Page 122 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2017

HEALTHY LIVING gastric sleeve H&appy
HEALTHY
Life-changing surgery improves quality of life for Ocean Springs woman
story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster Tphotos by John Stricklin and courtesy of Cynthia Brown
he news that your health isn’t what it could be can often be difficult to accept. For Cynthia Brown of Ocean Springs, it took the advice of her cardiologist to convince her it was time to make a change for the better.
“My health had been declining for a while and I was dealing with a long list of issues, including arterial fibrillation, a congenital heart defect, congestive heart failure and diabetes — just to name a few,” said Brown.
After being healthy for the majority of her life, 67-year-old Brown found herself weighing 426 pounds at her heaviest point, which caused her pre-existing health conditions to worsen drastically.
“It got to the point that my cardiologist kept telling me I was obese and that I needed to do something about it,” Brown said. “The first time he said something, I brushed it off and tried to ignore it, but the next time he told me I had two choices: to lose weight or be at risk of having a stroke.”
After following the instruction of her doctor, Brown attended informational sessions and opted to receive a gastric sleeve. When her decision was made, she started preparing for the surgery by losing weight on her own through diet and exercise.
“Once I started working with South Mississippi Surgical Weight Loss, I knew I was making the right decision,” Brown remarked.
CYNTHIA Brown
after losing over 67 pounds from her pre- operation weight.
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