“Stairs are not an issue anymore,” said Peter Bober, about how losing 150 pounds in about a year and half has improved his health and mobility.
Stairs had better not be a problem. For as chairperson of the Corvallis Sister City Association’s Uzhhorod Council, he regularly visits the Ukraine. “There are many multi-story buildings without elevators,” said Bober, whose body fat has dropped from 58 to 21 percent and his waist from 58 to 42 inches. “Since the weight loss, my most recent trip was much easier.”
It was at a different volunteer endeavor – the 62-year-old retired community college/workforce training administrator is involved in many – where Bober got his inspiration to begin taking weight off his 5-9, 340-pound frame.
In January 2015, Bober heard Brian Curtis, M.D., of The Corvallis Clinic speak at a Health Care Day as part of Leadership Corvallis, an organization in which Bober has held numerous posts. “I was impressed with the data he presented,” Bober said of Dr. Curtis, an internist and chief medical officer of The Clinic’s Weight Loss Center. “I needed to do something and this sounded worth trying.”
During the first appointment, Dr. Curtis suggested to him that he try an appetite suppressant, something Bober had not considered before. But before the drug could be prescribed, Bober had to have an electrocardiogram (EKG) and thyroid panel.
The next day, Dr. Curtis called Bober to ask if he ever had a heart attack. Bober said he didn’t think so, but Dr. Curtis pointed out the EKG was showing he might in fact have had one. Bober then took a stress test that confirmed what the EKG indicated. He had already started his weight-loss regimen when he was referred to a cardiologist who ordered an angiogram that showed he had arterial blockages.
“Fortunately, my heart has made collateral pathways around all the blockages,” said Bober, who along with his wife, Alice, has two grown children and a 5-year-old grandson he wants to take to the Ukraine some day. He was advised to continue what he had been doing as far as diet and exercise. In addition to the guidance he received at the Weight Loss Center, he also began cardiac rehabilitation at Samaritan Health Services.
“Once I got my diagnosis, I really didn’t need an appetite suppressant,” he said. “The severity of my health diagnosis and the realization of how much more I want to be with my family and community was enough motivation.”
Dr. Curtis said if Bober had not come to the Weight Loss Center and had the EKG, his serious heart disease would not have been found. “This is why it is so important that a weight-loss program be physician-directed and includes a medical exam and testing prior to starting weight-loss medication or other interventions. Safety and medical monitoring are a key component of our program and that sets us apart from many others.”
“Hard work and determination”
By his own account, Bober ate a lot. He ate everything. And everywhere. All the time.
“During our initial consult, he described several personal challenges,” said Lori Dodds, a registered dietitian and program coordinator of the Weight Loss Center. “He explained how he ate large amounts of food at social events and while dining out, and how he was an emotional eater. Together we created a weight loss plan that included focusing on very specific and obtainable short-term goals,” she said.
Bober said Dodds helped him keep these goals realistic. “When I worried I was having too much sodium, she pointed out the body needs a certain amount of it to function properly. And when I was a bit over my daily caloric goals and concerned about my sugar intake, she told me not to worry about the natural sugar from all the fruit and vegetables I was eating.”
Bober said he likes how everyone at the Weight Loss Center is “non-judgmental” and how Dr. Curtis spent “good, quality time” with him.
Dr. Curtis said Bober’s dedication to losing weight through diet and exercise “showed us what is possible when a patient is truly invested in the outcome.”
‘I have a lot more things I have to do’
As proud as Bober is of his achievement, he does wish, however, that he would have avoided the experience. “Too bad I didn’t figure this out 25 years ago,” he said, “because I’ve missed out on a lot.”
And now he is determined not to let anything pass him by.
“I have a lot more things I have to do in our community. I have more people that I need to bring from Uzhhorod to learn about Corvallis and vice versa. In order to do that, I have to be healthy. And the only way I’m going to be healthy is to keep the weight off.”
So he can walk up all those stairs in the Ukraine, his grandson beside him.
