BEFORE & AFTER GALLERY

Heidi

Procedure: Gastric Sleeve

Weight Lost: 100 lbs.

Story: I began my journey with the team at DFW Bariatrics as a heavy 29 year old new mother.

However, I wasn’t always heavy, so living a life as a large person was something I only struggled with after I turned 20 when I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. I felt like I gained wait just sniffing a cake. I battled with weight during the time of my life when I was supposed to be having a blast, but I wasn’t. Many of my family members suffered from heart disease, diabetes along with other weight related issues. I knew my number was coming soon if I didn’t do something, and fast. During my pregnancy I struggled with hypertension. The doctors weren’t sure if it would go away after the birth of my son or not. So that was always a risk I didn’t like having while I was supposed to be enjoying the most magical time of my life.

My weight gradually climbed after I had my son at age 28. I was never comfortable with the weight but I found that I just didn’t have time to worry about myself after becoming a mother. I was more concerned with my new baby than my outward appearance. However, my husband was my biggest supporter and always put me first, and if it weren’t for him I wouldn’t have taken the step in DFW Bariatrics direction. He was an avid listener to radio station Nate Newton was on and called me to tell me DFW Bariatrics was having a seminar in Fort Worth and that I should go and check it out and just see what it was all about. So I did. Two weeks later I found myself in their office ready for my consultation. That is the day that changed my life. I remember sitting in the waiting room and watching the video testimonies and one that will always stick with me. It was a woman with a toddler that was playing at a play ground. The child was inside a tube and began to eat pebbles then started to choke. She panicked because she was too big to fit through the tube to come to her child’s aid. I instantly put myself in that woman’s shoes with just having my first child. Of course I did what all new mothers would have done and started to ball right there in the waiting room. As soon as my name was called I had made the decision that day that it didn’t matter what it took, I was getting this surgery for not only for myself but for my son. I wanted him to have a mother that would be around for a long time. I didn’t want him to know a mother who couldn’t keep up or play ball with him.

June 7th 2011 my son got the mother I always hoped he would have.

I’m officially down 100lbs 2 years post surgery. When someone asks me “Didn’t you worry about it being permanent?”, I tell them, “Never, I was concerned that my son would loose me permanently.”

Thank you DFW Bariatrics and your staff, for making me the best mom I knew I could be!