(BPT) - Kyra Williams is a wife, mother of two and English professor who leads an active life in Baytown, Texas. However, this active life took a backseat when she moved from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Texas in 11th grade. At the time, the move to a new town and high school left her feeling down and stopping some activities, like dance and cheerleading, that she once enjoyed.

"The first time I tried to diet was that same year, when I was hoping to fit into a dress for my school's homecoming dance," recalled Kyra. "It didn't work because I was so inactive. That's when I thought, I need to lose weight." This began years of diet and exercise that left her with few lasting results other than feelings of disappointment and gnawing hunger.

In college, Kyra gained about 50 pounds. Throughout her adult life, she tried numerous fad diets and workouts, starting a cycle of weight loss and weight gain. After the birth of her son and daughter, Kyra struggled even more to lose the weight she gained during her pregnancies.

It was around this time that Kyra started looking at options beyond diet and exercise for weight loss. Knowing that she wasn't interested in bariatric surgery, Kyra spent the next seven years researching alternatives that might help address her weight loss challenges.

Kyra is not alone in her struggle to lose weight. Forty-two percent of American adults live with obesity, a complex condition that can lead to health issues such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers.¹ The FDA approval of GLP-1 receptor agonists for weight loss has prompted much-needed conversation around the nature of obesity, reframing it not as a stigmatizing issue of "willpower" but as a medical problem that can require medical approaches.

"It's not that I ate horribly, I would just eat too much, and I felt like I was always hungry," explained Kyra. "So, the idea of limiting my stomach capacity was very appealing."

While searching online, Kyra came across an innovative new approach called endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG). Like the more traditional bariatric surgery, ESG significantly reduces the size of the stomach. However, unlike bariatric surgery, ESG is an incisionless endoscopic procedure. It does not involve any external incisions or leave scars. In a clinical study, patients returned to normal activities within a few days.²

After talking with her doctor about ESG, Kyra decided to move ahead. "This was exactly what I'd been looking for," she says. She had her procedure in August 2020, using the OverStitch™ Endoscopic Suturing System, a small suturing device attached to a camera that is passed through the patient's mouth and into their stomach while they are asleep. A specially trained doctor sews the stomach into a smaller shape, reducing its capacity by 70% to 80%. The procedure helps people eat less and feel full faster to help them achieve significant, lasting weight loss when combined with diet and lifestyle modifications.²

Kyra was able to return home the same day. Along with a healthy diet and exercise program, Kyra lost 110 pounds in her first year.* "I made up my mind that ESG was going to work for me, and I was going to do everything possible to get the results I wanted," explained Kyra. "I can still eat what I want, but I exercise and am conscious of what I eat. When I eat too much now, I feel a tightness in my stomach that serves as a helpful reminder not to go back to my old habits."

Now, four years later, Kyra continues to keep the weight off. "One of the most important lessons I've learned through this journey is that you have to be willing to assess and adjust based on your evolving lifestyle," she said. "Balancing the needs of my two teenage children along with my own can be a challenge. Since my procedure, I have been able to maintain a routine when it comes to my diet and model healthy habits to my children."

While exercise continues to be the biggest challenge for Kyra, she motivates herself to prioritize movement almost every day with activities that include step aerobics, walking, lifting weights and riding her indoor cycling bike.

"I didn't realize how bad I felt until I started to feel better," said Kyra. "By losing weight and changing my diet and exercise routines, my energy levels are way up, and I have much more stamina than I did before. ESG has been, hands-down, the best decision I've ever made for my health."

Kyra now shares her advice and insights with others who may be considering the ESG procedure. "Losing weight - even with ESG - is both a physical and mental battle. Even though it's hard, try not to compare yourself to others and their successes - focus on you and your own personal journey."

To learn more about ESG or to speak with a doctor in your area, visit ApolloEndoSurgery.com.

*This patient testimonial is sponsored by Boston Scientific. Individual results may vary. In a randomized study, patients with class 1 or class 2 obesity (BMI 30 to 40 kg/m²) who underwent ESG in conjunction with prescribed diet and exercise counseling achieved an average of 13.6% total body weight loss at year one, compared to 0.8% with lifestyle modification alone. In that study, 64.7% of patients who underwent ESG in conjunction with lifestyle changes lost at least 10% TBWL compared to 4.5% of patients with lifestyle modification alone. Approximately 21.2% of patients lost more than 20% of their body weight. Optimal results were achieved when patients committed to long term lifestyle changes around diet and exercise. All procedures have risk, including endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty. Patients should consult with their doctor to discuss risks and benefits of any medical procedure.

1. "Fast Facts: Health and Economic Costs of Chronic Conditions," The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 2024.
   
   
2. Abu Dayyeh, BK, et al., "Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty for Treatment of Class 1 and 2 Obesity (MERIT): A Prospective, Multicentre, Randomised Trial," The Lancet, July 2022.