'Why I had gastric bypass surgery': three Blacks share their journey through the procedure as our culture battles the deadly condition of obesity

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Chubby. Big-boned. Thick. Large.

Obesity and its related ailments--hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol and stroke--are the leading killers of African-Americans today. Blacks who are obese are at least twice as likely to die prematurely, compared to those of normal weight. And now our kids are at risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of Blacks born in 2000 are expected to become diabetic during their lives.

Studies show that most of us either are overweight ourselves or have someone in our family battling a weight problem. Experts contend that Black women in particular tend to be heavier than White women and have less success in shedding excess pounds. Black men who are overweight die earlier than White men. It comes from our food. It comes from our habits. It comes from our families. It comes from our culture.

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Doctors stress the importance of exercise, increased daily activity and, of course, a healthy diet in efforts to shed excess weight. But, while that can work for some, experts say that for the morbidly obese--those who are 100 pounds or more over their ideal body weight for their height--losing weight through traditional means--and keeping it off--is, at best, an uphill battle.

Fact is, many try, most fail. Ninety-five percent of those morbidly obese who lose 50 or more pounds through diet and exercise--Atkins, cardio, etc.--gain it all back within years, studies show. And 1 in 3 gain back another 20 percent or more after that.

That's why a growing number of Blacks have turned to gastric bypass surgery--also known as bariatric surgery--to help turn themselves around. While new techniques and experienced doctors have made the risky procedure safer, it is still a drastic solution to what many see as a lifelong problem.

EBONY magazine asked several prominent African-Americans to talk about their journey through weight-loss surgery--their fears and successes--and whether they would do it again. Here are their stories:

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Muhammad Ali's Daughter Khaliah Ali, 33, BEFORE ...a 335-pound woman can't masquerade as anything else...

Editor, EBONY & Jet Magazines Bryan Monroe, 42, BEFORE ...All I could think about was getting out of [intensive care] and seeing my kids...

Radio Talk Show Host Joe Madison, 58, BEFORE ...if you don't do something, you're gonna...drop dead.

DOCTOR TO JOE MADISON: 'If you don't do something, you're gonna drop dead' BY JOE MADISON

It was the spring of 2003, and my wife and I were coming out of a routine doctor's visit--for her, not me. As we were leaving, her doctor stopped me in the hail with a worried look on his face. He stared at me, uneasily.

"Joe, I guarantee you, I can look at you and see how you are carrying your weight (I was 277 pounds at the time). I bet that you probably have the onset of diabetes, you probably already have high cholesterol, I'm sure you have hypertension, and you may even have kidney problems."

So he looks at me and says, "I don't care what you do, but if you don't do something, you're gonna drop dead. I guarantee you, you'll be speaking somewhere, and you will just drop dead. And nobody will know why."

He told me that these health risks--hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol--are all silent killers. And one day, if I didn't do something, they would get me.

So, on June 23, 2003--30 days later, almost to the day--my friend (former Atlanta Mayor) Maynard Jackson was near Washington, D.C., at Reagan National Airport. And he collapsed. Heart attack. He, too, was overweight and had many of the same co-morbidities that I had.

That's when I decided I was going to do something. I just didn't know what. But I had to do something. I tried all those specialty diets. I tried exercising. I tried it all.

Then, a few months later, in September, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and I were on a panel at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation conference. I am sitting next to him--I had not seen Jesse Jr. since his surgery [Jackson had also undergone bariatric surgery in 2004]--and I said, "Jesse, what happened? What did you do? You look fantastic!"

He began to tell me about the procedure he went through, something called a DS or duodenal switch. It was the same surgery his sister [Santita Jackson, who has lost more than 200 pounds over several years] had done. And man, did it work.

I then began to research. And research. And research. For about three months. Then I decided to take the plunge. I didn't know it would be nearly a three-year journey.

I had thought about it and even scheduled the surgery several times. I was supposed to go on my third trip to southern Sudan and Darfur, but I was worried that there was simply no way I could make that trek through Darfur in the shape I was in.

Days before my departure, I had found out I had sleep apnea, a common ailment in obese men. My doctor told me with the sleep apnea, I would stop breathing while I was asleep--37 times a night!