I decided to have the lap band surgery because I was very lethargic, not getting a good quality of sleep because I had sleep apnea, low energy and I wasn’t doing a lot with my children.

I would tend to just come home sit on the couch and not move for the rest of the night. We went to the beach on a family vacation I never once put on a pair of shorts or actually participated in anything. And when I got back home I was looking at pictures, and I just realized that it was definitely time for a change and something needed to be done. So I started researching the lap band surgery and ended up finding Dr. Ganta. I chose Dr. Ganta by going on the lap band surgery website and actually found him listed as one of the surgeons for the lap band. I came in for one of the education seminars and ended up really enjoying his demeanor and felt real comfortable. So I scheduled the consultation and began the pre-surgery process.

I had my surgery on April 9th 2013. That day I was nervous going in but ended up going home within five hours and had just a little bit of soreness. I was back to work within a week – so recovery for me wasn’t too bad. I had a lot of help with from my kids, and it actually was a pretty pain-free surgery for the most part for me.

Since I’ve had the surgery, I am far more active. I participate in 5Ks. I ran my first mile without stopping. I’ve participated in a fashion show which for me would have never happened before. I definitely am more outgoing and just live life more now. When we did the fashion show my daughter when I walked out from doing the hair and makeup she was just like, ‘oh my gosh you’re beautiful’ and that made my day – I know it made her happy that I was looking so pretty. And when we did the fashion show and I walked out I could hear her yelling, ‘that’s my mom!’ So it was good.

Dr. Grant is very nice. He was very good at motivating. The first few visits I was nervous, I felt like I was going to the principal’s office and I was kind of scared that I wasn’t going to have lost enough. But I came in and he was always very happy with my progress, even if it was a little better or a month where it was nothing just. He was just very encouraging and just gave me the strength to keep on and know that I was doing a good job and that my journey was being successful. It was a very motivating. The staff is very friendly – every time you come in they’re all very happy and nice and just make you feel at home.

If I had a friend that was thinking that they might want to have the lap band surgery, I would tell them I feel like it’s definitely something that it’s a good tool to help get you where you want to be. It’s not going to fix the problems for a lot of it – you just need to focus on the emotional part and really make the decision to get healthy and to live a better life. If you want to do the lap band surgery Dr. Ganta is the number one choice. It really changed my life.