Jimmy B. had been overweight for as long as he could remember. Just 25 years old, he found himself overweight, frequently tired, taking 5 medications to control his high blood pressure, and unable to fully participate in life.
“I’ve always been a runner, but my weight was making it more and more difficult,” Jimmy says. “It was hard on my body. My back hurt, and no matter how much I dieted or exercised, I couldn’t lose the weight.”
“I also realized I was taking a lot of medications for someone my age,” he continues. “I finally got myself in the right mindset to take the next step and began researching bariatric surgery. I was looking for a program in the Philadelphia area because I was a student there and needed to stay close by. I had heard about Temple’s program and I really liked what I read about them and their surgeons.”
The first steps
Jimmy attended an introductory bariatric surgery seminar at Temple and met with a bariatric surgeon to discuss his options and see if he met the requirements for surgery.
His Temple surgeon determined Jimmy was an excellent candidate for gastric sleeve surgery, also called sleeve gastrectomy. During this procedure, the stomach is greatly reduced in size so it can only hold a small portion of food. Patients feel full after eating much less food and are less hungry between meals.
While he awaited surgery, Jimmy began the process of losing weight with the help of the Temple Bariatric Program team. This pre-surgical weight loss is recommended and important because it can help reduce the chance of complications during surgery.
“Temple helped me realize I wasn’t failing at a diet, I just didn’t have the right tools,” Jimmy explains.
