The scale tells a story: success story comes from Northwest weight loss surgery hub

Garfield resident Patricia Lukens knew her life needed to change; she just didn’t know it would change during a visit at MultiCare Deaconess Hospital, where she was told she had five years to live if she didn’t change her eating habits.

That was 15 years ago.

Lukens took the advice to heart and underwent weight-loss surgery at Deaconess, which is one of the largest hubs for weight-loss surgery in the Northwest, said Deaconess nurse practitioner Megan Vulcan.

“We do about 500 surgeries a year,” Vulcan said. “We have three surgeons and two medical bariatricians. We have a whole medication program that is fairly new.”

Lukens had weighed 334 pounds when she underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. Now 71, she has kept her weight between 149 and 180 pounds.

The most popular surgery is the Roux-en-Y procedure, a gastric bypass surgery that creates a smaller stomach pouch to help with weight loss. The surgery uses staples to make the stomach smaller and connects the top of the small intestine directly to the stomach while connecting the lower part of the small intestine farther down, bypassing the main part of the stomach and upper portion of the small intestine. The surgery requires patients to reduce their food intake and calorie absorption.

Only 1% of people in the U.S. who qualify for the surgery end up having it, Vulcan said, even though it has an 80% success rate.

The surgery worked for Lukens because she was consistent, Vulcan said.

“I became the real me after the surgery,” Lukens said.

Before the surgery, Lukens had never been able to shop for clothes in her size in a store. She hated asking for a seatbelt extender on airplanes and found herself squeezing her arms to her sides, desperately trying to make herself smaller. Lukens hated going out or drawing attention to herself – when she did, she felt all eyes on her. Everything changed after she lost over 100 pounds post-surgery.

Lukens quickly got two tattoos: a gecko on her shoulder and a Celtic sisters tattoo on her ankle. She isn’t afraid of being seen anymore, Lukens said.

Since her surgery, Lukens has traveled all around the world. She took a hot air balloon ride and rode a camel in Egypt, swam in Greece and walked old cobblestone streets in England. Those trips, most of which Lukens has taken alone, would never have happened if she hadn’t lost weight and gotten surgery.

“People say this is the easy way out. It’s not. They have no idea,” Lukens said. “It’s a lot of work. If you’ve lived a lifetime being heavy, you know everything you need to do. The surgery helps you not eat as much.”

People like Lukens come to Deaconess because of things they can no longer do, not because of the number on the scale, Vulcan said.

Medication and surgery are not a replacement for behavioral changes – they are a stepping stone to get people to a healthier place, Vulcan said. Surgery often produces around 50% of what people need. Sometimes, that means surgery. Other times, that means medication.

Medications like Ozempic and GLP-1 were not available when Lukens was navigating the world of gastric bypass surgery 15 years ago. Those medications now help people who are obese or have diabetes.

“Our role is to walk next to the patient,” Vulcan said. “There are many ways to get to your goal. It might be a lifestyle or medications or surgery.”

Lukens had struggled with her weight since elementary school.

“A lot of it was emotional eating. I’m very sensitive, so I pick up on people’s feelings and I think I was compensating by just eating,” Lukens said.

She had tried everything – eating carrots and celery for lunch, Weight Watchers, Take Off Pounds Sensibly – but when Vulcan gave her a dose of the grim reality, Lukens was ready for surgery.

Her story, Vulcan said, proves that it’s never too late to change.

The “330-pound Pat was really brave,” Vulcan said. “She wasn’t weak. She was really, really brave and we need to honor her. She’s why this Pat is here, because she was brave enough to try. And not everyone is willing to try.”