HUDSON, Fla. — A Pasco County medical clinic is putting on a special event for its patients.
It’s the 1st Annual Bariatric Patient Gala hosted by HCA Florida Trinity Hospital, recognizing the weight loss journey and accomplishments of patients through bariatric surgery. It’s an achievement that isn’t going unnoticed.
Inside his home, Tim Dunmyer sorts through his closet.
“What are we wearing?” he says to himself while examining his closet.
He sets out some formal dress wear on top of his bed.
“High school yearbook picture,” says Dunmyer. “That was the last time I wore an actual suit and dress clothes.”
It’s been years, as Dunmyer says, since he last wore any type of dress wear. That’s because the Dunmyer you see today hasn’t always looked the way he does now.
“At my heaviest, I ended up in the hospital which ended my driving career,” says Dunmyer. “I was 554 pounds and diagnosed with congestive heart failure, AFib, diabetes — you name it. I was a walking, ticking time bomb.”
For the last two years, Dunmyer has been on a weight loss journey. Going through bariatric surgery, he’s now lost 214 pounds.
“It took me a while, a couple of years after I got out of the hospital, to finally get it in my head that I was tired of feeling like crap all the time and just not being able to do anything.”
That’s when he decided to take action. He booked an appointment with Dr. Donald Fridley and learned about bariatric surgery.
“When we first met, he told me he was going to be the perfect patient for me,” said Fridley, a general and bariatric surgeon. “He’s actually put himself out there on social media to kind of talk about his journey, talk about what he’s struggling with and give back into the community, which, we need that. We need people to be transparent about what they’re going through because that gives the courage to that other person.”
It’s also what has inspired the clinic to host its first ever bariatric gala. A night where patients can look their best and celebrate their successes with one another.
“It’s hard to find a community that they already belong to but they don’t know they’re right next door,” said Fridley. “We wanted to give a way to highlight their successes, highlight their journey and get rid of the stigma around the disease of obesity.”
It’s helped Dunmyer — and others — find success not just in weight loss, but life as well.
“Life is turning out the way it was supposed to be, now,” said Dunmyer. “He gave me a second lease on life and I’m not wasting a minute of it.”
The clinic’s 1st Annual Bariatric Patient Gala is on Friday at the Hilton Garden Inn in Lutz starting at 6 p.m.