Maria

“I’ve been overweight for as long as I can remember. I was the kid who got picked on for being chubby. My whole life, I tried various methods to lose weight — counting calories, Atkins, South Beach, pills, hiring a personal trainer, SlimFast shakes and others — with very little to no lasting success. 

“A few years ago, my husband approached me and said he was interested in weight loss surgery. I’ll be honest in admitting that I was vehemently against it because it was ‘too risky and dangerous’ and we could lose the weight on our own if we ‘just tried harder.’ After opposing it, I realized that I wasn’t being a very supportive wife and decided that, at the VERY least, I could learn more about weight loss surgery and get educated on the process before digging my heels in on the subject.

“I attended one of Dr. Srikanth’s seminars. After learning how much it could help with my PCOS, I was willing to keep learning more about the process and was open to considering it. We signed up for a seminar as a couple along with a good friend of mine who also was considering weight loss surgery. We all attended and afterward we made the decision to go ahead and get the process started. I figured that with the amount of time it would take to complete the requirements, there was always time to ‘back out’ if I really wanted to.

“Here I am 11 months post-op and 103 lbs. down from my highest weight, and almost 80 lbs. down since the day of surgery. I’m SO happy to say I am GLAD I didn’t back out. I am finally living life without restrictions — no more asking for a seatbelt extender when flying, no running out of breath just walking to my car. I have more clothing options and I just hit a weight class where I can do activities I’ve always wanted to, like horseback riding, ziplining and other fun things. 

“I thank God for Dr. Srikanth, Kristen and the whole staff for giving me the courage to follow through on something that has finally allowed me to LIVE, instead of just survive.” 

— Maria