Two Surgeries, One Dream: Kaitlyn and Timothy’s Path to Better Health and Parenthood

Kaitlyn and Timothy Gullion say they both always knew they would be “big people.”

“We were both happy with our sizes,” Kaitlyn says. “It was due to our family genetics, but we knew how to live with the extra weight.”

But as the numbers on the scale continued to rise and their excess weight began to affect their lives in more serious ways, they knew things had to change.

Kaitlyn and Timothy both grew up in South Florida. Though Kaitlyn, now 30, was an athlete in high school Timothy, 31, says he was more of a “couch potato” in his younger years.

“I was big in high school, and I put the weight on myself,” he admits. He weighed almost 300 pounds in high school – a lot of weight on his 5’9” frame. He says he would have two helpings of food at every dinner and “drink soda like it was water.”

After high school Timothy started a career in road construction. Though he remained active in his job and was able to get his work done, his weight kept climbing until it peaked at 357 pounds.

When he and Kaitlyn got married three years ago, their attempts at starting a family failed because Kaitlyn was having difficulty getting pregnant.  The doctors she went to see all told her the same thing: lose weight. At 5’3” she was almost 300 pounds, and though she exercised and watched what she ate, Kaitlyn just couldn’t seem to lose weight.

“I just kept getting bigger and bigger,” she says.  

She also had polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition that affects hormones and makes it difficult to maintain a healthy weight. PCOS also causes irregular menstrual periods and infertility, among other issues.

Kaitlyn and Timothy say the turning point came for them when they went to a Christmas parade in 2023. Because it was in South Florida, the weather was very warm, with the temperature in the mid-80s.

“We didn’t bring chairs to sit down and watch the parade,” Kaitlyn says. “We couldn’t even make it 30 minutes. Our legs hurt, we were sweating. I was overheating.”

She was very disappointed because she went to the parade to spend time with her nieces and family but instead felt miserable and had to leave.

“I thought, ‘I can’t do this anymore. I need to be able to live my life without these limitations,’” Kaitlyn says. Timothy felt the same.

They decided it was time to seriously consider bariatric (weight loss) surgery.  They had put it off because they both knew people who had gone through it but did not have favorable outcomes because they did not follow the guidelines for nutrition and lifestyle afterward. But the concerns about their limitations and health made them even more determined to do it together – and do it right.

After research and insurance considerations, the couple decided on Cleveland Clinic in Florida. They went together to their first appointment with Bariatric Surgeon Federico Serrot, MD.

“We met Dr. Serrot and fell in love with him,” Kaitlyn says. “Any questions or concerns we had, he was right there. He’s the doctor you want to have.”

After three meetings with a nutritionist, three meetings with Dr. Serrot and a psychiatric evaluation, Kaitlyn and Timothy decided to each go ahead with the weight loss surgery two months apart so they could take care of each other during the recovery process.

They both chose a technique called the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, a type of surgery that creates a small stomach pouch and reroutes food to the lower small intestine, thereby restricting food intake, which results in weight loss.

Kaitlyn before and after her bariatric surgery. (Photos Courtesy: The Gullion family)

Kaitlyn went first, undergoing her procedure on April 22, 2024. Timothy had his on June 14.

“It went amazing,” Kaitlyn says. “Honestly, if I had to do it over again I would.”

Both procedures were done robotically, a state-of-the-art minimally invasive technique that uses small incisions and results in minimal pain and ensures fast recovery. 

“It was such an easy process,” Kaitlyn says. “I was scared I would be in pain and miserable but that was not the case. I was only in the hospital one night.”

Both Kaitlyn and Timothy say after the first two days at home, they felt more like themselves. They followed all the protocols for introducing food back into the body and began following a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet that excludes sugar. After about three weeks they saw weight loss on the scale and were back to normal life.

“By week 4, I was working on the house again and hanging shutters for hurricane season,” Timothy says.

Timothy before and after bariatric surgery. (Photos Courtesy: The Gullion family)

Kaitlyn and Timothy have each reached their respective goals set for them by Dr. Serrot, which translates to Kaitlyn having lost more than 130 pounds and Timothy about the same amount. He’s gone from a size 5 XL shirt to a size large. Both are inspired to keep at it and lose a little more.

“I have so much energy,” Kaitlyn says. “I feel like I’m actually living now.  I can go do things. I can walk or go to a festival. Before, my feet, my back, everything hurt.”  

The couple recently moved to Tennessee so that Kaitlyn could go back to school to become a nurse and Timothy could begin a new job as a foreman for an earthwork crew.

“I get into a ditch and work the ground now because I have the energy to,” he says.

Both are thankful to Cleveland Clinic for helping them regain control of their health. They say they would travel back to Cleveland Clinic for any serious health concerns in the future.  

Kaitlyn and Timothy are happy to have been able to go through this journey together and keep each other on track and accountable.

As they move forward with healthier lives they are elated to have just received the best outcome of all – the expected arrival of their first baby in September.