Cherie Jones:
My youngest daughter decided to have weight loss surgery. I was very afraid that she would not be successful or have complications during the surgery. I try my best not to project my fears onto my adult children, so I decided to tag along with her to the orientation so I could meet the doctor that would perform her surgery, so he understood I expected him to take excellent care of my baby.
When Dr. Smith came in to speak to the class, he started telling us if we suffer from high blood pressure, sleep apnea, diabetes, etc., that these diseases take years off our lives. Imagine my surprise when I started doing the math?! He basically just snuffed almost 20 years from me, and I was 51 years old. The staff was so patient and kind and answered every single question I had. While there, I met a lady who was 5 years post op and she had finally convinced her mom to consider having surgery. She seemed so relieved that her mom was finally taking her health seriously. All week, I kept asking myself how it would make my daughter feel if it took her 5 years to convince me to get healthy. I watched so many videos of Dr. Smith's work and researched robotic surgery.
After only 4 days I completed my inquiry on their website. The most amazing thing was due to my medical diagnosis, my timeline was much shorter than my daughters and we were both cleared for surgery at the same time. Her only request was that we have surgery the same day. Our surgery date was October 2023.
I am down 100 pounds from my highest weight of 313. I have not been this small in over 25 years. My only regret is not conquering my fears and getting the surgery sooner. I am so grateful for my daughter being brave enough to choose bariatric surgery and for Dr. Smith and his team who has given me a new lease on life. I finally get to experience things I've only dreamed about!
Zantonia Jones:
The reason I opted for bariatric surgery was because I wanted to get healthy for my daughter. My turning point was when I realized that I was 368 pounds at 20 years old. I knew I wanted to better my life and get my health together so I could be more active with my daughter.
One of my big motivations was losing my father. He unfortunately was never able to recover from some of the addictions he had. I couldn't understand how a parent could put addiction before their kids but then I realized that I was addicted to food, and it was affecting my everyday health and would ultimately take me away from my daughter. I decided to take control of my life and change my relationship with food.
I am currently down 106 pounds from my highest weight, and I have no regrets!