Gastric Sleeve Damaris

I went to the fair with my son and most of everything there I couldn’t do just for the simple fact that I exceeded the weight limit. So I couldn’t enjoy life with my son, and I knew at that point that my weight was being a hindrance.

I love food, who doesn’t love food? But it was in about the summer of 2013 when I went to the doctor and weighed in 281 pounds and I made the decision not to.

My biggest concern about getting the gastric sleeve honestly I know there’s always that chance, there’s a chance of surgery going wrong or being there being further complications, but my biggest concern was failing. Not doing what I was supposed to do and not losing any of the weight and having the surgery for nothing.

After surgery I noticed that things weren’t the same immediately. Day one when you get out of surgery the doctor tells you get up, walk around, this is not time to sit in the bed and relax. You know we had to make sure that one that we didn’t get blood clots, but just knowing that getting up on day one gave me the energy to keep going and I’m still going.

My goal was 170 which I’m the kind of girl I don’t, I don’t want to be 100 pounds, I don’t want to be a stick but I want to be healthy and I want to feel great. And coming from 281 pounds to 170 was a drastic change. And clothes I never thought I’d be able to wear. I do the things that I never thought I’d be able to do, and to know that from going from a non-active person my entire life to saying I’m actually active feels great.

When I think about Dr. Basa, the one thing that comes to mind is her personality. She’s very kind. Like I said she has a great bedside manner, she didn’t treat me like a fat person. She didn’t treat me as if you know I wasn’t good enough because I was fat, she treated me like a person, like a normal person and taught me the things that I needed to know to make bariatric surgery successful. And never once has her or her team ever make you feel like – even if you make a mistake that you’re not doing it right. We all make mistakes, we’re human.

I definitely go on rollercoaster ride with my son now, and it’s a great feeling to know that I fit in it. You know I’m not just sitting on top of the seat, I’m sitting in the seat.