Beverley has lost an incredible 135 pounds since having gastric sleeve surgery with Dr. Roshek! Since that time, her life has changed for the better in so many ways. This is her story.
Life Before Surgery
“My life before surgery was a battle of weight problems beginning at age nine after my parents divorced. When my dad moved out of the house my mom would say mean things to me because of the three of us kids I was most like my father. So early in life, I turned to food to make me happy. Then on came the weight and I was seldom happy. I have always been a people pleaser so I buried my feelings and pretended to be happy. I experienced very hurtful comments from others including my mom when she was mad at dad. This caused my self-esteem to plummet so I never had any confidence in myself or anything I did.
“Fast forward to 2014 when I became caretaker for my father who weighed 450 lbs. He was unable to get around due to health issues and could not even bathe himself. I saw all the limitations that came along with being overweight and decided that by the time I turned 50 this was not going to be my story. I wanted to enjoy my golden years.
“In 2016, I began my journey. I was 350 pounds and decided to start eating healthy. I joined the gym and got a trainer to work with me for the first three months and then continued on my own. I lost 70 pounds. then hit a plateau and quit losing but did not gain either. It was then that I decided to do weight loss surgery. In July of 2017 I had the Gastric Sleeve done.”
My Nicholson Clinic Experience
“I originally started the process at a different clinic, but decided to change clinics. Dr. Roshek and the Nicholson Clinic came highly recommended by my father’s home health nurse. Pre-op was very educational and necessary for my success. I learned that the surgery is not going to be successful If I went back to my old relationship with food. Changing your eating habits is necessary, so please listen and know that if you follow the instructions you will succeed. I was pleasantly surprised that the cut back of food and drinking protein shakes did not make me feel as if I was starving. The instructions on how to eat to prepare for surgery were very helpful and to this day, I continue to eat slowly and chew my food entirely.
“The entire staff at Nicholson Clinic is top-notch, very friendly and non-judgmental. I never felt like they were judging me or thinking how ugly and lazy I was. Dr. Roshek is the first doctor I’ve ever had that genuinely cared about me as a person, instead of looking down on me because I was obese. He respected my desire to stay overnight after surgery because I did not feel up to going home.
Life After Surgery
“My life after surgery is still life but the difference is that now I can participate in the world with others. Before surgery, I was 270 pounds with a goal weight of 140 pounds. I just wanted to be able to breathe and do things that others did. Now I have exceeded my goal and am holding at 135 pounds! There are many physical differences I’ve experienced as well. I can now bend down and tie my shoes without having to hold my breath. I am still diabetic, however, I am now insulin-free. I can now enjoy hiking, camping and exercising, when before I felt as if I was going to die doing these things. My diabetes is so well controlled that I signed up for a research study on Covid-19 vaccines for high-risk medical people. My A1-C went from 13.8 to now staying steady and 5.3 with no insulin.
“Words can’t describe how I have changed emotionally. I can stand tall and confident now due partly to how I view myself but also to the change in how I am treated by people. I was embarrassed and depressed because of how people treated and looked at me. I started at a pant size of 28 and I have slowly dropped to size 14. I knew even size 14 was too big so recently I went to buy jeans thinking I would just go to size 12. The best surprise came while I tried on pants—I am now wearing size 6 or 8 depending on the brand! Single digits! The freedom that comes from that for the first time in my adult life I can now shop and any store for clothes.”
