Page 75 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2016

tional diets weren’t enough to help her lose the weight. After seeing a friend shed her extra pounds with the help of Dr. Jason Payne at the South Mississip- pi Surgical Weight Loss Center, Leflore made an appointment. Soon after, she underwent the gastric sleeve surgery on Sept. 21, 2015. The procedure was done laparoscopically, and Leflore was up and walking by the end of the day of her surgery. Following the diet pro- tocol provided by Dr. Payne and his team, Leflore was able to find success, with no complications.
Leflore credits her ease with the pro- cess to Dr. Payne, who she says goes above and beyond being a surgeon. “He has a charisma about him,” she said. “He is genuine and so caring
and compassionate. He was concerned about who I was as a person, and he provided great motivation. He was friendly and very sensitive to my needs.”
Life looks different after Leflore’s weight loss, which is up to 105 pounds and counting. “I have given away boxes and boxes of clothes,” she said, after dropping from a size 26 to a
16. “When I’m shopping, I’ll pick up something cute and realize that it’s too big for me. I have to look for smaller sizes now. I don’t have to go to a plus- size store. It’s so rewarding to know that I can pick up a shirt at a Wal-Mart and it will fit me.”
But her outside appearance is only a small part of Leflore’s transformation. “My biggest change is in my energy, my confidence, and my self-esteem,” she continued. “I have two boys. They’re both active in football, basket- ball, soccer, and swimming. Before the surgery, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t run around and jump up and down with them.”
With her weight loss, she is now liv- ing life alongside her sons, Tyree and Freddie, not just watching them have fun. She can get in a go-kart and not worry if the seat belt will fit around her. She has a newly found confidence to just run and play.
“You feel differently about yourself when you’re heavy. People see you differently when you are heavy,” she said, describing her life before work- ing with Dr. Payne. Her life now is
one of energy and chasing life. In May, her third-grade students cheered as she climbed an inflatable slide at her school’s field day. “I would have never been able to do that three years ago.”
“This process is more mental than it is physical,” she said of her weight- loss journey. “I have to make the deci- sion every single day to eat correctly and to avoid the things that I know are not good for my body.”
Thankfully, she has a strong support system in Tyree and Freddie and her aunts — and, of course, Dr. Payne.
Life has vastly improved for Leflore compared to what it was just one year ago. Though she still has weight-loss goals she wants to meet, she’s already been able to combat weight-related issues, including high blood pressure and knee problems, and she has con- fidence that she is healthy enough to watch her boys grow into men, know- ing she will be around long enough to see them get married and start families of their own. Her life is now what she knew it could be — thanks to the plan set out by Dr. Payne and the South Mississippi Surgical Weight Loss Center.
The South Mississippi Surgical Weight Loss Center was founded by South Mississippi Surgeons in 2000. For more than 30 years, South Missis- sippi Surgeons have been providing quality surgical care.
Dr. Payne joined South Mississippi Surgeons in 2011. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Medical Association and the Mississippi State Medical Association.
When I’m shopping, I’ll pick up something cute and realize that it’s too big for me.
LEFT: BEFORE Makeshia Le ore had weight loss surgery.
FACING PAGE LEFT: LEFLORE after losing 105pounds.
FACING PAGE RIGHT: DR. PAYNE joined South Mississippi Surgeons in 2011.
Makeshia Le ore
FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net
September 2016 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 75
South Mississippi Surgical Weight Loss Center 1124 Oakleigh Road, Ocean Springs 228.872.7277
www.smsurgicalweightloss.com