CityView Magazine

34 Januar y 2023 FEATURE I n 2004, Kristen Wilkey was diagnosed with a medical condition that caused her to gain about 100 pounds in a year. To lose weight, she tried dieting, fasting, clean eating, the keto diet, and working out five to six days a week. Nothing worked. Aer 10 years working at Cape Fear Valley Health, most recently as the program administrator for the General Surgery Residency, she knew where to turn for help. But she was hesitant to consider weight loss surgery. "Before my weight struggles, I thought gastric surgery was the 'easy' way out and also had the misconception that it was for people who were too lazy to lose weight,'' Wilkey says. "Aer 15 years of fighting, I saw how wrong I was.'' Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, Wilkey has lived in Fayetteville since 2008, when the Army brought her family here so she could be closer to her parents. She has three children. Her oldest daughter is 24 and an orthodontic assistant in Myrtle Beach. Her son is 22 and will graduate from the military's Advanced Individual Training in January aer which he will be stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland. Her younger daughter just turned 12. Six years ago, Wilkey was at the end of her rope and decided to look into gastric surgery. She knew she had to do something for herself and for her family. "I was petrified about having surgery, but the more I read and researched, the more convinced I was that the procedure was safe and maybe my only hope," Wilkey says. She consulted Ijeoma Acholonu Ejeh, a general surgeon with Cape Fear Valley General Surgery and a fellowship-trained bariatric surgeon.. ey determined the gastric sleeve was the best option for her since she did not have an excessive amount of weight to lose. "For my personal circumstances, the sleeve was the better route,'' Wilkey says. "I take a daily thyroid medication, and the incidence of malabsorption is much less with the sleeve.'' 'Take back your health' Kristen Wilkey is more active, regaining confidence after gastric sleeve surgery BY JAMI MCL AUGHLIN HEALTH Kristen Wilkey consulted Ijeoma Acholonu Ejeh, a general surgeon with Cape Fear Valley General Surgery and a fellowship-trained bariatric surgeon. They determined the gastric sleeve was the best option for her since she did not have an excessive amount of weight to lose.

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