My husband and I made the join decision to have weight loss surgery together. WE were both sick and tired of being overweight and exhausted. WE each have different reasons as to why we were overweight, but I will tell you my story. When I was 39 I found out that I was pregnant with our youngest child. That child is now in high school and I had been carrying around my extra weight for 15 years. I have treid every diet plan on the market (Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Medifast, Adkins to name a few) with very little success. My “enough is enough” came when I was diagnosed with full-blowen (no longer “borderline”) Diabetes type 2. I discussed the possibility of weight loss surgery with my general practitioner who strongly recommended Dr. Sheetal Patel. I went home and had a discussion with my husband (who had also been researching weight loss surgery), and we made a joint consultation appointment the very next day.

Dr. Patel eased our surgery fears and led us through discussions of the various weight loss surgery options available. Together we determined that gastric sleeve would be the way to go. We met several times with a nutritionist, and attended several bariatric support group meetings in order to prepare for our lifestyle change. I had my surgery in June and my husband went in December. Dr. Patel is absolutely amazing! We highly recommend her to anyone considering weight loss surgery options. To be honest, weight loss surgery is the toughest thing we have ever done but the best thing we have ever done. Every day we ask each other, “why did we wait so long to do this?”

I am proud to say that within 7 months of surgery I was off all my medications my diabetes was reversed and my high blood pressure is under control. In those 7 months I lost 65 pounds. Best of all, I get to walk right past the plus size department as I now fit into the “cute clothes.” As for my husband, he is also off all medications and has lost 80 pounds within two months of surgery. We have much more energy and we are doing more things outside in the world with our kids. We have also noticed that we actually get cold at night and area no longer lowering the thermostat. Hello, lower energy bills!