Resident Hall Coordinator sheds pounds through gastric bypass surgery

Two-hundred and sixty pounds. Two Justin Biebers.

That's how much weight Jeremiah Kibler said he has lost since his gastric bypass surgery last summer.

Kibler, the resident hall coordinator for Honors Hall, once topped the scales at 520 pounds before deciding to have the weight loss surgery on June 3, 2009.

"I'd been big all my life," Kibler said. "But it was after my dad die. He was overweight, and he had diabetes, and he was a double amputee, that I really started to think seriously about it."

With a family history of diabetes and heart disease, Kibler said he was, in some ways, lucky because even at his biggest, the only health problem he suffered was high blood pressure.

"He was on one medication for high blood pressure and within a week of the surgery, he was off of it," said Keisha Kibler, Jeremiah's wife of six years.

Jeremiah said his doctor always warned him that his "luck" would run out eventually.

The surgery, known as the Duodenal Switch, was performed by Dr. John Husted, in Sumerset, Ky. The surgery generates weight loss by restricting the amount of food that is absorbed into the body through a re-routing of the intestines.

The Duodenal Switch is considered one of the more drastic forms of gastric bypass and is only performed by a minority of bariatric surgeons.

Jeremiah said that for someone who was as overweight as he was, it was really the only option and that any other procedure would not work as well.

After the surgery, Jeremiah spent four days in the hospital and was on restricted activity for the following 10 weeks, with a liquid diet for the week after surgery and a blended diet for two weeks after that.

The surgery was not covered by insurance and cost $32,000.

"It was very frustrating, dealing with the insurance," Keisha said. "But everything worked out, and now when we pay the bills, that's one check that I don't mind writing because we've gotten so much from it."

Before his surgery,

Jeremiah's diet consisted of Chinese food, buffets and soda.

"I could really pack it away. I could drink a case of Coke a day," Jeremiah said, adding that he was in denial about a lot and didn't think that he had an eating problem.

"We would spend anywhere from $20 to $30 a week on soda," Keisha said.

For two weeks before his surgery, Jeremiah was put on a liquid protein diet.

"Looking back, those two weeks before the surgery were probably the hardest part of this whole journey," Jeremiah said.

Keisha agreed, saying that unlike some protein shakes that people add peanut butter to, Jeremiah was not allowed to do that.

"I don't eat as much now. I eat much smaller portions, now. Keisha and I will share meals a lot," Jeremiah said.

"I can't drink coke anymore, nothing carbonated, which might be one of the things I miss most."

The surgery not only changed Jeremiah's physical appearance, but changed every aspect of his life.

"He has a lot more energy now," Keisha said, adding that he's happier with himself and it has made his personality better.

Allison Miller, a second year graduate student in education, has worked with Jeremiah for five years in the Honors Hall. She said the surgery only brought about positive changes.

"He was a great boss before the surgery but now he's got a lot more energy," Miller said.

"He's able to be even more involved. He always had a lot of energy, but now it's out there for everyone to see."

For Jeremiah, the changes have come in many ways.

"This summer, I rode my first rollercoaster since I was probably 12," Jeremiah said, adding that it's the first rollercoaster he has ever ridden with his wife.

Before Jeremiah's surgery, he had to have special accommodations when traveling to conferences for work, such as two airplane seats.

"This summer I went to a conference, and I only needed one plane seat. I was really excited," Jeremiah said.

"They're so many things that people take for granted that I'm able to do now. I'm like a little kid in a candy store. Except without the candy bar."