“I Have My Life Back”
Monday, June 2nd, 2014 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Sick and tired of being sick and tired, Sandra Crabtree had had enough. Three years and 150 pounds later, Sandra has reclaimed her life and her health for herself, her family, and their futures.
“I had just been diagnosed with diabetes, which would require medication for the rest of my life,” said Sandra. “I had watched my father battle diabetes and its ill effects – poor eyesight, vascular disease, total kidney failure, the loss of toes on both feet, and the loss of most of one foot. Further complications resulted in pancreatitis, from which he never recovered.”
It was soon after a family vacation that Sandra made her life-changing decision.
“During what should have been an exciting and memorable family vacation time, I was simply miserable,” she said. “I experienced muscle cramps, from which there was no relief. I also experienced insomnia and extreme thirst. This was my life-changing moment. I couldn’t continue on and didn’t want my husband and daughter to become bystanders as they watched my health continue to deteriorate as I had watched my father’s.”
Sandra discussed her concerns with her husband and her physician, both of whom supported her. She attended an educational seminar at the Tennova Center for Surgical Weight Loss and felt the bariatric option was right for her to reclaim her life and her health. Both Sandra and her husband attended all of the education and instruction classes offered by Tennova to prepare them for their pre- and post-surgical experiences.
“We felt like we were as prepared and educated as we could possibly have been,” said Sandra. “There wasn’t any detail that wasn’t covered. I remained at home for one week and returned to half days of work during my second week post-operative period. I lost weight rapidly and surpassed all normal milestones that my physician set for me. I was down 100 pounds in eight months. I have had a total loss of 150 pounds during the course of one-and-a-half years.”
Everything went as planned.
“I joined a local health club 60 days out of surgery and have been exercising five days per week since that time,” said Sandra. “I’m off three diabetic medications and was considered by my endocrinologist at six months out to have a ‘history of diabetes.’ I stopped blood pressure medication and cholesterol medication within a week of surgery. It has been a road to a healthy life. It’s no longer about what size I can buy while shopping or what the scale says, although I still weigh myself on a weekly basis. It’s about health and longevity. I read labels. I know what I eat and how a healthy diet makes you feel. I also know how carbohydrates and unhealthy things make you feel. I enjoy chocolate and some desserts, but I also know what it takes to eat those things. Sometimes it’s worth an extra 30 minutes on the bike or running, and some days it’s not. It’s all about healthy choices, which are well in my control to maintain now. I will never go back to where I was before. I have reclaimed my life and health for my family’s future and myself.”
Tennova Healthcare
1.855.836.6682
www.tennovaweightloss.com
