‘They saved my life’: Two southwest Iowa women share in successes of Council Bluffs bariatric surgery program

Chelsey Fender lives in Macedonia, Iowa. Chris Wright is from Farragut, Iowa. The two are separated by about 40 miles, but they share a common bond.

Both southwest Iowa women underwent bariatric surgery at Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital on Dec. 30, 2025 – the first two surgeries completed as part of the Methodist Physicians Clinic bariatric surgery program in Council Bluffs.

Led by Methodist surgeon Robert Cunningham, MD, and nurse navigator Breanna Hill, the bariatric surgery program in Council Bluffs started seeing patients last September. 

For first-time bariatrics patients, Dr. Cunningham offers sleeve gastrectomies and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgeries. While surgery is a major offering of the program, it’s only one part of it.

A multidisciplinary preoperative program – which includes appointments with dietitians, physical therapists and a psychiatrist – helps patients make changes that they’ll need to commit to for the rest of their lives. Follow-up appointments with those specialties continue after surgery.

“I designed our program to really be comprehensive from both a dietary and lifestyle perspective, but also from a physical perspective,” Dr. Cunningham said. “We know that about 15 to 20% of the weight loss associated with bariatric surgery is actually skeletal or lean muscle loss, so we really want to try and minimize that and maximize the fat, or adipose tissue, loss.”

Fender and Wright celebrated their successes of the program at six-month postoperative appointments this summer.

Fender is down more than 120 pounds from when she met Dr. Cunningham and is now more active than she’s been in over a decade.

“Honestly, they saved my life,” Fender said. “I’m 35 years old and didn’t want to go down the road where my parents or my grandparents had. He’s given me my life back.”

Wright, 62, decreased her daily pill intake from 10-15 to just four and has lost over 80 pounds since last fall.

“I thank Dr. Cunningham from the bottom of my heart for what he’s done for me,” Wright said. “It’s been fabulous.”

Preoperative preparations

Last fall, Fender weighed 291 pounds, dealt with depression, experienced sleep apnea and knew that family history wasn’t on her side when it came to weight-related health issues.

She had tried a few different weight-loss programs and exercise routines, but none helped her shed the pounds.

Fender’s Methodist Physicians Clinic primary care provider, Thomas McElderry, MD, told her last summer that Jennie Edmundson was starting a bariatric surgery program.

She’d considered surgery previously, but her mindset changed.

“I said, ‘Sign me up for it. I’m tired of living the way I am. I want to make a change.’”

Prior to surgery, Fender had several preoperative appointments with Dr. Cunningham and Hill, Dr. McElderry; dietitians; a physical therapist; and pulmonologist Paul Ganesan, MD. She also underwent mental health evaluations.

“It was kind of a whirlwind for a bit,” Fender said. 

As the nurse navigator for the program, Hill helps set up those appointments for patients.

“All of it gets their mindset into, ‘This is what I want to do. This is what I’m going to do,’” Hill said.

Depending on what insurance requires, patients complete from three to six months of preoperative prep before scheduling a surgery. That time is vital for them to get a sense of what they signed up for.

“To see them on day one to then at their three-week pre-op appointment, you can just see the different mindset,” Hill said. “You can see it and you can feel it. They’re taking notes. They’re excited. They have questions for me.”

Rachel James, MMN, RD, LD, LMNT, the chief clinical dietitian for Jennie Edmundson, appreciates that Dr. Cunningham created a comprehensive program that includes dietitians.

James, as well as Jennie Edmundson dietitian Maddie Kelly, RD, LD, LMNT, create close relationships with bariatric patients during the preoperative time period because they’re meeting with them monthly for at least three to six months to teach them what to eat and new ways to think about food.

“Sharing anything about nutrition with another person is very personal,” James said. “It’s really cool to be able to create that connection with them and have them feel like it’s a safe space for them to share everything with you.” 

Fender said that one of the hardest parts of the pre-op process was having to be on an all-liquid diet for the two weeks prior to surgery – a stretch that included Christmas. But she has no regrets because of the impact the surgery has had on her life.

As much as the dietary changes are necessary, physical therapy is also crucial to a patient’s success.

Jennie Edmundson physical therapist Nicole Ausdemore, PT, DPT, understands the significance of her role in the program.

“It’s so important to work on the strengthening aspect to keep that muscle mass at least where it’s at, if not improved, while you’re on the weight-loss journey,” she said.

A month after receiving a gastric bypass, Fender walked a 5K in 5-degree weather with her best friend. 

She’s completed eight 5Ks so far during 2026. She even started jogging parts of the last two.

Fender, now weighing 170 pounds – 120 pounds lighter than she was a year ago – said that the biggest thing for her when she was overweight was that she wasn’t in a good head space.

“My mental health has improved drastically,” she said. “I feel like I’ve gotten my life back. I’ve been able to go and do these 5Ks and feel good.”

‘It’s life-changing’

Because of osteoarthritis and being overweight, Wright had a knee replacement last spring. She’d also tried a few diets, but every time she’d lose a few pounds, she gained more back. She also struggled with high blood pressure.

Her provider in Fremont County, Iowa – about an hour south of Council Bluffs – mentioned that Dr. Cunningham was starting a bariatric surgery program at Jennie Edmundson. 

She decided in October to make an appointment and told Dr. Cunningham that the ultimate Christmas gift would be having bariatric surgery before the end of the year.

“I told him, ‘I want to live. I want to lose weight. I want to be able to walk. I don’t want to be in pain anymore.’”

After three months of preparations, Wright received a bypass, lost over 80 pounds in six months and reduced her pill intake.

She also attended her granddaughter’s wedding in Texas at the beginning of June without pain.

After the wedding, she and her husband went to Galveston, Texas. They walked along the beach and in the water without restrictions – something that was impossible for her a year ago.

Her advice to other people considering the bariatric program?

“It’s life-changing, and you have to be willing to make life changes, but this will make your life 100 times better,” Wright said.

Fender and Wright are only two of the dozens of patients the program has cared for over the past year, but their successes as the first two surgical patients won’t soon be forgotten.

“When I still talk about Chelsey and Chris, I get goose bumps,” Hill said. “I know how much it’s changed their lives. I can feel it, and it touches my soul.”

Media coverage

Daily Nonpareil: 8 months after surgery, Macedonia woman says she has her life back