I lost 200 lbs with help from Dr. Ortiz!
Celeste Grover
Meridian, ID
-203lbs
I had tried losing weight and failed on my own so many times before that I just knew I could no longer do it on my own. I need a drastic change. My health insurance benefits excluded weight loss surgery and I felt so defeated! I didn’t want the insurance companies to decide what I knew I needed. It wasn’t until I started searching for cash-pay costs that I ran across the OCC website (and several others). I looked at their testimonials and tried to find some of those people – I reached out to them on social media to get their thoughts. I started doing research on Dr. Ortiz. I researched the accreditations and certifications that the OCC held and was liking what I was learning. I looked into other facilities and Dr.’s, but none of them seemed to have as high of standards as OCC. After doing research and talking with others about their experiences both at OCC and at other facilities, I decided that it was time to get more information directly from OCC.
I am so thankful that I reached out to OCC and had this life-changing surgery. I was in a very dark, depressed state for several years. I kept trying to tell myself that I should be happy at any size, and to love the skin I was in. Truth is, I was miserable! All I wanted to do was sleep or eat. Those were my two escape mechanisms that I had used since childhood. I have always used food as my crutch and was an emotional eater. If I had a feeling, I would eat it. Good, bad, happy, sad, angry, hurt…I turned to food. When I got married in 2002, I was about 200 lbs. I yo-yo’d for a little while between 240 and 260, but I had been sitting at about 280 lbs for the majority of my adult life. After a job change and a cross-state move, I was more depressed than I had ever been and got up to 345 lbs within a year.
I am now down 200 lbs total and I finally feel like I am happy at my size, and I finally love the skin I am in! I have more energy and pep. Sleeping isn’t my escape from life and my depression has lessened quite a bit (I had my Dr. lower my medication dosage). I try to eat mindfully and use other outlets for my emotions now; I take the dogs for walks, I read a book, I clean, or I start a service project. I give myself some time and let myself feel and process the emotion rather than eat it.
