Bariatric surgery is the tool she needed to begin living a healthier, happier life
Some families aren’t defined by blood – they’re defined by love. That’s how it was for Diane Merzbach who was adopted at birth. Merzbach didn’t need to share DNA with her family for them to be her family; however, there was one thing she and her family didn’t share that did weigh heavily on her – her weight struggles.
“My adopted family is my family and they never made me feel anything otherwise,” Merzbach says. “However, it was hard to not feel like the odd duck when they were all super fit and in shape, and I wasn’t. I carried more weight than them and because weight wasn’t something they struggled with, it was something that always made me feel like I stood out.”
Merzbach’s weight struggles began when she was a teenager and followed her into adulthood. Despite actively trying to lose weight, doing so had been an ongoing struggle.
“Despite being active and eating right, the weight was stubborn and wouldn’t budge,” Merzbach says. “The only time I saw a decent amount of weight loss was after undergrad when I started a job at a horse farm that involved extensive physical labor and long hours. Because I was working 14-hour days, seven days a week, I wasn’t consuming the calories my body needed, which is why I was seeing weight-loss results.”
However, as soon as Merzbach went back to a normal life, the weight came right back on.
“Being that the only time I saw success with my weight loss wasn’t sustainable, I knew there was something more going on,” Merzbach says.
Merzbach was determined to find out why what worked for everyone else to lose weight didn’t seem to work for her. As it turns out, finding this answer is where her DNA did matter.
Weight-related familial ties
Because Merzbach’s adoption was an open adoption, she had the opportunity to reach out to her biological mom when she turned 18. What began with emailing back and forth blossomed into a solid relationship over the years. It also held the key to her weight-loss struggles.
When Merzbach met her extended biological family, she realized something major – in regards to her weight, she didn’t stand out. Many members of her birth family shared the same weight struggles as her. That’s when it clicked for her that there was a genetic connection.
“While unhealthy diets and inactivity are major factors in being overweight, genetics can play a role as well,” says bariatric surgeon Richard Boorse, MD, with Lehigh Valley Institute for Surgical Excellence. “Research suggests that genetics account for 40 to 70 percent of obesity’s heritability, with a person’s genes influencing factors like appetite regulation, metabolism and body fat distribution – making some people more susceptible to weight gain and retention than others.”
This realization brought Merzbach so much clarity. “I felt this validation that there was more to my weight struggles than just diet and exercise. There was a genetic component and the only way to drastically change myself is to take drastic measures,” Merzbach says.
That’s when Merzbach decided to explore bariatric surgery.
Moving forward with surgery
While bariatric surgery was something Merzbach had thought about prior to her revelation, she felt “it was a cop-out” and she was determined to achieve weight loss without surgery. But now everything was different.
Before moving forward with surgery, Merzbach did her research, starting with talking to some of her friends who had the surgery. “I asked them a bunch of questions, one of which was if they regretted the surgery, and not a single one of them said they did. Their only regret was not doing more during recovery. So I knew, if I followed the rules and stuck with it, bariatric surgery was going to help me change my life.”
In March 2023, Merzbach underwent a gastric bypass – a procedure that assists in weight loss through restriction and malabsorption. Dr. Boorse performed Merzbach’s robotic-assisted bariatric surgery using minimally-invasive techniques, which result in less scarring and a faster, easier recovery.
Adopting a new way of life
At 368 pounds, Merzbach took the first step toward changing her life. Now, a year and a half after surgery, she’s down 157 pounds and she’s beyond grateful she decided to take that first step.
“Since losing the weight, I not only am no longer prediabetic, but I have so much more energy and am able to keep up with my stepsons,” Merzbach says. “I’m no longer saying ‘no’ to doing things because I’m too afraid I will slow down my friends and family.”
While Merzbach was an active person before this surgery, she’s even more active now. “Day-to-day activities aren’t hard anymore and I’m not getting out of breath. In fact, I now have to actively find more strenuous activities to make me out of breath,” she says.
As a result of her weight loss and lifestyle change, Merzbach’s husband and three stepsons are getting healthier, too.
“Our family eats a lot healthier now,” Merzbach says. “I’m able to use the knowledge I’ve gained to help teach my stepsons how to have a healthy relationship with food as well as the importance of eating a well-balanced meal.”
Having gone through the process, Merzbach can attest that bariatric surgery is not “the easy way out” as some people think.
“Going through this experience is not easy and it takes a lot of time, mental energy, guts and drive to do this,” Merzbach says. “Bariatric surgery is a tool for changing your life, but it’s you who must put in the hard work and who has to actively change your relationship with food for this to work. If you can’t try to change your diet and commit to this fully, bariatric surgery is not going to be the miracle worker it can be. While hard, it’s 100 percent worth it.”
Ready to begin your weight-loss journey? Visit LVHN.org/weightmanagement to get started.
This post is a sponsored collaboration between Lehigh Valley Health Network and Lehigh Valley Style.
