Bolingbrook Couple Tips Scale In Their Favor With BMI Surgery

BOLINGBROOK, IL— While many local residents may have struggled to keep the pounds off during pandemic isolation, a Bolingbrook couple decided the time had come for them to drop the weight they knew was holding them back from enjoying life to the fullest.

So, on the same day in 2020, Susanna and James Ellexson entered surgery at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox and a year later, weigh a combined 356 pounds less than they did before undergoing the procedure.

The couple both underwent weight loss surgery within a few hours of each other on a summer day after coming to grips with the weight that they had carried for so long. Their reason for wanting to discover a healthier lifestyle was simple: They wanted to be around for their adult children and the two children under age 10 the couple adopted.

Both Susanna and James said their weight had become too much to bear. James, 49, tipped the scales at 400 pounds while standing just 5-foot-11. Susanna, meanwhile, was five inches shorter than her husband and yet, weighed just a few pounds less, the hospital said.

“It was tough getting around,” said Susanna, who works in early childhood education. “I had arthritis in both knees. I had trouble walking to my car in the parking lot.

“We have two grown children and adopted two eight years ago. I couldn’t keep up with them. We realized we wanted to not only take care of ourselves, but be able to take care of our children.”

In the year since undergoing bariatric minimally invasive (BMI) surgery, known more commonly as gastric bypass, the couple has shed 356 pounds. The couple admits that they tried other diets, including a recent effort with Weight Watchers, through which Susanna said she dropped 70 pounds while her husband lost 45.

But James said that the couple then got “lazy” and fell back into bad habits and quickly found themselves back to where they started. They figured, “why bother," said James, who works as a human resources director.

“This is the way it’s always going to be,” they thought, James said.

The couple then attended a program at Silver Cross presented by Dr. Christopher Joyce. He and Dr. Brian Lahmann have performed over 10,000 weight loss surgeries at Silver Cross Hospital, which has the only program in Will County that has been named a MBSAQIP accredited center–Comprehensive and Blue Distinction Center for Bariatric Surgery, the hospital said.

The Ellexsons decided that they wanted the gastric sleeve surgery, which changes the shape and size of your stomach and reduces the amount of food you eat at one time. But they also knew they needed to do it together.

The couple learned they would have the same high-protein, no-carb, low-calorie diet a few weeks before surgery as they would following, to make sure their bodies could prepare for the change.

Susanna said James, who usually handled the cooking when they didn’t eat out, helped ease them into the major change by preparing those meals for them before surgery, and had them waiting for them after.

“This really would not have been successful without James,” she said in a news release.

The couple each underwent the surgery on July 13, 2020, with Joyce performing both surgeries. The couple left the hospital the next day and prepared for the journey that awaited them.

James now weighs 218 pounds and is pretty satisfied with life now that he has lost nearly 200 pounds. Susanna says she has a little more work to do at 212, especially in toning up, according to a hospital news release.

The couple admits to some friendly competition during their journey, which, James said, also helped keep them honest. They weighed themselves every week at the same time on the same day to get a good baseline.

“At one point, each of us lost exactly 177 pounds, James said, which prompted them to keep losing weight together to the point they are now.

They lost enough weight that James was able to buckle his airplane seatbelt on a trip to Florida, with five inches to spare. Susanna is enjoying the little things, like being able to bend down to tie her shoes, and has much more energy, the hospital said.

While weight loss represents a different journey for everyone, James said that the couple has found their own path to success.

“We really work hard to find alternatives: keto pasta and taco shells, for example,” he said. “We found low-carb, sugar-free chocolate treats to curb our cravings. That helps keep things more normal and easier to follow.

“Gastric bypass is a great tool. But you really have to change how you think about food. And you have to keep it up.”