A year filled with changes

Scott Loftis

It’s been an interesting year for this newspaper and for me, too, both personally and professionally.

At this time one year ago, I was in discussions to acquire the Carroll County News from its then-owners, CherryRoad Media. I had dreamed for years about someday owning a weekly newspaper, although I never allowed myself to actually say those words. When the opportunity presented itself, I could not pass it up.

A year later, I feel as if our newspaper is thriving. We’ve made some sound business decisions, like moving into office space that is smaller but also more visible and more functional for us. We’ve made some changes to the paper, like the addition of our School Spotlight pages. One popular new feature is the weekly football picks contest on the sports page, thanks to the generous sponsorship of CS Bank. I hope we can add more features to the paper over the next few months and continue to make it better for its real owners, the people of Carroll County.

I was looking at another change this time a year ago, too. After decades of being morbidly obese, I decided enough was enough and made the decision to undergo bariatric surgery.

The highest weight I ever saw on a scale was 354 pounds. That was in late 2013 or early 2014. When I first visited the Roller Weight Loss Clinic in Fayetteville in August of 2022, I weighed 321 pounds. I lost eight pounds over the next month, but then my wife and I flew to San Francisco in October. They might as well call it Food Francisco. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and it showed. At my next visit to the clinic, I was at 326 pounds. That was Oct. 11, 2022.

A month later, on Nov. 10, 2022, I had my surgery, a duodenal switch procedure. My surgeon, Dr. Yong Kwon, removed most of my stomach and bypassed a large portion of my intestine. The result is that I can’t eat as much and what I do eat isn’t fully absorbed.

The clinic set my final weight goal, which they expected me to reach 12 to 18 months after surgery, at 184 pounds. At my nine-month post-op appointment, in August, I weighed in at 185. Currently, I’m somewhere between 176 and 180, depending on the time of day and what I’m wearing. My waist is 20 inches smaller than before surgery.

As you can imagine, life is different now. I can do a lot of things I couldn’t do before. I can mow the yard without feeling as if I might die. I can sit in a booth at a restaurant. I can walk. And walk. And walk some more. Last weekend my wife, Lisa, and I signed up for and walked a 5K race in Rogers. Don’t ask me about our time. I wasn’t concerned about that. All I wanted was to finish the race. And we did, even if my watch said it was 3.9 miles instead of 3.1. I’m proud of us. We are both in our mid-50s. I have no cartilage in either knee (with one scheduled for replacement surgery January and the other to follow as soon as possble) after years of osteoarthritis. Lisa has a titanium rod in her back after being injured in a car accident several years ago. But none of that stopped us from finishing the race.

I wake up every day full of energy and ready to get to work. And, oh, how I love the work. Outside of my wife and my sons and grandsons, this newspaper is the most important thing in the world to me. It is my pride and joy. It’s my way of serving my community, as corny as that might sound.

My life has changed a lot over the last 12 months. I’m grateful every day for my health, for my family and for the opportunity to do a job I love in a place I love.

Thank you all for reading and supporting this newspaper. You make it all possible and I’m more grateful than you’ll ever know.

••• Scott Loftis is editor and publisher of the Carroll County News. His email address is SLoftis@CarrollCoNews. com.