Gastric Sleeve Helps Petite Customer Service Manager Lose 130 Pounds
“Imagine where you could be if you start your weight loss journey today. Look ahead six months to July 2021. Your life and your health could be so different. Don’t leave for tomorrow what you can do today.”
Damaris Hernandez
Damaris Hernandez, shown above, knows all too well what it’s like to battle weight—she watched her mother struggle and live with obesity, which eventually caused several chronic medical conditions and limited her mobility. She lost her mother in 2020.
“I really believed in my heart that I could lose the weight on my own,” the married mother of two teenagers explains. “Since I’m still in my 30’s, I thought I had time to take off the weight, but it never happened.”
Damaris, like many women, is a caregiver—everyone else’s needs are met, and if there’s any time or energy left at the end of the day, Damaris devotes that time to self-care. But that day rarely came.
With her mother’s struggles in the front of her mind, the petite customer service manager lost 32 pounds in early 2019. But with a starting weight of 278 pounds on her petite 4-foot-11-inch frame, she still had a long way to go on her own.
Weight loss was also slow, usually just a pound or two a week.
Discovering Dr. Adeyeri from positive patient reviews
“I am active on social media and saw Dr. Adeyeri recommended several times by some people I knew who had weight loss surgery,” Damaris recalls.
“Everyone had great things to say about him, so I already knew his patients highly respected him.” She began to follow him on Facebook.
When her primary care doctor suggested another bariatric surgeon, Damaris said no thank you; she had already found the right doctor for her.
Damaris had solid support from her husband and children to finally focus on her own health and well-being.
“They knew how worried I was about getting bigger and that I needed to lose weight now, while I still could.”
In July 2019, at age 36, she had the gastric sleeve performed at Hackensack Meridian Health’s Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, where Dr. Adeyeri serves as medical director at the Institute for Weight Loss.
Dr. Adeyeri describes Damaris’s road to weight loss success
“Damaris was highly motivated from the first time I met her,” says board-certified bariatric surgeon Dr. Ayotunde Adeyeri.
“But she had thoroughly researched weight loss surgery and felt the gastric sleeve was the right bariatric operation for her and I agreed.”
Dr. Adeyeri explains that people with smaller statues can have a tougher time losing weight on their own—
“If you and your best friend weigh the same and follow the same diet and exercise routine, but you happen to be shorter, it will take more time for you to lose weight.”
The reason is that smaller bodies require less energy and therefore burn fewer calories.
“The fact that Damaris achieved this impressive level of success assures me that she will reach whatever goals she sets for herself.”
Dr. Ayotunde Adeyeri
The scale tips downward from 263 after gastric sleeve surgery
Damaris had no complications and followed Dr. Adeyeri’s recommendations to maximize her weight loss, as her goal was to get the weight off as quickly and safely as possible.
“As the weight came off, exercising became easier for me,” Damaris explains.
Today, she goes to the gym three times a week, working out on the cardio machines, lifting light weights, and walking about five times a week for about three miles.
Between the weight loss and the regular workouts, Damaris has tripled her energy level. “I used to feel so lethargic and worn down every day,” she recalls. “I thought I had a medical problem, but it was really just carrying all the extra weight.”
By 2021, Damaris’s weight was under 150 pounds, dropping a whopping 130 pounds since 2019, when she made that fateful decision to lose the extra weight, permanently.
Demaris Hernandez before and after gastric sleeve bariatric surgery.
Wearing a size 3X on her petite frame before bariatric surgery, she now wears a size medium on top and a M-L on the bottom.
Her goal is to weigh under 140 pounds by the summer, which is a realistic goal.
When asked what the future holds for Damaris, she replies, “I want to do all the things I missed out on because of my weight, like riding the craziest roller coasters and zip lining. We love to vacation in Mexico and my dream is to finally parasail along the coast with my husband.”
Damaris says she loves her new appearance and how much easier everyday life is weighing so much less.
“I have two lives, the one before bariatric surgery and today.
I feel very fortunate to have this second chance, because now I’m living my best life.”
Is 2021 the Year You Change Your Life and Your Clothing Size?
Do you have 75 pounds or more to lose?
Call our friendly team of weight loss surgery specialists at (732) 217-3897 and schedule your telehealth appointment–within the next week!
You will speak privately with our medical director, Dr. Ayotunde Adeyeri and find out if you qualify for a bariatric weight loss solution.
We look forward to profiling YOUR success story soon!