She was an active, happy child, says Pamela, and not particularly overweight, but the pounds crept up over the years. In time she was told she needed to lose well over a hundred of them. Always an optimist, this vivacious blonde understood it was more about her health than about weight obscuring her good looks. She’d heard that St. Vincent's Medical Center was opening a Bariatric unit, "and I saw a girl who had the surgery," she says. That was the turning point. Diets hadn't worked; but this, Pamela believed, was something she could do.

She talked to her family. "My husband left the decision to me," she says, "but my daughter, Vicky, a registered nurse, was hesitant. She insisted on coming to the seminar." Mother and daughter met the Bariatric Center's doctors and nurses and learned all about procedures, risks and probable outcomes. After preliminary preparation, Pamela went in for her gastric bypass. "The staff were wonderful," she says and, laughing, adds, "They let me know how important it was to get moving right away. I was up an hour after surgery!"

That was two years and 125 lbs ago. "I’ve just recently had my tummy-tuck," reports Pamela, whose enthusiasm is unstoppable. As for daughter Vicky, whose last name is Dinardo, it seems she became somewhat of an expert on bariatrics. So much so that shortly after her mom's surgery, St. Vincent's offered – and Vicky accepted – the position of coordinator of the program!