About Kate and Her Struggle with Weight
A current resident of Houston, Kate, 33, looks back sadly on a lifetime of struggling with her weight – a seesaw of gaining and losing and gaining again. The successful account manager for Expedia Travel has always been passionate about travel and considers herself a true “foodie.”
“I love good food, 12-course meals, and delicious wine pairings,” Kate says. “These don’t fit well with weight loss, which may partly explain why losing weight has been a challenge for me.”
Kate can’t remember any time in her life when she was actually at a healthy weight. She lost the same 100 pounds about three to four times over the last 15 years but never had long-term success.
“It became a vicious cycle,” Kate explains. “I would go through phases where I would work to get healthy by going to the gym and limiting calories. I would maintain this for about a year, and then some sort of life crisis would happen, and I would gain it all back.”
More Health Challenges for Kate
At age 19, Kate was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a female hormone condition that leads to menstrual irregularity, excess hair growth, acne, and obesity. This took an added toll on how Kate looked and felt. Kate tried countless weight loss strategies – including working with a nutritionist and a personal trainer, engaging in several different exercise crazes (i.e. boxing, biking, Pilates, and boot camps), eating a low-calorie and low-carbohydrate diet, and juicing.
“When I was juicing, I got so weak that I fainted in the shower, so that was a moment of clarity for me,” Kate says. “I realized I could not lose weight on my own. No matter how much research I did or how many weight loss articles I read, I never really understood how to lose weight. Through therapy, I finally admitted it was time to do something else. I needed another option, like a tool that would help me achieve my long-term goals.”
Kate Learns About ESG
By this time, Kate was feeling desperate for a solution. She was turning 30 and worried that she’d never again be able to shed the 100 pounds she’d lost several times before.
Mentally and emotionally, she was in a dark place – but continued to research her options. For most of her adult life, Kate had the idea of weight loss surgery in the back of her mind, but when she finally looked into it, she learned she’d actually have to gain more weight just to qualify for coverage.
Finally, everything clicked for Kate when a specialist she was working with for her PCOS recommended she see a gastroenterologist for an endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG), a non-surgical, incision-less, minimally invasive procedure to reduce stomach size.
“As soon as I heard about ESG, I was mentally ready to take a leap of faith,” Kate says. “The lack of side effects, shorter recovery, and much lower risk for complications (as compared to other invasive weight loss surgeries) were appealing to me. I didn’t have a lot of added health complications due to my weight, so for me, it was more about safety. I liked that they wouldn’t be cutting any part of my stomach, but what really appealed to me was the idea that ESG would serve as a tool that could be with me 24/7, unlike trainers and dietitians, who can’t be with you all the time.”
Initially, Kate consulted with a local gastroenterologist and was impressed that the doctor had performed around 55 to 60 ESG procedures in her career. She booked her ESG for December 2022.
“Once I scheduled the procedure, I needed to know what ESG was actually like and what life was like afterward, so I joined some ESG communities on social media,” Kate explains.
“Many patients were discussing their experiences, and I noticed a theme. Most of the success stories were coming from patients of True You Weight Loss and Dr. Christopher McGowan.”
