Page 138 - South Mississippi Living - October, 2017

HEALTHY LIVING gastric sleeve
Struggle
story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster photos courtesy of Brian Martin
BEFORE
I’ve had a lifelong struggle with weight,”
said Brian Martin, 39, who now resides in Santa Barbara, California. “As far back as junior high, I was a yo-yo dieter. I would dive into the latest fad diet and I would lose a significant amount
of weight, sometimes 150-160 pounds. But as soon as I would go off the program, I would gain most, if not all or more, of the weight back.
F ive and a half years ago, Martin was living in Hattiesburg and decided
that enough was enough. “I had to do something and began exploring my options,” Martin said. Like many, he had always known that
bariatric surgery was an option, but hoped to be able to lose the weight on his own.
For Martin, the fear that surgery was the easy way out constantly tugged at the back of his mind. “My mindset finally changed when I realized that I could not continue on the path of drastically fluctuating weight that I was on. It isn’t a healthy way to live and I wasn’t happy,” he said.
Martin began looking into surgical centers in the area, and when he found South Mississippi Surgical Weight Loss Center, he was immediately intrigued. His first step was to call and set up an orientation meeting for the following week. From the moment
BRIAN MARTIN has struggled his whole life with his
weight until he found South Mississippi Surgical Weight Loss Center.
138 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • October 2017
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AFTER