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After years of battling with her weight, Bonnie Marshall enlisted the help of Dr.

At 66, Karen Ferguson was on blood pressure medication, exhausted by the daily toll her weight was taking on her health. But after a life-changing gastric bypass surgery, she’s lost more than 100 pounds—and gained her life back.

“I gained weight after having two children, and I've been to a weight-loss program, tried to do things on my own, but it just didn't seem to work,” she says. “I was having a few health issues, and when I asked my doctor about them, he suggested I talk to a bariatric surgeon.”

At 230 pounds, Carrie Taylor wanted to reclaim her life. After failed fad diets and weight-loss supplements, she came to Saint Luke's Surgical Specialists at Saint Luke's North Hospital–Barry Road, curious about our surgical weight-loss options. Today, at 115 pounds—half her original size—she’s not just living. She’s thriving.

Cali Horton, a 21-year-old student from Blue Springs, was a survivor from day one.

Her mother, Heather Horton, was pregnant with twins and diagnosed with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome—uneven blood flow between twins sharing a placenta. Both twins, Cali and her sister Kara, were born prematurely and spent three weeks in Saint Luke’s neonatal intensive care unit.

As a result, Cali suffered from a rare vascular malformation of the brain, which required radiation treatment at age 2. Over time, the treatment fully cured her malformation.

Linda Donaldson and her daughter, Kiley Williams-Bowls, are on a mission. After losing a combined total of 305lbs, with the help of bariatric weight-loss surgery, the mother/daughter duo are helping other bariatric patients navigate the waters of their new healthy lives. But it’s been a long journey to get here.