Page 208 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2017

HEALTHY LIVING gastric bypass Do FOR
Weight loss leads to happy and healthy life
story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster Cphotos courtesy of Megan Pickering Stringer
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MEGAN PICKERING STRINGER with her family after losing almost half of her body weight.
hange is hard, but made easier when it’s done for those we
love. Megan Pickering Stringer found herself struggling with her weight when her son, Blake, was
just a few years old. “I weighed over 300 pounds and couldn’t go outside and play with him. He wouldn’t even ask me, and it made me so sad,” Stringer said. “I knew I didn’t want to be that kind of mother.”
Seeing the impact her weight had made on her child, Stringer realized that her husband, Doug, probably felt the same way. “I didn’t hardly want to leave the house. He had always loved going outside and going places with me, but he also quit asking. I realized that for the sake of my family and for my health that I needed to lose weight, and I couldn’t do it alone.”
It was that decision that brought her to South Mississippi Surgical Weight Loss. After extensive research, Stringer found Dr. Avara and was very impressed by his proven track record for patient success. “I realized once I got there that the whole group was completely invested in this process and their patients. That was important to me,” said Stringer. “I never felt like just another fat girl — I was someone that they thought they could really help, and they totally did.”
After meeting with the team at South Mississippi Surgical Weight Loss, Stringer opted to receive
208 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • September 2017
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