"From the Belly of the Beast"

From Philly.com  (MICHAEL HINKELMAN / Staff Photographer)

I honestly am not a fan of the Philly cheese steak sandwich, but I am not sure I have ever  had a true representative sample.  Coming close in our area, I would imagine is the Morette's steak sandwich, yet I am sure the 'Philly' aficionados would take issue with that comparison.

Check out this story out of Philly, from the heart of the Philly Cheese Steak country, and an icon of the storied business to boot, of a man who is in the process of making a drastic change in his life.

You know what they say about making a change in your life, by making a life change.

Even if you may dwell in the 'Belly of the Beast'.

He is the third generation owner of Geno's, and even his son is named after the family business. Cheese steaks are their game.

At 40 y/o,  5'6" and 336 (BMI of 54.2) he decided to make a change in his life, to essentially save his life and his life's business, and had LapBand surgery.

His story was detailed in a recent article in the Schenectady Gazette, as picked up from the Philadelphia Enquirer.

It's a great read, and peppered with similarities of many such stories of patients that are overweight, in need of a change in lifestyle, and make that decision to make a definitive change by having weight loss surgery.

It details how entrenched in his lifestyle he was prior to making the decision, the sentinel event that led him to look for a definitive surgical solution, some stinging memories of how he was treated by others based on his obese appearance, his recent development of comorbidities, and his plans for the future as he is down nearly 100# and on his way to a healthier approach to life.

Take a look - remind you of any of your patients who are lost in their lifestyle, with seemingly no way out of their weight and increasing disease states thus far?

There may be another option.  The remainder of their story is yet to be written, but we have a good idea how it may end up, if some kind of durable change is not enacted in the near future, surgical or otherwise.