As a freshman, April Haler weighed in at 300 pounds. She had tried all the diets, the Zone, the Atkins, the South Beach, but none of them worked to a large extent. Sure, they would help her drop a few pounds, but she was easily discouraged and ate when she was upset, which only made her gain more weight, rather than lose it. The horrible bullying she’s endured doesn’t help either.
“In fifth grade, some boys started taunting me and then pushed me into a huge flower bed by the playground.”,Haler said, “My teacher came over and tried to help me up, but she barely could. When I finally got up, I saw that I had crushed a huge portion of the flower bed. I was so embarrassed.”
This past summer, however; Haler has undergone an operation to get a Lap-Band, a band that wraps around her stomach inside her body and squeezes it when it’s full so that it won’t let more food in. This will help Haler because if she overeats she’ll start to feel sick and might throw up. The band has helped her lose 70 pounds so far and she plans to lose 70 more before the end of summer.…show more content… Jill Powers, a pediatric surgeon, at St. Joseph’s Hospital, “She is sticking to the program and watching everything she eats.”
Dr. Powers says that she does not recommend this drastic measure for most of her patients and that the Lap-Band is for obese- not just a little overweight- people.
Haler says that this year has been much better for her, she’s made more friends and went to her first football game with a group of girls.
“We had a blast. After the game, we went bowling, and I won.” Haler said,“Before I lost the weight, I used to spend Friday nights in front of the TV with a bag of chips and a bowl of ice
