Hi, I’m Ali! I am a 43 year old mother of two, and I have been overweight for most of my adult life. I finally contacted Eviva when I noticed my health start to decline. I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart issues, and I was pre-diabetic. In addition to the medical concerns, I was sick of not being able to be an active participant in my own life. I had been overweight for many years, and my weight caused me to miss out on so much.
Tipping the scale at almost 270lbs, I had trouble walking and standing for long periods of time. I felt like I couldn’t be participate in things with my kids because I was so heavy. I was miserable.
I contacted Eviva in December of 2020 to inquire about weight loss surgery. I met with Dr VanderWel who walked me through my various options.
Dr VanderWel is an amazing doctor with an excellent bedside manner. He took his time to answer all of my questions. I ultimately decided to get the endoscopic gastroplasty or ESG. I decided to go with this option because I wanted a shorter recovery time, and it would work better with my life.
My surgery was on 2/10/21. I followed both my pre-op and post-op diet strictly. After three and half months, I am now down 95lbs. I have energy to be active. I am able to work out every day. I enjoy the elliptical machine and strength training. I go hiking almost every weekend which was something that I was not previously able to do.
This summer I will be crossing an item off my bucket list by hiking Diamond Head in Hawaii! I used to hate traveling because I could barely fit in the airplane seat, but this year I will be looking forward to many traveling adventures!
I really can’t thank Eviva and Dr VanderWel and Kim enough. They have given me my life back!
