Teresa's Weight Loss Story
Weight Lost: 119 lbs.
Comorbidity Resolutions: Lowered high cholesterol
Surgery Type: Sleeve Gastrectomy
As a child, I was not overweight. I started packing on the pounds in my late teens and early 20s. I was a stay-at-home mom for a while, and during that time, I forgot about taking care of myself. I weighed close to 400 pounds at the time. You can’t carry around that much weight without something going wrong. My feet, knees, back, hips – everything hurt all the time. Later, after I got a job, my main focus was just going to work, sitting at my desk all day, coming home and sitting in my chair the rest of the evening. My sister called me one day, and she said a friend of hers had wanted her to go to an information session about weight loss surgery with Dr. Scott. During the session, Dr. Scott spoke about the different surgeries and made me think that this might be a possibility for me. At that point, I could hardly walk and had been told by my doctor the week before that I was on the borderline of having Type 2 diabetes.
The New Teresa
No one at work even knew what I was having done. When I returned to work the Monday after my surgery, nobody even knew until I started losing weight. Then they asked, 'What’s going on with you?' That’s when I told them about the surgery, and I was excited to tell them. One of the most exciting things for me is meeting people that I haven’t seen in a long time. They look at me and maybe recognize my voice, and once they realize who I am, it comes as such a shock to them. Since I lost weight, I have so much more energy. I’ve been skydiving, go kayaking, do yard work and go to the gym regularly. It’s very rare that I get a chance to sit down anymore. It’s such a better life.
A Life Changing Process
Now, I make better choices, and it’s because I have to. People say this is the easy way out, but it’s still a process. You just have a good tool to help you with the process. And you have a team behind you with Dr. Scott and his staff. They are number one and are extremely supportive and answer any questions you have. There’s nothing they won’t help you with. I would recommend that anyone who is looking into having weight loss surgery or thinking about it go to the information session. I think you’ll walk away from there thinking, 'I need to do this.' This is going to be something that will improve your life.