Weight loss surgery preps couple for adoption on The Murfreesboro Post

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Weight loss surgery preps couple for adoption

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By: By ERIN EDGEMON Business Editor

Weight loss surgery preps couple for adoption

Shawn and Valerie DiGianfelice hope their recent surgery will help them lose a combined 350 pounds as they prepare to adopt their first child.

Ladybugs and flowers adorn the walls of her bedroom. Her dresser is overfilled with pink dresses and a Cubs jersey. A pillow embellished with her initial lays in her crib.

She could be born any day now, and her adoptive parents are confident but nervous that they are ready for her arrival.

But Shawn and Valerie DiGianfelice have done more than just decorate a room and buy diapers to prepare for the birth of their daughter.

The Grundy County High School teachers both recently underwent weight-loss surgery. Val was starting to have health problems due to her weight, and they both wanted to have more energy and longer lives.

“It is just going to give us a better quality of life,” Val said. “It is going to give us more energy.

“Eating healthy is going to get us to where we want to be,” she added, “and it is going to be a good environment for the baby.”

Undergoing weight loss surgery

The extra weight — some 155 pounds — Val carries on her frame started giving her knee pain. The pain grew to the point where it was affecting her ability to stand up in front of her class and teach her business and computer classes.

A Murfreesboro orthopedic surgeon told her that losing and keeping off a substantial amount of weight would be the best hope for pain relief.

After swallowing her pride, Val with her husband going along with her for support, visited the office of Dr. Wayne Westmoreland, a bariatric and general surgeon, at Middle Tennessee Medical Center. He is the clinical director of the hospital’s bariatric program located at 1602 W. Northfield Blvd.

Having tried diet after diet and continuing to fail, Val felt surgery was her best option for long-term weight loss. She felt the less invasive and reversible lap-band procedure was her best option. The band causes weight loss by constricting the amount of food a person can eat.

Val and Shawn were told that weight loss surgery, whether it be lap band or gastric bypass, requires a lifelong commitment and a dramatic change in lifestyle.

At first, Shawn only went with Val to the Bariatric Center for moral support, “It is standard procedure for your husband to be a part of the support process,” Val said.

Shawn slowly began to think he needed to make a change in his life as well.

“I want to be able to get in the floor with the baby and do whatever the kid wants to do,” he said.

Val underwent lap band surgery May 2 and has since lost around 35 pounds. Her goal is to lose 155 pounds.

Already, Val tell she has more energy.

“I can only imagine that it is going to get a whole lot better,” she said.

Shawn, who weighs nearly 400 pounds, underwent gastric bypass surgery July 2. The major surgery that greatly reduced the size of the stomach and causes malabsorption of food will allow him to lose weight quickly. His goal is to lose around 200 pounds.

Shawn lost 16 pounds prior to the surgery and has lost about 30 pounds since the surgery.

A healthy future together

Shawn and Val’s relationship was meant to be even if they didn’t believe it at first. It seemed obvious to their students and co-workers that the two outgoing, jokesters would make a good match.

But because of their age difference, Val is now 41 and Shawn is 30, they didn’t think they would be compatible.

That changed after a co-worker set them up on their first date.

“I think we knew pretty quickly that we were meant for each other,” Shawn said.

Val and Shawn had their first date during spring break in April 2004 and by October they were married.
“It was a whirlwind romance,” Val said.

Their marriage was a big event at their high school. Many students and staff attended the ceremony even thought at first they thought Shawn’s proposal was an April Fool’s Day joke.

“He gave me my ring on April Fool’s Day,” Val said.

But that wasn’t the end of their Grundy County High School connection.

The baby the DiGianfelices are planning to adopt also has ties to Grundy County. The couple is adopting the child of Val’s former students through a Murfreesboro adoption agency.

“It is kind of like the whole community is adopting a child,” Val said.

The baby to be named Sydney Rose is due to be born Aug. 10.

Understandably, the couple is waiting with nervous anticipation for Sydney’s birth and to sign the final adoption papers. The birth parents have 10 days after the birth of the child to change their mind about the adoption.

“I am excited about being able to get in the yard and play,” Shawn said. “Everything that people take for granted, I was not able to do.

He isn’t scared anymore about becoming a father.

“Your nerves become real settled when you are married to someone that you have a lot of trust in,” Shawn said.

Erin Edgemon can be reached at 869-0812 and at eedgemon@murfreesboropost

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Member Opinions:

By: Boo on 8/14/07
Congratulations to you both!! You could not be in better hands than with Dr. Westmorland. I wish you both a healthy, happy future and great success with your weight loss. Little Sydney Rose is a lucky little girl to have parents who would take this giant step in order to be better parents for her. Good luck and God bless you and your baby!

By: cuppa on 8/14/07
I agree with Boo. I think it took a great deal of courage to make your decision. You may inspire others as well. Good Luck and congrats!! Children are such a precious gift from God.

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