I Have a Disease; It’s Called Obesity

Last fall, I was approached by my friend Reeger Cortel, the lovely voice, wonderful mind, and caring heart behind the Weight Loss Surgery Podcast about an idea she had for a video contest being done by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (or ASMBS) for their annual conference last year. It’s a montage of people Reeger knows (and I know most of them as well), each of us reciting a snippet from a script she wrote.

When she submitted the video for the contest, here’s what she included in the notes…

“I Have a Disease; It’s Called Obesity” was written in their defense, as an unapologetic statement of facts. To bring the script to life, I invited the individuals featured in the film. Despite the fact that they are all at different points in treating their obesity, they continue to share in common the scars of harsh criticism and the desire to help make a positive difference moving forward.”

There were a couple dozen submissions… and our little project took first place, winning the $5000 grand prize, which as a group we decided to donate to the Obesity Action Coalition, with a good chunk of it going directly to the scholarship fund to help some folks who might like to attend the OAC’s national Your Weight Manners convention, but might need a little financial assistance to do so.

I am very proud to have been a part of a project like this… the winning part and being able to donate those funds to the OAC is just the icing on the cake. And since it was finally released by the ASMBS, I’m glad to be able to share it here as well. You can also check our video and the rest of the winning videos on the ASMBS website.