I was the daughter of a nurse, in a Nebraska town of 150 people. My early role models were old-fashioned country doctors. Obesity is the disease that affects my family, so there has never been another choice for me. My staff and I provide respectful, personalized care to patients suffering from obesity. I've dedicated my entire practice to weight management. I offer laparoscopic surgical procedures such as sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass and banding, as well as the nonsurgical stomach belly balloon, all designed to help patients gain control of their weight and improve health and vitality. In my free time, I am passionate about surfing, gardening, home canning, history and architectural preservation. I'm a member of the Royal Oak Foundation, Historical Society and Save Our Heritage Foundation. I enjoy working with my surf club in events where we host children with disabilities and homelessness and teach them to surf in our Day At The Beach series. I'm a committed Anglophile and my historic English Tudor cottage offers constant opportunities to exercise my home-repair skills. I'm very proud of my patients' support of my outreach program in Fiji, where I am not only the doctor for an outer island, but I deliver much needed medical supplies and clothing (that my patients have shrunk out of!) to Fijians of all ages. This project has united many of my patients in their donation efforts and allows them to bid a pleasant good-bye to large clothing that they will never wear again!