BEFORE & AFTER GALLERY

Ashley

Procedure: Gastric Sleeve

Total Weight Lost: 100 pounds

My Story: Today, at this time last year, I was laying in a hospital bed being poked and prodded, scared to death about what my future held – 100% sure of failure, like every other weight loss plan I had succumbed to AND pretty sure I was going to die on the table. I couldn’t see it then, but my life changed the minute I had my gastric sleeve surgery.

I never thought I would loose 20 pounds, 40, 60 and now I am a little over 100 pounds down. I am still shocked when I say it out loud or anyone asks me how much I have lost. When people are like, “You’re so skinny,” and they make comments about how my clothes hang off me now, I still don’t believe they are talking to me. That has NEVER been me.

I have a whole new life, and I can’t wait for the future. To lose more weight, to buy more clothes, to feel comfortable and beautiful. I can not explain what it feels like to walk around in a body that you feel like doesn’t belong to you. To feel so uncomfortable that all you want to do is be alone and away from other people. And it bleeds into your daily life – it makes you an unhappy person and I missed SO much while being trapped.

I feel if this is what it took for me to feel amazing in my own skin, than this is exactly what I needed. I am so very thankful for my father, who pushed me to do it and supported me through it. Without him, I would still be miserable and trapped in a body that didn’t belong to me. I have branched out and become the person I was born to be. It’s exhilarating to be able to walk up the stairs without getting out of breath, to be able to sleep with out waking up, to feel healthier, to have the best looking skin I’ve ever had. I look younger now than I did when I WAS younger.

I can’t say that I have my life BACK because I never really had control of it to begin with. On May 7th, 2013, my life began.