CORPUS CHRISTI — For gastric bypass patient Edward Wuest, walking without exhausting himself is a blessing.

“I have a lot more endurance now,” he said. “I stand for 10 to 12 hours a day. Now, I’m moving around constantly.”

The 18-year-old, 6-foot tall Wuest four years ago weighed 427 pounds with a body mass index of 58 — classifying him as morbidly obese. Today he weighs 240 pounds and has a BMI of 32.5, which according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, classifies him as obese.

“I’m perfectly fine with where I am now, but I would like to get at 200,” he said.

The Caller-Times has been following Wuest’s transformation since November 2005, after he underwent gastric bypass surgery in Houston. Prior to the surgery, the then-19-year-old Sinton resident was 475 pounds and bedridden.

He now works as an electrical instrumentation helper at MMR Constructors — a Kiewit Offshore Services subcontractor — where he said he is able to climb scaffolding and perform other duties he wouldn’t have been able to before.

Wuest described his weight problem as a vicious cycle, saying he would eat because he was depressed and was depressed because he would eat. If he’d never had the surgery, Wuest said he fears he’d be in the same condition.

“I’d be at home,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to be out in the world and wouldn’t be able to work these hours,” he said.

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