A New Beginning
How Gastric Bypass Surgery Saved My Life — at the Age of 18
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
I arrived at the hospital at about 6:30 in the morning. I signed in and followed directions to the pre-op room. Five other obese patients were waiting to under gastric bypass that morning. They were all very heavy people, middle-aged, and I was only 18. I was the youngest one there. I'll never forget that morning. Everyone else had their wife, kids, and families with them. I was alone. I felt I was alone all the time, anyway.
The only one I wanted to have with me was my grandmother, who, by coincidence, was in the same hospital on a different floor that day. She had a number of health problems and had a rough time with some of them back then. Although there was no physical member of my family next to me that morning, I knew that mentally my grandmother was with me. Also, I believe my family really cared about me and, despite the early hour, they were thinking about me, too. They knew where I was, but being so early in the morning, they didn't believe I was really, finally going to have the surgery. At that hour, everyone was half asleep, so the facts just didn't register.
When I was wheeled into the operating room, the anesthesiologist put a mask on my face and an IV in my arm. She told me to count backward from 10, but I didn't do that. I just said a silent prayer that either the surgery would be performed successfully and I would lose weight and become the person I was meant to be or I would die during surgery. That's what I asked God for: Don't let me wake up to continue living the same life I'd been living for the past 17-plus years.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
In A New Beginning, Lee Joel Tiru courageously opens his heart and mind to the emotional and physical challenges he faced as a morbidly obese youngster and teenager. While it is no longer uncommon for one to admit to being fat, it is quite rare for one to lay oneself open, so the reader can sense his heartache and desperation and share equally in his joys and triumphs.
Lee Tiru knows whereof he speaks; he offers a textbook example of how to set a course for changing one’s life and for reaching – and exceeding – powerful life goals. He does not beat the reader – perhaps equally obese as he once was – over the head to change, but lays out reasonable challenges nonetheless to leave the reader with hope that there is life beyond misery. His words are applicable to any of life’s difficulties: set a goal and persevere, always mindful of victory.
About the Author
Lee Joel Tiru is a human phoenix, rising anew from a childhood that teased and tormented him. For those who know him, that deliberate, dramatic transformation should come as no surprise. His secret weapon in taking on life's challenges has always been to believe in himself. Indeed, he practices what he preaches. He exudes self-assurance and demonstrates ambition beyond the norm. His physical rebirth opened a new world in which he continually strives to realize his full potential in business, friendships, and family, imbuing him with well deserved poise and pride.