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TESTIMONIALS
-
 Rebecca
"I able to dance and finish the whole song without shortness
of breath!"
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Renee
"I have gone from wearing a size 22W to a 12!"
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Aisha
" I thank God for my surgery and I believe there is nothing
he and I can’t conquer."
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Sandra
"My life has changed so much for the better and I met and I
am so happy."
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Rebecca "I met my goal of 111 pounds
lost in 8 months! This journey was wonderful."
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Ashley
" I now have more self-esteem and feel great about the way I
look, which as given me the strength to be more involved in
life."
Rebecca
- never considered weight loss surgery because she never
thought of herself as a candidate. For almost her entire life,
Rebecca battled with her weight. She tried pills, diet, and exercise
but they never seemed to work. When she did lose weight, it was
only a few pounds, which she would gain back, sometimes even double.
Being overweight, Rebecca felt tired, moody, and lacked energy. She
had no self-esteem and never wanted to attend social events.
Looking around, Rebecca asked herself if that was where she really
wanted to be in life. A lot of her family members are overweight and
on medication. Her aunt just passed away from diabetes at the age of
48. Motivated, she researched different types of weight loss
surgeries and their risks vs. outcomes.
Rebecca decided on the sleeve gastrectomy because it would
give her the long-term success she wanted.
After surgery, her life has greatly changed.
Rebecca is at a
very happy and extraordinary time in her life and looks forward to
everything she does. What she enjoys most about her weight
loss is being able to dance and finish the whole song without
shortness of breath. She can keep up with her husband, who loves the
change in her mood. Seeing how happy Rebecca is with her weight
loss, her husband was inspired to have weight loss surgery himself.
They are now expecting her first child. Rebecca feels great, is
having a healthy pregnancy, and is excited about being a mom.
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Renee - I faced a lifetime of being
overweight. You can line up the women in my family and determine who
was born into and who married into the family – we come from good
stout German stock!
Diet pills, drastic diets, not eating – I’ve tried it all. I would
loose weight, but I always gained it back. I tried so hard, but it
seemed like I was born with a spoon in my hand and I was always
looking for my next meal.
Because of my size, I could no longer fit comfortably in the seat of
a plane. I would have to pull my shoulders into the front of my body
and hold onto my upper arms to keep from intruding onto the other
passenger’s space. My heavy hips and thighs were always pressed
against the arm rests. How embarrassing and what an uncomfortable
flight, always ending with a stiff neck, back, and arms. And,
heavens forbid that the airlines lost my luggage since you can’t
find a large-sized clothing store on every corner. I had nightmares
of attending a business conference and having to wear the same
outfit everyday!
I never felt that I dressed the way I wanted to because they never
made the clothing style that I liked in my size. I always had to
make due with what fit, never being able to express my own personal
preferences.
When reality hit that I would be turning 60 and was very overweight
with no relief in sight, I determined to find a solution for my
obesity once and for all. I wanted my “golden years” to be
productive and fun – not sitting around unable to enjoy being
active. Thus began my journey to find the solution that fit me best.
To me, education and support are everything. I surfed the internet
and asked a lot of people about my options. I searched out people
who had experienced the different bariatric surgeries. When a friend
recommended that I speak with Dr. Vuong, I went to one of his
seminars. Listening to Dr. Vuong discussing his program in December
2008 and telling us why his program is different made my choice easy
– I signed up that evening and have never regretted one moment my
decision to allow Dr. Vuong to do my Lap-Band procedure.
I had surgery on February 23, 2009 and reached my personal goal of
loosing 100 pounds two weeks before my one-year surgery anniversary
date – not bad for a 60-year-old post-menopausal woman! I have gone
from wearing a size 22W to a 12! Finally, I can walk into any store
and pick out clothes that fit my taste – even finding bargains on
the sale rack. I love shopping now.
The reason for my success – an amazing physician who is not only an
expert in his field, but also a caring individual. He and his staff
know their patients personally and do everything possible to ensure
their success. How many doctors do you know that you can make a call
to and actually get to speak with them? Dr. Vuong’s program is the
best support system I have ever heard of. Not only do you learn what
to do, you learn why it works. We do not just talk about food, but
we also deal with the underlying reasons why we have a weight
problem. Knowledge is very freeing and I feel that I am now truly
free from a lifetime addiction to food. Food is no longer the enemy,
but rather a positive aspect of life. I am no longer hungry and I no
longer crave things that are not good for me. Lap-Band was just the
tool that I need to help me and Dr. Vuong and his staff are the
support I need to make sure I will be successful – once and for all!
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Aisha - Before surgery I would always
try and loose weight and would be successful with a few pounds here
and there but would gain it back. I’ve tried almost every diet out
there, you name it, I've probably tried it. I would even try and
exercise but couldn't without having problems with my breathing and
joint pain. The most weight I was able to lose was 30lbs. My highest
weight was 253lbs, this was my last weigh in before I had surgery.
On most mornings I didn't know where my pain would come from, I
would never know what part of my body I would need the heating pad
next. I would always think if I could at least loose
30-50lbs I’d feel better about myself and I would be moving toward
being a healthier me. My blood pressure readings when ever I would
go to the doctor started being borderline. I became very afraid of
becoming very obese and with that came other co-morbids, along with
the heart problems (a heart murmur, chest pains), shortness of
breathe, joint pain and allergies, I already had. I knew I had to do
something about my weight. My eating habits weren’t very poor but my
exercising was. I just couldn’t get enough weight off or be
motivated enough to stay in control to exercise.
My greatness fear was the stairs in my home. Once at the top I
would have to try and catch my breath and pray I wouldn't fall out
and my children find me laying there, not breathing or even worse
having a heart attack. That would have been horrible, because they
had know idea that I was having those kinds of problems, nobody did.
These things made me really decide to move forward and research the
gastric by pass surgery. I found a facility through a co-worker and
started my process. I was approved for surgery and received a call
on my birthday in September of 2007 and was told my surgery was
scheduled on the 25th of September ( I can remember the excitement I
felt to know my life was about to change for the better).
After surgery my life began to blossom. I’m down to 178lbs (a
total of 75lbs lost). My goal was to loose 80 to 85lbs. I have
energy and I enjoy life again. When exercising, instead of walking
slow on a treadmill and loosing my breath in 5 min. I now run and
walk on a treadmill. That feels good! I still have to be careful
because of my heart murmur but I feel good about myself. My
self-worth and self-esteem returned. I thank God for my surgery and
I believe there is nothing he and I can’t conquer. I went back to
school and now I work as the Insurance Coordinator at the facility
that helped prepare me for my surgery. The staff that was here
before isn’t here anymore but I am very grateful for all of them. I
now get a joy out of helping patients reach their goal, whether it’s
for weight loss only or because they want a better opportunity or
chance to truly live there lives. Many of the patients see this as
their last chance for change in their life, that change that will
bring them new life, new beginnings, new hope and a renewed them,
for them after surgery, life really has just begun.
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Sandra - My story is short and sweet
with a happy ending. My initial battle with weight loss seemed small
at first, however, when the weight kept increasing and not
decreasing, I began to worry. My weight was 196lbs on my 5'2" frame.
I tried several other methods to loose the weight but nothing seem
to work. I tried Atkins, Slim fast, Fasting, Vegetable Soup diet, LA
Weight Loss, Diet Pills, Weight Watchers, etc. Nothing seemed
worked. I even went to Dr. Spiegel, but was turned down. I was
taking three (3) different medications for high blood pressure, one
of which I took twice daily. I was also taking medication for high
cholesterol. My knees were giving me trouble. Just to step up on the
sidewalk, the pain was just awful and unbearable. My eye sight was
failing and my glasses did not seem to help much. When a co-worker
told me about Dr. Now and gave my his number. So I decided to call
and I got Rebecca, who worked with me and scheduled everything for
me. Once approved and all test results were in, my surgery was
scheduled on December 15, 2008.
After the surgery, the weight just seemed to melt away. I did not
need any medication other than an Aleve once or twice. In about 6
weeks, I had lost probably about 25 lbs and was wearing my size 10
clothes. In another 8 weeks, I had lost another 20 lbs and was
wearing my size 8 clothes. I was so happy. What I did not know was
that I was not through losing weight, then I got worried. I lost
another 31 lbs in the months to come making a total of 76 lbs. I was
now wearing size 6 and some size 4s. My weight has now stabilized
and my size continues to be a 4 or Junior size 3 or 5. I am
so happy and always get complements on how good I look. I told the
staff at one of the monthly support group sessions, that I not only
had the surgery and loss weight, but I also got a divorce. My life
has changed so much for the better and I met a wonderful man named
Charles and I am so happy.
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Rebecca - I was 225 pounds,
25yr. diagnosed with diabetes and was on medication, shortness of
breath, hot and sweating all the time. I was very unhappy with
myself and the quality of life I was living. Nine months before my
surgery I was married and I refused to have a wedding because I
refused to take pictures. All this made me want to make the life
style change. I had my sleeve gastrectomy surgery on May 9, 2008 and
8 months later I met my goal of 111 pounds lost. This journey was
wonderful. Unexpectedly a few weeks later I was in shock to find out
I was 12 weeks pregnant and very concerned about this situation. My
pregnancy turned out wonderful I gained 12 pounds and had a healthy
baby. I lost the weight 2 weeks after the baby and I maintained to
present.
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Ashley - In my youth I
developed bad eating habits mainly due to a single mother who worked
late nights and I was left to my own devices to put together dinner.
Of course being a pre-teen to teenager, I ate lots of fast-foods and
junk food because it was cheap and convenient to access. Although
obese, I was fairly active in soccer which kept some weight down but
after graduating high school I began to put most of the weight back
on. After time I finally was frustrated enough to do something about
my weight, I went through many diets, exercise programs, boot camps,
over the counter diet pills, physician supervised diets which
included diet pills, but because I never learned how to eat right or
change the choices I was making I eventually would gain most if not
all the weight back. I then decided to have bariatric surgery.
With Dr. Vuong's program I am learning good eating habits and the
right foods I need to eat to keep my weight off and maintain a
healthy body. The lap-band is a wonderful tool to help me control my
food intake. Going to group each week reinforces good eating habits
and healthy eating and allows me to interact with other people that
have the same issues as myself. I know have more self-esteem and
feel great about the way I look, which as given me the strength to
be more involved in life and activities that young adults like
myself our doing.
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