Good things started happening after my laparoscopic surgery, says Roxie. Concerned about the impact her 350-lb weight had on her painful spinal stenosis condition, her doctor had recommended the Bariatric program at St. Vincent's. I met Dr. Ehrlich, who is just wonderful, and decided to enter the program, she says. Afterward, the weight began dropping. I'd been walking with a cane, but pretty soon I didn't need it anymore.

That was perhaps the first 'good thing' that happened to this soft-spoken English professor - who, by the way, is an excellent cook. "I love my banana pudding," she laughs, "but I've learned to use real portion control." And her self-confidence began to increase enormously. Commanding respect is essential in her line of work but as Roxie tells it, she used to "only act the role. Now I was the role." She’s also director of the University of Bridgeport Academic Resource Center and enjoys visits from students who haven't seen her since she received her Lap-Band. "They always shout, 'You look so different!'" She loves that reaction.

With only another 40 lbs to lose, Professor Roxie loves just about all that's happened since she first met with St. Vincent's Bariatric team. "They helped me dare to put myself out there," she explains. "I even submitted a short story to Ebony magazine's contest. And won a $1,000 honorable-mention prize."

Good things, indeed!