“I’ve always been a bit chubby (not as a child or young adult, but maybe after age 25). I have a lot of back problems and pain (had a car accident in 2014, which made things worse), and I was way too heavy.  Not to mention I had trouble controlling my food intake. I suffer from PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome, so I’ve had some trouble controlling my weight. Also, I had extensive fertility treatment and a difficult pregnancy, so I gained a lot of weight from that too. Luckily, tho, I had a baby at age 40! I’m 48 now. 

I was scheduled to do a regular bypass through the hospital in 2016. A month or so before my surgery was to take place, I fell down the stairs and broke my shoulder. I had to cancel the surgery and stayed home for three months recovering.  While I was recovering I did a lot of research on regular gastric bypass and got spooked by all the bad stories I read so I decided not to go through with it and try to lose the weight myself. I managed to lose 30 pounds but unfortunately, I gained it all back and more. I decided to opt for the Mini Gastric Bypass when I heard about it through one of the SmartShape nurses. This nurse has a daughter in the same MMA class as my son, so I heard about it from her.  Before meeting her, I had never heard of a Mini Gastric Bypass. I had already done all my research beforehand when I was scheduled to do the regular gastric bypass so when she told me how the procedure is done, I was immediately hooked.  I just knew it was for me. The fact that the surgery was simpler than a regular gastric bypass, with far fewer opportunities for complications convinced me.

Everyone at SmartShape was very caring and paid a lot of attention to me. Even while I was at home recovering, I heard from the nurses and my surgeon. I was very pleased with everyone. I also consulted with the dietitian and kept in contact with the nurses whenever I had a question or concern.

The experience has been a positive one for me. Obviously the first month after surgery was harsh and then trying to adjust to the new eating patterns took some doing. But it’s been almost 5 months now and I feel good. I know what I can and cannot eat now and how much and I’m down 55 pounds since my pre-op weight in November 2017.  When I was scheduled to do the regular surgery with the hospital, I always felt uneasy and not good about it at all. I felt the opposite of that when I spoke to the nurse at SmartShape.

Like I mentioned above, I just knew this surgery was for me. I don’t know how to explain it exactly but it just felt right.”