'I found myself after 51 years.' How UK HealthCare's Weight-Loss Surgery program saved a life.

Kendra Griffin walks three miles a day. She can’t recall a time during the first 50 years of her life when her physical activity was higher.

Kendra underwent a bariatric procedure at the UK HealthCare Weight-Loss Surgery Clinic following months of consultation with her women’s health doctor. To say it was life-altering would be an understatement.

“Depression was kind of taking me down the road of not having that desire to get up and go, to the point where I just didn't really want to function,” Kendra said. “So, I said, ‘Let's do the surgery. Let's just try it.’ And 70 pounds down later, it's been the best decision I've ever made. 

“The weight-loss surgery program saved my life.”

More than skin deep

Weight loss isn’t simply about aesthetics. According to the World Health Organization, obesity is understood to be a disease and not a lack of willpower or poor habits as was once perceived.

About 500 million adults around the world are affected by obesity; 34% in the United States alone.
While losing weight does affect your appearance, it’s the long-term health benefits from bariatric surgery that matter most.

A plethora of comorbidities – including heart disease, diabetes and sleep apnea – only further compound the dangers associated with obesity, so the UK Weight-Loss Surgery Program’s multi-disciplinary team of surgeons takes into account each patient’s individual needs when considering their course of care.

For Kendra, it was undergoing a partial hysterectomy that made it difficult to maintain a healthy weight. 

While working as a medical assistant at the UK Gill Heart & Vascular Institute, Kendra witnessed firsthand how struggles with weight can impact so many aspects of a person’s mental and physical health. Her own struggles were beginning to take a toll — she was diagnosed with sleep apnea and high blood pressure after her hysterectomy — so she attempted several diet and exercise programs. None succeeded.

Kendra knew something had to be done about her weight if she was going to enjoy the kind of life she wanted with her family, especially with the young granddaughter she and her husband are helping raise. 

“She was a big part of me deciding I had to get healthy,” Kendra said. “I wanted to make sure I’d be here for her and be able to be an active part of her life. I knew I had to stop my health from spiraling out of control.”

So, in May 2021, Kendra began exploring the possibility of weight-loss surgery with Dr. Sarah Oros, a UK HealthCare women’s health primary care physician.  

Dr. Oros connected Kendra with Dr. Joshua P. Steiner, UK HealthCare’s director of bariatric surgery. A weight-loss program team including a nurse practitioner and dietician helped develop a plan to prepare Kendra for her procedure and position her for life-long success in meeting her weight and health goals.  

This extensive process includes a consultation with a provider, a dietician, a psychologist and potentially others based on the needs of the patient. Several months of dietary and lifestyle changes are also required before any surgery takes place.   

Kendra underwent health screenings to confirm the procedure would be safe, and counseling to ensure she fully understood and was mentally prepared for what she was getting into.   

“They really went out of their way to make me comfortable and explain everything,” Kendra said. “I knew I was going to be in good hands with Dr. Steiner.”  

Once she and her health care team were on the same page, Kendra’s bariatric surgery was performed by Dr. Steiner in January 2022.

‘I found myself’

Following her procedure, Kendra enthusiastically embraced the plan outlined by her support team from the weight-loss surgery program, meeting her diet and exercise targets. Patients with the UK Weight-Loss Surgery Program are supported by a team of providers for long-term follow-up care to help them remain healthy and successful along their journey.

By her post-surgery three-month checkup, Kendra had lost 36 pounds. One month later, she was able to discontinue her medication for high blood pressure. By her seven-month checkup, Kendra was down 61 total pounds.

“Kendra went from very unhealthy to beyond healthy. She had several comorbidities and all of those are completely resolved,” Dr. Steiner said. “She’s over 50 years old and doing as well as any 20-year-old patient. She’s really doing phenomenal, and I’m so happy for her.” 

Kendra credits much of her success to the support she’s received from her family, and from the UK HealthCare Weight Loss Surgery program — which remains an integral part of a patient’s journey well after surgery is complete. 

Weight-loss program patients have access to a wide range of helpful resources to keep them on the path to success, including support groups and follow-up care.

“I had the best care,” said Kendra, who now works with the Weight Loss Surgery program, whose clinic is located at UK HealthCare - Turfland. “Dr. Steiner takes such good care of his patients. His whole team is amazing, and that is so important. When you go through a life-changing surgery you want to make sure you have a team around you, and you aren’t just a number … I was totally taken care of.”   

January 2024 marked the two-year anniversary of Kendra’s weight-loss surgery. She’s enjoying an active life with her family — keeping up with her energetic granddaughter, exercising regularly and feeding her passion for yard work and landscaping. 

Kendra’s achievements illustrate the unique ability of UK HealthCare’s Weight Loss Surgery program to set patients on a path to improved lifelong health.

“We have four surgeons with over 70 years of experience who have trained all over the United States,” Dr. Steiner said. “We treat our patients with compassion. We have everything in place to take care of them safely and comfortably in a way that makes them feel valued, and make sure they succeed.”      

Kendra is also happier with her physical appearance than she was before undergoing weight-loss surgery. The best change, though, can’t be weighed by a scale or reflected in a mirror.

“I found myself after 51 years,” Kendra said. “I never really knew who I was before now.”