Monica Freyberg is the living embodiment of before-and-after. “My life before the surgery was boring, uneventful and like a prison,” she said. “After the surgery I have to say I feel blessed, excited and fortunate.” Before bariatric surgery with Arif Ahmad, MD, at the Mather Hospital Bariatric Center of Excellence, the 38-year-old mother of two felt she “was trapped in somebody else’s body.”
Like so many people with weight problems, Gemeli Loney’s life was about limitations – the things she couldn’t do or was afraid to try because of her weight. “There were so many things I always wanted to do that I didn’t have the confidence to do, whether it was something athletic, for example, or trying something adventurous or traveling. Life before was about limitations, some conscious and some self-conscious.”
George Olsen, a retired construction worker and volunteer firefighter, had such debilitating neck pain that he got to the point where he could not move his neck. He was no stranger to injuries, bumps and bruises, having worked in construction throughout his career. But when he was trying to put three vanities back together and…
Lorraine Cannizzaro, a former smoker with a 35 year smoking history, had asthma since she was a child. In 2013, she was struggling to push herself to get things done, she had difficulty breathing. She went to her pulmonologist, Dr. Barbakoff who recommended that she participate in the Lung Cancer Screening Program at Mather Hospital,…
Werner Ulrich, a retired steamfitter and Army auto mechanic, was exposed to asbestos for the majority of his career and later developed asbestosis. Asbestosis is caused by exposure to asbestos and stiffens the tissue of the lungs, making it difficult to breath. He also smoked for years, finally quitting in 2011. Unbeknownst to him, the…
In May, 1995, Frank from Middle Island had his prostate removed as part of his treatment for prostate cancer. He did well for 18 years, but then the cancer came back requiring radiation treatments. In 2016, Frank noticed blood clots in his urine and had trouble urinating. On several occasions, he found himself in the Emergency Department for the bleeding and clotting as the clots blocked his ability to urinate.