Tragedies Motivate Mom to Get Healthy for Children

Learn more about MercyOne Bariatric Surgery     Is bariatric surgery right for me?

After the deaths of her husband and oldest daughter, Mindi Swanson knew she had to lose weight and take control of her health. She needed to be around for her two surviving children.

Despite her health challenges and many diets over the years, she had great motivation. As a 21-year breast cancer survivor and a BRCA 1 gene carrier, she knew her extra weight increased her odds for the cancer to return. Having Lynch Syndrome, a genetic disorder, put her at risk for colon cancer. In addition, her cholesterol was climbing. She had hypertension, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), extreme cystic acne and sleep apnea. No matter how much she slept, she always felt exhausted.

Ironically, her health risks made her eligible for weight loss surgery, even though she did not meet the bariatric surgery guideline of being at least 100 pounds overweight.

“I went to MercyOne North Iowa Bariatric Surgery in late 2021 to seek help with getting healthy,” said Mindi of Rockfalls, Iowa. “I was not ‘heavy enough’ to qualify for surgery based on my weight but found out I had other health risks as a result of my excess weight that afforded me the opportunity to have surgery.”

With the help of the clinic team and surgeon Dr. Gregory Grimberg, she decided to have bariatric surgery. Her pre-surgery weight was 247 pounds.

“After the death of my husband in 2011, I pushed on with raising my three kids on my own and didn’t let the fear of a cancer recurrence scare me,” Mindi said. “I figured after going through losing my husband to suicide, there was no way the cancer was going to come back. Nothing else bad could possibly happen. Fast forward to 2021, I lost my oldest daughter, Olivia, to fentanyl poisoning. When I lost Olivia, I knew I needed to do something to ensure that I had many more years to spend with my two children. They lost their father and sister too soon. They didn’t deserve to lose their mother, too.”

Weight loss surgery has transformed Mindi’s health. Today, she weighs 132 pounds – down 115 pounds from her pre-surgery weight. “My health has taken a total 180,“ Mindi said. “My blood pressure is spot on. My cholesterol is great. I have great labs every time they are drawn. My skin is glowing, and my breakouts are minimal. No more GERD and I sleep like a baby every night.”

She can go up the stairs multiple times. Her foot pain is gone so she no longer wears orthotics in her shoes. She spends hours working in her garden without back or knee pain. She can walk long distances and volunteer with her employer’s Adopt-a-Highway program. She enjoys shopping for clothes again.

She admits she worried about weight loss surgery but had a quick recovery and no complications. She encourages anyone who has reservations to explore their options and find out the facts from the bariatric surgery team. “If you are afraid of something bad happening as a result of surgery, why aren’t you afraid of something bad happening as a result of being unhealthy?” she said.

Nevertheless, she stresses weight loss surgery isn’t easy, and you have to be willing to put in the work to be successful.

“Many people think it’s the easy way out of dealing with being overweight, but I can tell you that it’s NOT easy,” Mindi concludes. “It’s all about changing your lifestyle. It’s a tool. When you incorporate that tool with everything else given to you by the bariatric surgery team, you can totally transform your life. Do the work, and you’ll find great success.”