Ten Weeks after Sleeve Gastrectomy with Dr. Feiz, Michele Files is Diabetes-Free

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Tired of feeling tired, Michele Files knew she had to make a change. Her mother had died seven years prior from complications from type 2 diabetes, and she had been diagnosed with the same obesity-related illness. At her heaviest, Michele was carrying 260 pounds on her petite 5'1" frame. Michele, 50, considered weight loss surgery as a way to get to a healthy weight, because she wanted to be around to see her children and grandchildren grow up. After researching how bariatric surgery and a compassionate surgeon could help her shed type 2 diabetes, she decided sleeve gastrectomy surgery would be the best choice for her, and Board-Certified Bariatric Surgeon Dr. Michael Feiz could help her reach her personal health and fitness goals.

Michele was first diagnosed with gestational diabetes when she was 40 years old and discovered she was expecting twins. Although she no longer had diabetes when the twins were born, she found herself diagnosed with type 2 diabetes again only a few short years later. Having to raise two toddlers in addition to her then-15-year-old and 12-year-old daughters, Michele said she felt run down. She had to check her blood sugar as many as three times per day, only to have to it "all over the map," where it would be too low after taking her medication, and then sky high other times.

In the ten weeks following her gastric sleeve surgery in September of this year, Michele proudly discovered she was diabetes-free and now she says she feels better than ever.

"One morning after the surgery, I woke up and my blood pressure was normal and my blood sugar was normal, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is awesome, I'm a normal person now!' Overall, I just feel so much better, too."

Michele no longer takes any medication to control diabetes, high blood pressure or other weight-related illnesses. Her goal weight is 140 pounds, which she anticipates being able to reach within a year, now that she is exercising more frequently and practices healthy eating. She even has a fitness goal of being able to run a 5K, but even more importantly, to be able to play with her children and grandchildren.

Michele credits Dr. Feiz for counseling her through the weight loss process, rather than simply performing the surgery without checking on her progress, and especially by helping her overcome type 2 diabetes. She says that because of sleeve gastrectomy, which alters the ghrelin hormone after the removal of a large portion of the stomach, she no longer feels the intense cravings and hunger that made her gorge on junk food before the surgery. Now for her meals, Michele will eat meals that fit on plates no bigger than a coffee saucer, which was one of Dr. Feiz' recommendations for portion size.

"Dr. Feiz and his staff have been just wonderful, and he was so outgoing about my progress, I would recommend him to anybody, it's the best thing I ever did," Michele said. 

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SOURCE Dr. Feiz & Associates