One 12-year-old girl with a rare medical condition may be getting some help. Alexis Shapiro feels like she's constantly starving, which has resulted in uncontrollable weight gain. Now, though, she'll be getting a surgery which could help save her health, according to Cincinnati Business Courier.
Alexis weighs 203 pounds due to her medical condition, according to NBC News. A previous brain surgery sent her metabolism haywire, and caused her to put on excess weight. Now, though, TRICARE officials have agreed to pay for a gastric bypass surgery that will help the pre-teen lose weight, curb her appetite and lead a normal life.
In 2011, Alexis had a benign brain tumor removed, according to ABC News. Yet this surgery resulted in damage to her pituitary gland and an area in the hypothalamus part of her brain. This, in turn, affected how her body perceived signals from her digestive system.
"It's been a roller coaster," said Ian Shapiero, 34, the girl's father, in an interview with NBC News. "You take your faith and you put it in the doctors and then we'll do the part that we can. We got to this point because we were all out of options."
If Alexis doesn't undertake the surgery, it's estimated that she'll continue to gain about one to two pounds per week. Obesity can cause further complications later in life, such as heart disease and diabetes. The gastric bypass surgery is therefore a huge part of helping Alexis remain healthy.
"She is also very excited and wants to do it," said Jenny Shapiro, Alexis' mother, in an interview with ABC News. "[We explained] it's going to be hard and it's going to be hard after the surgery but she might get her life back. She said that she's no worse off than she is now. She can't do anything now so why not try something different."
