By Shaka Lias
NYT Institute

NEW ORLEANS -- Two years ago, Sheriff Harry Lee was faced with a life or death choice from his doctor: have gastric-bypass surgery and face a 1 percent chance of dying from the surgery, or not have the surgery and face a 20 percent chance of dying from morbid obesity. For Lee the decision was simple. He would have the surgery.

“It was more dangerous for me not to have the operation,” said Lee, who has been sheriff of Jefferson Parish since 1980.

At 70, Lee was diagnosed with morbid obesity. According to doctors, morbid obesity is when a person is at least 100 pounds overweight. It can lead to weight-related illnesses.

Besides his family history of obesity, his eating habits also played a role in his weight gain. He often enjoyed Chinese food, steak and potatoes.

Although he said he feared dying on the operating table, Lee knew that the surgery was necessary, and now he says that it was one of the best decisions he ever made.

“Someone 6 feet, 400 pounds was a walking blob,” Lee said, referring to himself before the surgery.

According to the George Washington University Hospital Web site, gastric bypass surgery creates a very small stomach pouch by stapling the top portion of the stomach. The new pouch is connected to the small intestines, bypassing some of the upper portion of the small intestines. The person is then able to consume less food.

Before his surgery, Lee had problems walking and getting out of a chair. He developed shortness of breath, joint pain and severe lower-back pain. He also had problems with diabetes and high blood pressure.

After the surgery, his shortness of breath, joint pain and back pain went away. The diabetes and high blood pressure are under control, and so is his life.

He had the surgery in April 2003 at Presbyterian Hospital at the University of Pittsburgh, and lost 100 pounds within seven to eight months after the surgery. Lee has only gained five pounds since then.

Now, Lee, 72, has embraced life.

He is already making plans to run for sheriff again when his term ends in 2008. He would then be the longest running sheriff in the history of Jefferson Parish.

Lee’s aspiration to fight crime doesn’t stop there; he said he will also run in 2011.

“If my health is good and the people still want me, I intend to run in 2011,” said Lee. In the last election Lee defeated three opponents and received 76 percent of the votes.

“I have a treadmill and exercise bike, but like everyone else I don’t use it,” said Lee, who doesn’t have a special routine to keep the pounds off.

His eating habits haven’t changed drastically either. He said he still eats the things he loves – just not as much.

“I’m still a meat and potato man, but now it’s less meat, more veggies,” Lee said.

He said all he would order in the past was steaks. Now he orders chicken, fish and salads. Since the surgery, his stomach capacity is limited.

“I know that if I take one more bite I would probably get sick,” Lee said.

Betty Adams, Lee’s executive assistant for 38 years, said she was worried about the sheriff, but she is now hopeful.

“Sheriff Lee is one of the nicest people you ever want to meet,” Adams said.

Deputy Chief Dan Russo agrees.

“Whenever there is a problem he is one of the first to step up to the plate,” Russo said. “He’s a local celebrity. He has his own bobble heads and everything.”

Inside Lee’s office is a wall of pictures of him with Willie Nelson, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood and every president since Lee became sheriff in 1980: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Lee has sung on numerous occasions with Nelson at the Jazz Fest and House of Blues. He even has his own cassette of himself singing his favorite songs.

“It’s selling out at garbage companies all over the world,” Lee joked about his 1991 effort.

After the surgery, he said he is enjoying life more with his wife of 47 years, Lai, one daughter and two granddaughters. He likes to travel and do the things he used to do like hunting, fishing and collecting handmade wooden duck decoys. Lee’s most prized duck is worth $2,100.

Despite how the surgery has changed his life, Lee said he does not feel comfortable recommending the surgery to anyone else.

“I’m not in the position to recommend the surgery,” Lee said. “It’s up to the individual and their family, but I’d do it again in a New York second.”