[excerpt] The models walked in front of more than 200 family members and friends as applause and smiles of approval greeted them.
They were wearing fancy attire, but the special outfits were really not what each model was showing off.
It was a new and much slimmer profile.
All of the models are patients of Dr. John McGuire, who, with Dr. Donovan Teel, operates Premier Bariatric Associates now in Miami Valley Hospital. And all of those in the fashion show have undergone the special surgery which shrinks the stomach.
Heather, who will celebrate the second anniversary of her surgery on Sept. 28, weighed 535 pounds when she turned 17.
On the day of her surgery she weighed in at 503 pounds, and as the second anniversary of her procedure is celebrated she said she has lost 270 pounds.
"I continue to lose weight every week," Heather said. "I am as happy as I can be right now. It is great to be with these other patients and to celebrate our weight loss together. We are all getting healthier, and happier."
We first introduced Heather, and her dilemma to you, in the summer of 2004. That is when she weighed more than 500 pounds, and her health was deteriorating. She suffered from rising blood pressure, circulation problems, ulcers, blood clots, and an enlarged heart.
Her parents, Russ and Michelle Grill, knew Heather's physical and psychological problems were escalating, and they tried to find medical help.
"We were told about the bariatric surgery, but our insurance company would not cover it," the mother said. "The procedure was considered cosmetic surgery."
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