and that is what helps lift the shame and stigma.

So we just wanted to take a moment to thank all of the practitioners that have joined us on the podcast and thank all of the patients that have been brave enough to share their story, like Jason and.[00:13:00]

We're moving the needle on shame and stigma, and we are just so, so thankful for that. So friends, if this podcast resonates with you, or if any one of our podcast episode has resonated with you, please share it [00:13:15] and reach out to those practitioners and let them know that you appreciate that they have taken the time to share their story and education on the Berry Nation Podcast, it takes a team, takes a village, and we are just so thankful to be a part of it.

All right, Jason. Matt, [00:13:30] what's the one thing that you're hoping people may be considering revisional surgery or who have had revisional surgery know, or leaving this episode with?

Jason Smith: I said it for a very long time. A lot of, I've said this before, like a very long time, and myself and, and [00:13:45] the shame and the, and the stigma just enveloped me in every way, shape, or form and was inflicted and.

Natalie Tierney: Absolutely. I agree with that a hundred percent. Also, just [00:14:00] ask your surgeon. Ask them, ask them how they can guarantee that this is going to make your metabolic health, your life better. Um, just like Jason, it took a practitioner [00:14:15] returning my phone call and sitting and having an hour long conversation answering all of my questions.

Don't. They want to help you. And, uh, if you feel like they don't find another [00:14:30] surgeon, there are so many practitioners. Uh, you can go on the ASM BS website and search for surgeons in your area, um, that are ready to, to help you. But ask the questions, reach out to your surgeon. Um, I say this all the [00:14:45] time in the Very nation support community.

Our medical professionals are practitioners. They work for us, so we ask the questions. We need the support, we need the care we have to be the ones to initiate.

April Williams: Yeah, definitely could have said it. Could [00:15:00] have said it better myself. All right, friends. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next time. Hi

Jason Smith: everybody.

April Williams: Hi friends.

That wraps up another empowering episode of the Bari Nation [00:15:15] Podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, keep the conversation going by joining the Bari Nation Membership community where you can attend live support events, access on-demand resources, and find a caring community.

Natalie Tierney: Join us@ barination.mn.co.

If you [00:15:30] found this podcast valuable, help us produce it by becoming a $5 monthly supporter at barinationpodcast.com.

Jason Smith: And just remember at the end of the day, you've got this. We've got you. And we'll see you next time. Bye [00:15:45] everybody.