Ross’s Weight Loss Journey

From consult to surgery to success

• Ross met with Dr Dhir a few years earlier, and found out he needed to prepare for surgery before he’d be eligible to have weight loss surgery.
• Preparation for Bariatric Surgery can help gauge – and even help to increase – a person’s motivation to follow through on the best paths for successful weight loss surgery outcomes. He elected to have weight loss surgery in March 2017 (~7 months prior to this interview).
• Given Ross’s elevated Body Mass Index was contributing to dangerous medical conditions and expensive diabetes medications (that weren’t overly effective for him), he felt it was ‘basically his only choice’ at the time if he wanted to live.
• He discusses the changes in our video interview of what it’s like to have weight loss surgery and the impact it had on his Type 2 Diabetes.

But the journey to get to the point of electing to have bariatric weight loss surgery (in his case, a SLEEVE GASTRECTOMY) and to prepare himself for surgery, was a longer process.

Motivation

Motivation to have weight loss surgery: what’s at stake?

• Ross felt tired and run down and his work life stress meant he wasn’t prioritising exercising.
• He was told by numerous doctors that If he didn’t make the necessary lifestyle and dietary changes, he was unlikely to live for another 6 to 12 months.
• He was also using extensive medications to treat his Type 2 Diabetes, yet his blood sugar levels were poorly controlled.
• He regularly had sugar level readings in the high-teens to 22. These types of levels could lead to numerous risks including a coma, stroke or death.
•  In an “live or let go” type of moment of reckoning, Ross decided it was time to invest in his health and himself – by choosing weight loss surgery and all that this involved, including preparation and life style changes.
• He knew that his blood sugar levels were out of control, as he was taking 5 to 6 injections of insulin a day or over 13 to 15 a week.
• He was also taking approximately 15 tablets a day – and we all know taking a lot of medication is extremely expensive and not always the best approach to staying healthy!
• He wasn’t keen to give up one of his loves, that of food, but he knew he could learn to love healthier foods and enjoy a healthier life, perhaps even returning to sports he used to enjoy before he got heavy.
• So when it came to “I felt I had no other choice,” he admits, when it came to deciding to schedule his Robotic Weight Loss Surgery with Dr Arun.

Before

• Ross was living a very stressful life at the time and felt this contributed a lot to bad habits, which is why our program encourages lifestyle and stress management support and meditation.
• He weighed about 153 kilos when he first met with Dr Dhir to explore weight loss surgery.
• He had to prepare for surgery and get to a specific level and was approximately 140/142 kilos when he had surgery. However, he felt he should have prepared more in advance and lost a bit more weight before bariatric surgery.

After surgery

How much do you weight just 7 to 8 months after surgery? And how has it changed your life?

• In today’s VIDEO interview, Ross said he weighed in at 104 kilos.
• He says he walks every day and his colleagues comment on how much more energy he has. He feels and is told he’s like “a totally different person” – in essence, the healthier version of his self that had been waiting to be freed with the assistance of a Team of healthcare professionals.
• He has more energy, up and down stairs, out in factory and helping with the manual lifting tasks.
• But he is happiest not just about his weight change, but feels “[his] mindset has also grown another level.”

Medication

Current medications for Diabetes: how much are you using now?

• Ross replies to Dr Dhir that he’s now taking NO medications for diabetes.
• To go from 5 to 6 injections a day to none, is simply amazing, but it can happen for some patients who have been diabetic due to an unhealthy lifestyle and elevated Body Mass Index or BMI.
• He sees his Endocrinologist regularly and benefits from his entire healthier-life support team: which also includes Podiatrists, Dr Dhir and his Bariatric Weight Loss team, other Diabetes Specialists, lifestyle change coaches nutritionists.

Goals

What’s your goal for the next part of your Weight Loss journey after having had Bariatric Surgery?

Current weight: 104 KG
Goal weight: 92 KG
Weight loss to go: 12 KG

What he’d like to do when he reaches his new GOAL weight: Play SQUASH again!

 “I can’t wait to get back onto the squash court again, if my knees can handle it once I gets into those double-digit figures!”