Patient Story: where there's a will - there is a way
At some point André Sankowski had enough of his overweight. He used to be always moody, depressed, annoyed and no longer wanted a life like this. In 2014, he decided to undergo a gastric bypass surgery - and turned his life upside down. We asked him how what is his life like today.
Diagnosis obesity - giving up was never an option
Sugary drinks and too many carbohydrates - there were times when André Sankowski consumed up to 14,000 calories a day. The consequences? "I got depressed, wanted to sleep all the time and my back and legs always hurt," he recalls. In addition, there were other concomitant physical diseases, such as high blood fat levels, osteoarthritis and high blood pressure at the early stage. All of these minimized life expectancy by eight to ten years. However even though he was unhappy, he didn’t attempt to change his eating habits for a long time and remained at a standstill. That was until dr. med. Anke Rosenthal finally diagnosed him with obesity in 2014. With patients like André Sankowski, Dr. Rosenthal, head of the Medical Care Center specializing in obesity and overweight, always makes sure to provide individual and forward-looking approach. She often warns: "Pathological overweight in particular is often associated with unpleasant concomitant diseases, which can have a significant impact on the quality of life but also on life expectancy". Her assessment was also a wake-up call for the now 42-year-old aviation security assistant. He decided that things couldn’t go on like this and agreed to undergo bariatric surgery.
After the operation, before the weight loss
"I always saw the surgery as an addition support. It was clear that now it’s my turn to change something and Dr. Rosenthal and Prof. Lange helped me enormously.”
says André Sankowski.
Critics, he adds, often accuse him of cheating and losing weight only because of the surgery. This is a misconception, which he strongly disagrees with: "I had to completely change my eating habits and learn from scratch. I went without carbohydrates for a very long time and only ate meat, fish, vegetables and eggs. I set the clear goal: an athletic body. I also wanted to have beautiful clothes". Mr. Sankowski wanted to become healthier and get rid of the concomitant diseases due to morbid overweight. Where there is a will, there is a way. So he went for exercise instead of standing still. He lost 85 kilograms in a very short time after his surgery and discovered a great passion: sport.
A sorrow shared is a sorrow halved
Today André Sankowski works as a fitness coach. The times when he was unhappy with himself and his body are long forgotten. He just doesn’t have any more time for bad mood and resentment. He has founded his own company, trains private clients as well as professional athletes and also works with some clients from movies and television. Every day he motivates himself anew and sets himself very realistic goals. Due to his job, he also does sports almost every day. He’s been so successful, that he would like to give seminars in the future and help people who are overweight to lose weight through sport. "After all, success is best experienced together," he says and says goodbye with a broad smile.
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Interview with Dr.med. Oliver Stumpf, the Chief Physician of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Department at Helios Berlin-Buch
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Types of bariatric surgery
