Every day we are bombarded with the newest ways to lose weight...how to lose belly fat, how to eat right, etc. I personally tried at least a dozen different ways to lose weight - the most attempts via Weight Watchers through which I had only moderate success. I just couldn't get past the 40 lb mark...and I had at least 60 more than that to lose by the time January 2012 came around. My New Year's Resolution? To stop making New Year's Resolutions and find a way to bring about real change in my life. I was 100 pounds overweight, diabetic, had sleep apnea (recently had my machine turned up to accommodate a higher weight), high cholesterol, and the newest villain...high blood pressure. My feet hurt, my back hurt, I was depressed and felt hopeless. I decided I would take the biggest step of my life and attend a weight loss surgery seminar with Dr. Abkin in his Florham Park office. May 3rd 2012 will always be marked as one of the best seminars I ever attended because it was that night I decided (after much research and thought of my own) that I was going to have gastric bypass surgery and change my life.
From the first moment I met with Dr. Abkin that night and then in our private consultation, I knew what so many had already told me - that Dr. Abkin's attentive, caring manner and expertise coupled with a great team of office staff would be the basis of a support system I would come to depend on as I joined so many others whose lives were changed by this doctor. July 23, 2012 will forever be my second birthdate...for I chose to have this tool; I chose to make this change and take up this journey head on. Without the strong support of a knowledgeable and experienced staff, I would have felt lost in the paperwork and insurance company's requirements - others have told me their trials with this process - but I experienced nothing but smooth sailing and efficient handling of my paperwork with this practice.
I cannot say thank you enough to Dr. Abkin for his expert advice, encouragement, support before and after my procedure, and of course....being the best surgeon I could have ever entrusted my life to that day. Since then...all my comorbidities have remitted; I am free of the binds of those diseases that would have eventually meant my demise. I am nearly 9 months out, nearly 90 pounds gone, and happier than I have been in 2 decades! Thanks Dr. Abkin!! read more