Before	After

I have a higher self esteem. I recently enrolled in college which is something that I have wanted to do of for a long time! My greatest achievement has been losing 88 pounds! It seems just like yesterday that I had surgery. I still have a goal to lose 50 more pounds. I can now Zumba with out getting tired! Thank you Dr. Kent and Staff-- you have all been so encouraging through my weight loss journey.

Before	After

My proudest moment has been to be able to buy pretty clothes, no longer take medication and to wear a size 10! I love to be able to play with my grandchildren again. My greatest achievement has been to change my lifestyle of eating. I feel good about myself and see the real person within! I can now exercise which I could not do before. I love putting on a swimsuit. I can even look in the mirror. For the first time in years I can sit and cross my legs. I can now run.

Before	After

Today is a great day! But I can't think of really having a bad day since getting my band. I haven't always been overweight. I think it started about the time I turned 8 and I was considered a chubby child not a really heavy over weight child and that continued into high school. I then became real active in sports and cut back on calories and lost very easily. So years rock on and I meet and married my husband. I didn't play sports much then and really enjoyed cooking and eating. Also found out I was a dang good cook! A couple of years after marrying I had my first child and 2 more followed. Time moves on and the kids get bigger, hysterectomy and low thyroid and I ballooned. But the miracle drug comes along PhenPhen and Pondimen. It was the answer to my weight problem...lost lower than I had ever been. It was wonderful but then it was pulled off the market and back comes the weight. Plus more! My legs and hips were hurting, I couldn't walk any distance that I wasn't out of breathe and had to sit down. I was using my inhaler more and more for asthma and using 3 pillows at night with meds for reflux. Not to mention the snoring that was keeping the whole house up at night. Then I had a picture with some family taken the summer before my surgery that just said it all'I had to do something! One day I saw a friend that I had not seen in awhile and she had had the band and looked so good. I could not wait to get home and tell my husband, my number one supporter! We decide that I should try for it. So I called my insurance and it took several months and lots of tries but finally insurance covered it. I was beside myself! I saw hope at the end of the tunnel! I did all the pre op stuff required by my doctors and insurance and had surgery on June 5, 2007. I know I will have some arguments but the best doctor in the world is Dr Kent. He keeps reminding me of things I need to hear and I just think there is no other surgeon as great as he is. I know that we have the best office staff in the country! If I need to see the doctor they do their best to get me in as soon as possible. I doubt there is another office with staff that works as hard to get insurance to cover our surgeries as this staff does. Another great thing about my surgeon is the whole concept of the way the surgery works to be successful. We have available to us nutritional counseling and Dr Greg and Dr Betsy, our psychologists all in one office. Plus the wonderful support group at the hospital. Which I honestly think all contributes to successful weight loss. It has been a life changing experience. I know my quality of life is better and will continue to get better as I lose more weight. I can't thank Dr Kent and the office staff enough for all their help in my success.

Before	After

I started gaining weight when I was 12 years old. My parents were going through a very nasty divorce and food was my best friend. I turned to it anytime I had a problem. I was always very active in High School yet I was overweight. I hid my sorrow by being the Most Humorous of my Senior class. After I got married I continued to gain weight. After a tough pregnancy I gained even more weight. When I reached almost 250 pounds I had had enough. I tried many diets. Thirty eight diets to be exact. I lost a combined total of 220 pounds. After every successful loss I had the predictable gain. I was so unhappy. I have an extremely supportive husband but my self hate was causing a problem in our marriage. I had heard of Lap-Band because a member of my family had the surgery. After watching her lose minimal weight (later to find out that she did nothing she was supposed to) I decided that surgery would never be for me. One day I was sitting in my living room and my husband asked me if I wanted to go out and I told him no. He and my daughter went to leave and I heard my 2 year old tell her Daddy "Mommy never wants to go with us." I was devastated. I decided to review my options and I wrote down every diet I had ever tried and the weight lost on it. It was then that I thought maybe I should do some research on the surgery. I did my homework and found that LapBand was for me. It was simply a tool. I had to do the work. When success came it would be because of me. I had the surgery on 1/23/07 and I have had no regrets. I have my life back again. I have lost almost 100 pounds. I am now fulfilling all my dreams. I have ran 2 5ks and am finishing my Master's Degree in Social Work. I am now the person I have always wanted to be. Thank you so much Dr. Kent and all the people who supported me at Georgia Coast Surgical.