Ken Pytlewski
For many years Ken Pytlewski of Lockport was a Real Estate broker successfully managing two offices in the southwest suburbs. Weighing 340 pounds, he was always stressed about getting rest so he could produce quality work at his high-intensity job. However after losing 140 pounds in a little over 12 months as a result of weight loss surgery at Silver Cross Hospital, Ken is more self-confident than ever before in his life.
“Since surgery, my energy level has increased tremendously. I am able to maintain a higher productivity level and manage my time better, since I don’t need to fit in time to rest,” said the 44-year old. “I have a new sense of calmness and normalcy to my daily work routine in regards to organizing projects and scheduling appointments – simple tasks that most take for granted. And, I now communicate more confidently with people, due to my renewed sense of self and healthy lifestyle.”
Prior to his weight loss surgery, Ken suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, requiring him to take 4 medications daily. In addition, his diabetes was advancing to the point that the next step would be to take daily insulin shots. Ken could see that his current weight was starting to make his greatest fear of the disease worsening a reality. For years, he has watched his mom suffer from the advanced stages of diabetes enduring blindness, a prosthetic leg, and a colostomy bag. So he used his mom’s health struggles as an inspiration to motivate himself to lose weight. And now his health has improved immensely since his surgery. He no longer takes any medications or suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
“In addition to improving my physical health, I also have a fantastic sense of peace knowing that my wife, Cindy, and our three children, Megan, Morgan and Zachary, won’t have to watch me suffer from severe health complications due to having advanced diabetes like my beloved mom has endured,” said Ken. “By losing over 100 pounds, I have shown my children how to make better life choices and they have learned from my past mistakes.”
Once Ken decided he needed to get serious about losing weight, he began talking with others. He asked his physician, what weight loss method would be a viable option for him. Dr. Singh recommended Ken to attend one of BMI Surgery’s free informational sessions. Prior to attending the meeting, Ken visited BMI’s website at www.bmisurgery.org and recognized one of the people in the patient videos as his co-worker. So during the next work day, he asked her about her experience, and she happily shared some tips with him. “Through my entire journey the biggest support I received next to the help from my family and friends, was the comfort I felt knowing so many others around me underwent successful weight loss surgery,” said Ken.
Ken was very impressed with BMI Surgery’s program after the free informational session. “After talking with Dr. Christopher Joyce and his staff who were all so knowledgeable, they all made me feel so confident that I could actually have successful long-term weight loss as long as I was willing to follow the program.” With their support, Ken committed to the workout and diet plan and underwent gastric bypass weight loss surgery on August 27, 2012.
Ken claims his weight loss success resulted from the help he received from a variety of places. “Through the entire process, Dr. Joyce and his staff were always so resourceful,” shared Ken. “Also the nurses at Silver Cross Hospital were so helpful during my surgery and hospital stay.” “Further, by eating meals on smaller plates to control portion size and being more aware of what is written on food labels, my entire family began eating healthier too.”
