Jonathan: I was 16 years old and had been overweight all my life and I despised it. It’s difficult to grow up without friends because you are fat. I tried to deal with my weight all my life. When I was thirteen, I spoke to my family friend who had the Surgilite procedure and was awestruck by his results. All of a sudden the possibilities seemed endless. I could do what I wanted to do and finally be who I wanted to be. I decided then that that was it. Nothing is going to stop me from having this done. I went on the internet and read as much information as I could about the surgery. When I was ready, I sat down with my family and said, “This is what I want to do, what do you think?” My parents asked the usual questions and I somewhat eased their fears by presenting them with the “pros and cons” from my research. I gave them time to make their decision.

My journey started in April of 2001 with a three-hour drive to Folsom, California for my first meeting with Dr. Dapo Popoola and the general patient meeting everyone is required to attend. After the meeting, my mom and dad said, “That if this is what is going to make me happy, we’ll go through with it.” I went through several evaluations required by the insurance companies and once it was completed, the surgery was scheduled for July 17, 2001. Before I knew it, we were all headed to LA. I was nervously pacing the hospital room floor the night before my surgery. I had no reason to worry because my surgery was successful and the recovery went well.

After recovering and beginning my sophomore year in September 2001 at Dublin High, I was nominated as the Homecoming Prince for my class. I was ecstatic and so was my family. Who would have thought this would have happened to me a year ago? I was still the same person as I had always been but my attitude and self-esteem had gone through the ceiling. I could do anything I set my mind to. I went from a size 58 to a size 40 pant 16 months after my surgery. I could probably get a smaller size but I had to allow for the sagging that my mom and dad love so much. I could run in PE and keep up with my friend and I could walk without my knees giving out. My life has changed dramatically and I now know that life is about family, friends and happiness and not about food. I am free from food and it will never control me again.

My beginning weight was 337 pounds. Currently I weigh 200 pounds and never felt better. When you have an opportunity to make your dreams come true, no time is better than the present. I promise you will love the outcome. Believe me, I have been there, done that, and now I love every minute of my new “thin me” life. I was the “guinea pig” for my family because after I had reached my success, my sister Jennifer opted to have the same surgery in April 2002 and she lost 107 pounds. Who would have thought that I would have become a role model for my sister!

Jennifer: My journey through the Surgilite program started with my brother Jon Duffy. After seeing his success, I wanted to feel the same way, too. I saw him change from being depressed and angry to happy and cheerful all the time. This was one of my big motivations to call Surgilite. Everyday tasks seemed to exhaust me and I knew that this is not where I wanted to be. I contacted the office in January 2002 and attended the meeting on January 24, 2002. In February, my surgery was approved. I felt a sense of relief that everything was happening for the right reasons. I decided to put off my surgery until April to allow me enough time to finish my semester at school.

At the time of my surgery, I was 21 and miserable. I couldn’t wait to be happy just like my brother. I knew that this was going to be a life changing decision but I didn’t know just how much this would change my life and my outlook for the future. I went in for surgery on April 2, 2002. I was really nervous about the procedure but figured that if I had come this far, I couldn’t turn back now. I weighed in before surgery and the scale stared back with big black numbers reading 276 pounds. Oh my gosh! Had I really let myself go that far? It was all about to change. After I came out of surgery, my mom was waiting with a smile on her face that told me everything would be okay. Thank God for moms! Without her, none of this would have happened. Thanks, Mom, I love you!
Post-op went very well for me. I followed the program and saw results immediately. I went from a size 24/26 to a size 12 in 7 months. A size 12! I don’t even remember that size from when I was little. I love my new life, my new body, my new attitude, and my new outlook on life. There is nothing that I can’t accomplish!

Before	Before	After

My last memory of being thin was when I was 22 years old, just started a great career and was engaged. Within three years, my marriage ended in divorce. As a result, I had become my worst fear, FAT! My weight soared from 160 pounds to a plump 210 pounds and I was miserable. I went through a string of fad diets, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, joined a gym and even starving myself. Nothing worked for me, just the opposite, for every one pound I lost, two pounds were gained. At age 34, I reached an unbelievable 298 pounds. Although I was remarried with 3 great kids who loved me fat or thin, I was still unhappy. I was disgusted with my failures to beat the obesity dragon.

My life took a turn for the better on New Year’s Eve in 2001. I accompanied my husband at his employer’s annual party and, with a stroke of luck, sat across from a patient of Dr. Dapo Popoola. She graciously shared her story and before and after photos. I was astonished and excited. It was the first time I heard about bariatric surgery or Dr. Popoola. I was anxious to attend his February meeting in Folsom, California. During the month I waited to attend the support group meeting, I conducted research about the surgery and Dr. Popoola. It was clear that this was the surgery for me and Dr. Popoola was the only one I would let do it. I was approved for surgery in mid-March and the procedure was performed in April. I had no complications and no regrets.

Within the first 5 months I had lost 80 pounds and at my one year anniversary, I lost 100 pounds and still counting. To sum up my feelings of Dr. Popoola, his expertise in the bariatric medical field, his care and concern for his patients, makes him unequivocally the best. When my husband asks me, and I quote, “Whom do you love?” I simply answer…Dr. Popoola!!

Before	After

I have always been larger than the kids I grew up with. I remember keeping my shirt on while in the pool because I was embarrassed and ashamed of the way I looked. My weight started getting out of control in my junior high school days when I started dieting and battling the yo-yo weight loss. By the time I was a senior in high school I weighed 255 lbs., which was not that bad because I played football. My attitude was the bigger you are in football the better you can play the game. So I had my mind made up that I would play professional football for the rest of my life (yeah right!). The shocking news hit me when I realized I was not good enough to play pro ball but I still had this weight problem.

I moved on with my life, got married, and started a family. When my wife was pregnant with our first son, she gained 45 pounds and I gained 50 pounds. With our second son she gained 50 pounds, I gained a whopping 65 pounds. I was the poster child for empathy pregnancy weight gain. My wife was able to lose the weight after each pregnancy, but I was struggling to drop the fat. No matter what type of diet pill, program or drink, or exercise I did, I just could not get the weight off. My health was declining rapidly. I’m in my 20’s and I had shortness of breath, pain in my legs and back, suffered from sleep apnea, and was on blood pressure medication.
After losing my mom to a heart attack, I decided to get my health under control. I was referred to Surgilite by a co-worker who had the procedure. It was the best advice for me to lose the fat. I was tired of people staring at me in disgust or feeling insecure in my marriage. It was time to make a change.

In the beginning, my family was concerned about making such a drastic decision. After the dramatic weight loss, my family has been amazed with my new life and is very happy to see me living my dream. I just wish my mom was alive to share in my joy.
My three sons are happy to have a dad that can play with them. My wife is happy because I’m happy. I feel good about myself. Since the surgery three years ago, I have remained very disciplined about doing my part to maintain the weight loss and to develop muscle mass. I watch my carbohydrate, sugar, and protein intake. I also exercise everyday. It is important to vary your workouts so that you can concentrate on different areas of your body, stay motivated, and avoid bringing too much stress on yourself. It is such a blessing to be healthy and to live my life to my fullest potential. Dr. Popoola and Surgilite have really changed my life for the better.

Before	After

Obesity is common in my family – my mom and grandmother are severely overweight.  My problem with obesity began when I turned 30 years old.  I was working and it was just easier to eat fast food.  When I became a stay-at-home mom, I started cooking a lot and eating all the time.

After years of being self-conscious about my weight, and unhappy about wearing “fat clothes,” I tried every diet you can imagine including the Loma Linda, no carb, high carb, and the low fat diets.  Nothing was working and I ran out of options.

The onset of depression and several serious health problems, including shortness of breath and back pain, caused me to consider weight loss surgery.  The turning point that led me to SurgiLite was a couple of things: a former co-worker had successful surgery at SurgiLite and I developed congestive heart failure because of my obesity.

I remember it like it was yesterday.  My husband picked me up from work when suddenly I felt a need to cough but I could not cough or breathe.  My blood pressure was dangerously high.  I thought I was dying.  My doctor told me I had congestive heart failure and needed to lose weight.

On August 5, 2001, I underwent gastric bypass surgery at SurgiLite.  I weighted 230 pounds that day.  Within a year, I lost nearly 100 pounds.  Today, after 6 ½ years my weight has been maintained at around 130 pounds.

Since the surgery, I enjoy playing with my grandkids, horseback riding with my husband, and going to amusement parks with the family.

Having the surgery was the best thing I have done and I would do it all over again.  My husband could see how happy I was that he also became a SurgiLite patient.  Losing those unwanted pounds has given us the freedom to enjoy so many good things in life.

Before	After

I am no stranger to health problems.  My family has a history of diabetes and high blood pressure.  In the beginning, those problems did not affect me directly; however, my doctors warned me that it was just a matter of time.

The decline of my health problems associated with obesity came slowly.  I was a skinny kid until I was about 33 years old.  When I quit smoking, my weight ballooned from 198 to 248.  For the next 16 years, I tried every diet imaginable.  I would lose 10 pounds and gain 15 back.  I was tired of the diet regiment.  At the end of the diet cycle, I weighted an unbelievable 310 pounds.

As the weight got worse so did my quality of life.  First, I was not able to climb a flight of steps without shortness of breath.  I had severe sleep apnea, and was using a C-Pap machine.  My back, knees, and ankles would be so sore I would have to ice them at the end of the day.

I was unable to do anything for a prolonged period.  I would get winded and light headed.  I have never had any problems with self-esteem, even when I was heavy.  The thing that really got my attention was the day my granddaughter wanted me to lift her up.  I got so winded when I tried to bend down and lift her up.  That was the turning point in my life to do something about my weight problem.

I have 9 grandchildren and two more coming this fall.  I don’t have a lot of hobbies, but my grandchildren are very important to me.  I want to play with them without getting winded or having my joints hurt.  I want to see them graduate from college and have families of their own.  I want to take them camping and fishing.

What’s changed in my life since the surgery?  I no longer have any joint pains, and I have put the C-Pap machine in the closet.  I used to wear size 3x shirts, and now wear a medium shirt!  I bought my first pair of laced shoes in years.  I always wore slip on shoes till I lost the weight.  I would get winded just trying to tie the shoelaces.  So it was easier to just buy the slip on shoes.

The whole family enjoys going to Major League Baseball games.  We try to go a couple times a year.  I can now go get my own Diet Coke.  I can walk up the steps.  I can chase the kids around the yard or at the park.

I can work around the house for more than 10 minutes at a time.  I have remodeled the house and have done most of the work myself.  Before I lost the weight, it was tough to find a ladder that would hold me.

Before	After

On January 19, 2004, my life changed forever.  I made the decision to have Bariatric surgery to win my ongoing battle against obesity.

Both sides of my family are overweight.  We ate a lot of fried foods, desserts, and snacks and we were not very active.  At nine years old, I noticed that I was bigger than most of the kids on the block.  There were not many kids in the neighborhood to play with so I sat around, watched TV and played indoor games.

For nearly 30 years, I tried to lose the unwanted pounds on my petite framed through the diet of the moment.  I spent hundreds of dollars on NutriSystem, Weight Watchers, OptiFast, diet pills, Loma Linda Diet and others just to gain it all back in a matter of months.  Nothing was working and I was discouraged and wasting money.

I knew I really needed to lose the weight when I was using a public restroom and the toilet seat I was sitting on broke in two.  Water was everywhere.  It was quite embarrassing and I never wanted to be in that situation again.

One day, a true friend from church approached me and told me about her successful weight loss.  She could see that I was depressed because of my weight gain.  She confided in me that she went to SurgiLite to find the solution to get rid of her unwanted weight gain.

I had researched other medical facilities concerning Bariatric surgery and I was concerned about their procedure.  After I met and talked with the SurgiLite staff, my mind was at ease.  I heard about other SurgiLite patients who were leading happy and productive lives.  I really wanted that.

SurgiLite has an outstanding team of doctors on staff who truly care about the patient’s life.  I was impressed with SurgiLite’s pre-op procedure, which includes several medical tests to determine if my body could handle the surgery.  When I made the decision to get healthy, my husband of 14 years was 100 percent supportive throughout my process of change.

I was determined that my surgery and weight loss would not affect our marriage in a negative way.  He understood that the surgery was for my health and did not change what was important in my life, which was his love, our family and my self-esteem.  When my husband saw how committed I was about being healthy, he put a full gym in our garage.  I can’t believe it’s been almost four years since I had the surgery!

Since the surgery, we are enjoying our married life to the fullest.  We celebrated our 17th anniversary this year.  My new look and happy attitude was the best anniversary I could give him and it was easy to see on his face that he is proud of me.

I stopped dancing when I was obese.  Now, my husband and I are more romantic and go out on dates to dine, dance, and explore new places.  It is a joy to do fun things again.  Also, since I lost the weight and became active, I am more focused and can concentrate on tasks.  It is as if a veil was lifted from my brain.

I never rally had a dream goal other than the desire to lose weight forever.  Now, I think about someday going to culinary school and possibly owning a healthy food restaurant, a catering business or being the next star on the Food Network.

This experience has taught me that it is important to be physically active, eat smaller portions, eat several meals throughout the day, and watch what you eat.  I now work out twice a day.  I learned that gastric bypass surgery is not a quick fix it surgery and I must follow the protocol.  My decision was to be fit and healthy for life and I am able to achieve it with the help of SurgiLite.

Before	After