I was almost 600 lbs. when I first walked into Dr. Davtyan’s clinic. I tried gyms and diets to lose weight and nothing worked, I felt like I just hit a weight loss wall. My weight was really interfering with my lifestyle. I couldn’t get on a planes or do fun things like going to Disneyland and getting on rollercoasters. All of it just seemed impossible with my weight.
I had back pain and chest pain that was always taking a toll on me. It’s like, imagine a 10 LB sack of potatoes and carrying fifty of those. That’s a lot of weight I was carrying around. That leads to knee problems and back problems and lots of other health issues.
Walking in to Dr. Davtyan’s office for the first time was kind of scary because I knew that due to my weight, I was at risk for a lot of major health complication. But I think I was at the point where I was just ready to try bariatric surgery. I remember looking at a lot of the stories and video testimonials from Dr. Davtyan’s former patients, and just knowing they went through the same thing eased my mind a lot. There was a poster outside of a guy who had lost over 100 lbs. I kind of told myself that I’m going to beat this guy, that that was my goal.
In the operating room everybody was five stars. Dr. Davtyan’s staff makes you feel good about yourself. They made me comfortable and were with me the entire time.
Getting the sleeve reset my stomach and my brain. I realized how food-driven I could be. Like eating was just a habit. My first week after the surgery we had a little get together at the house with chips and other snack foods. Before I couldn’t pass by without grabbing a plate or fixing myself a bowl, and one bowl of chips would turn into two then I would be grabbing dip. Not because I was hungry, but because it was there. It was just because of bad habits.
After I had the sleeve surgery, I got that mental reset to get rid of those bad habits. I can now walk away from unhealthy foods. I can tell when I’m hungry and when I am eating just to eat. I’m not doing the whole snacking, the whole binging, the whole, “Hey, let me sit down in front of the TV and grab 2-3 scoops of ice cream.”
My weight loss journey was not straightforward. I first got the lap-band procedure in 2020 and lost 140 lbs, but my bad eating habits caught up with me and I gained most of it back. Two months ago I came back to Dr. Davtyan to get the gastric sleeve. Since then I dropped 60 lbs and feel great! I have no more back pain, no more knee pain. I feel like I gained more energy. I can chase my grandkids and my nephews around the house. Before I wasn’t able to do any of that that stuff. Even tying my shoes was a chore with all that extra weight.
My wife had her lap-band procedure with Dr. Davtyan also. And she’s happy to be at her goal weight now. We are traveling to Cancun soon, and I am looking forward to getting on the flight and not feeling cramped in my seat. I would tell anyone considering weight loss surgery with Dr. Davtyan to definitely do it. It’s not easy, but obviously the benefits and everything are worth it.
