Vimari & Jorge
“We are very excited with this second chance at life.”
After numerous attempts at weight loss and after many unsuccessful diet plans we decided that after 12 years of struggling with our weight we needed to make a drastic change to save our lives. Jorge had many health related problems due to his weight: type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, severe arthritis, and couldn’t walk without the assistance of a cane. Vimari had many health related problems also: Kidney disease, high blood pressure, pseudotumor cerebri (requiring a VP shunt insertion in 2014 at Brigham and Woman’s Hospital). At that time Vimari’s heaviest weight was 303 lbs.
We decided that we needed to get healthy and needed to do it ASAP.
We went to an informational session for HMC Weight management center in February of 2016. Our first appointment with Dr. Raftopoulos for both of us was on 3/11/16. This is the date that our lives changed forever.
Jorge weighed in at 385 lbs after losing 100 lbs on his own in the past six years. Vimari weighed in at 287lbs. This was a very depressing day for us also as we had both stopped weighing ourselves. We decided that we were going to give it our all and follow Dr. Raftopoulos’ diet and work out plan. What a difference HMC Weight Management Center made in our lives. We joined a gym and started moving. The weight started coming off. We were both so happy with our progress. We decided to never go back to the weight we were and decided together as a couple to have gastric bypass.
Vimari’s surgery was 9/8/16 and Jorge’s was 9/22/16. To date, Vimari has lost 113 lbs and has gone from a size 24 to a size 10 and from a 3x in shirts to a size medium. Jorge has lost a total of 181 lbs, going from a size 6x in shirts to a large and from a 58-60 waist in pants to a size 38 waist.
Do we have any regrets? YES - not meeting Dr. Raftopoulos sooner, and getting our lives on track with the weight loss. Jorge no longer has diabetes, no longer has sleep apnea does not use a cane and is almost off of all medication. Vimari is no longer suffering from headaches due to the psuedotumor cerebri, high blood pressure is gone and kidney disease is under control and off all medication.
The weight management program has given us our lives back and has shown us that anything is possible if you work hard for it. We’ve been successful thanks to the great staff at Dr. Raftopoulos’ office. We are now awaiting the arrival of grandchildren as we will be able to keep up with them now. We are taking our first vacation in 12 years with no fear of not being able to fit in an airplane seat. We are very excited with this second chance at life.
Thank you again to HMC Weight Management Center for giving us a second chance at life. We hope that our story motivates and inspires anyone struggling with their weight and we can assure anyone struggling with their weight that this program works and is life changing.