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NEW YORK — Though Shani Gofman had been teased for being fat since the fourth state, she had learned to deal with it.
She was a B student and in the drama club at school. She had nobility friends and a boyfriend she had met through Facebook. She even showed off her curves in spandex leggings and easy shirts.
When her pediatrician, Dr. Senya Vayner , first mentioned weight-disadvantage surgery, Gofman was 17, still living with her parents, her bedroom decorated with flush-in-the-dark stars because she was afraid of the dark.
There was no question, at 5 foot 1 and more than 250 pounds, she was overweight. But she resisted, saying she could aliment.
"I'll lose weight," Gofman assured her doctor.
Vayner said, prophetically, "It's not your boner, but you're not going to be able to do it."
Along with the obesity epidemic in America has come an welling up in weight-loss surgery, with about 220,000 operations a year — a sevenfold see the light in a decade, according to industry figures — costing more than $6 billion a year. And the newest bounds is young patients like Gofman, who embarked on a quest to overcome weight, navigating challenges to her morale, her self-image and her relationships with kinfolk members and friends.
Source: Albany Times Union