28 August 29 • 2019
jn
28 August 29 • 2019
jn

B

efore Andrew Grossman, 45, of Southfield 
underwent gastric bypass surgery, he had to 
overcome a whole host of health, environ-
mental and lifestyle challenges.
For one, as a 41-year-old, he was close to 400 
pounds, had high blood pressure, Type 2 diabe-
tes and was coping with a MRSA infection, all 
while running the Bread Basket Deli restaurant in 
Madison Heights.
Then he had a heart attack. For him, it was the 
final wakeup call he needed to make a change in 
his life.
“I was on a mission,” he said. “I had to lose 
weight.”
Grossman, who is Jewish, was already enrolled 
in Beaumont Weight Control Center’
s bariatric 
surgery preparation program. He didn’
t allow the 
heart attack to shelve his surgery plans forever. 
Two years ago, he underwent gastric bypass sur-
gery, a procedure that shrinks the size of the stom-
ach to the size of a golf ball and gives it the capaci-
ty to accommodate about four ounces of food. 
“When I first started (the surgery preparation 
program), I was 380 pounds and I’
m now at 260 to 
270 pounds,” he said. “I went from a 54-inch size 
waist to a 36-inch waist.”
He said the surgery required him to be in the 
Intensive Care Unit for five days and that recovery, 
all told, took about two weeks.
“I didn’
t have a bad surgery,” he said. “I had 
a little bit of soreness. I still had hunger, but it 
wasn’
t over-the-top hunger.”
For Grossman, more than anything else, he had 
to change his environment and how he thought 
about food. He took a year off from running his 
restaurant to avoid the abundance of food and 
the amount of pop he was used to drinking. He 

stopped going to fast-food restaurants and stopped 
eating fried foods.
“I was just living to eat, not eating to live,” he 
said. “I was totally doing it backwards. The hardest 
part is figuring out what to eat. Instead of buying 
candy, I now eat quinoa. It’
s a lifestyle change.”
Not only has Grossman lost weight, he has 
reversed his high blood pressure, no longer takes 
insulin to control his diabetes and no longer 
experiences back or knee pain. In fact, his wife, 
Donyella, joined him on his weight-loss journey 
and has lost about 40 pounds herself, following his 
diet changes.
Kerstyn Zalesin, M.D., director 
of Bariatric Medicine at Beaumont 
Weight Control Center, said gastric 
bypass surgery is appropriate for 
people who have more than 100 
pounds to lose and, like Grossman, 
have “perilous” comorbidities like 
high blood pressure, diabetes or a 
heart condition.
 
“Andrew is a very typical candidate for gastric 
bypass surgery,” Zalesin said. “I certainly do prefer 
to find these patients before these conditions come 
up, to head them off, so to speak.”
However, she said that some people find it too 
difficult to exercise because of their excess weight. 
And some people who have tried dieting find it 
too difficult to do on their own.
In addition to the gastric bypass surgery, 
Beaumont also offers the gastric sleeve surgery, 
which is very popular with patients, according to 
Zalesin. Beaumont surgeons perform about 700 
gastric sleeve surgeries each year in contrast to 
about 150 gastric bypass surgeries. Beaumont also 
offers the lap-band surgery, approved in 1991, but 

do very few of these operations.
“I do feel people feel that it’
s easier to wrap their 
heads around gastric sleeve surgeries,” Dr. Zalesin 
said. “A lot of patients seem to prefer the sleeve at 
this time.”
In gastric bypass surgery, surgeons divide the 

continued on page 30

Kerstyn 

Zalesin, M.D.

Eating to 
Live

Southfi
 eld man overcomes 
major health, lifestyle challenges 
with bariatric surgery.

ELIZABETH KATZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

TOP: Andrew Grossman, 45, of Southfield, plays checkers with 

his son, Daniel, 11. BOTTOM: Andrew Grossman at 380 pounds 

before his bariatric surgery. He is pictured here with his late 

father, Saul, and his son, Daniel.

PHOTO BY TONY SIMLER
PHOTO BY ELAYNE GROSS

jews d
in 
the