A Weight Loss Surgery Enthusiast...for a Reason!

Jessenia Reyes is enthusiastic when it comes to the possibilities of weight loss surgery, and it’s easy to see why. Prior to her surgery with Dr. Feiz in July of 2013, her dreams of motherhood seemed remote. Weighing 220 pounds at only 5’1” and with multiple health problems, the health risks associated with gaining as much as 40 additional pounds seemed too much to bear.  Just a few years later, however, she is over 90 pounds lighter and has two highly successful pregnancies behind her.  Specifically, she lost all of her baby-weight both times and is now the proud mom of two healthy and adorable daughters Lila, 1½, and Mila, 3 months.

Discussing the matter today, Jessenia is clearly an effective evangelist for bariatric procedures and a supporter of those who obtain it. “I would do it again in a heartbeat,” she says without being prompted. 

Clearly, her persuasive powers may have encouraged others in her sphere to explore a weight loss surgery. That includes her sister, who has lost some 70 pounds, but that’s only the beginning. A manager of multiple car-washes with a husband in the armed forces, Jessenia tells us that five of her clients have obtained the procedure, and she has also offered support to a number of her fellow military wives. She’s also pen pals with a number of other post-surgical patients of Dr. Feiz.

Still, what may be most interesting to people considering a weight loss procedure is the internal change that allowed Jessenia to achieve her ideal weight. She says that, since the surgery, her entire relationship with food has changed. It just doesn’t have the same power over her as before. “Today, sometimes the smell of food, which before would have made me want to eat, just kind of makes want to leave it alone. I used want to eat meat all the time, but now just a very small amount is fine with me. A lot of the time now, I just eat off the kids’ menu.”

Jessenia, who had a gastric sleeve procedure, may very well be benefiting from the hormonal benefits involved with the procedure. Sleeve gastrectomies typically remove roughly 75-85% of the stomach, which also appears to drastically reduce the body’s production of ghrelin, an important, appetite-inducing hormone. Regardless, she also knows that the change following a weight loss procedure is not only physical.

“Social support is really important. Sometimes people can be discouraging, but I’ve been lucky that my husband has been really supportive. Really, everything has been good for me since getting my gastric sleeve. No complaints at all.”