“Not a Quick Fix, But a Lifestyle Change”

Patient of Dr. Winn Mathews, Bariatric Surgeon affiliated with Princeton Baptist Medical Center.

Hello my name is Dena Marshall. I am 29 years old and happily married with two children. I had the gastric sleeve on January 21, 2020 and my starting weight was 256lbs.

My original goal was to get to 170lbs by June 2020, which I was able to accomplish by having the surgery and using the information and new lifestyle changes that I learned during my journey. Because I was able to reach my original goal so quickly, I decided to set another goal of 150lbs by my one year anniversary. I was actually able to reach that goal by November 2020.

The hardest thing I struggled with the most was getting my liquids in and not being able to eat with my family. I also had little to no energy for the first six weeks and struggled with some depression. Once I was able to get past those initial first few weeks and got on solid foods things got a lot better and I started to have more energy and began to feel like myself again.

If you are thinking of having this surgery, my best advice to you would be to realize it is mind over matter, and to make sure you have a lot of supportive people around you. This is not an easy quick fix, it is a total lifestyle change and takes hard work and dedication. My encouragement to others is to, “Never Give Up!”