After recovering from the MRSA infection, Lisa slipped into a deep depression. She isolated herself from others. The moderate anxiety she had experienced since high school intensified. She left the house only to go to medical appointments.
A couple of years later, Lisa began therapy, which she says greatly helped her depression and anxiety. She was getting out and about more and also started thinking about bariatric surgery.
“At this point, I was up to about 260 pounds,” Lisa says. “I was going through the steps to prepare for bariatric surgery, but then I’d get scared. I was afraid to have any type of surgery. I freaked out and paused the process.”
In late 2019, Lisa renewed her focus on losing weight.
“My goal was to get down to 250; I think I weighed 275 to 280 pounds,” she says. “Then COVID hit, and everything I had been working on went out the door. I was a walking target for COVID because I had high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, and secondhand-smoke-related COPD.”
Fortunately, Lisa never got COVID. But the stress of living through a pandemic took a toll on her mental health and chipped away at the weight-loss progress she had made. By 2022, Lisa weighed about 325 pounds.
“I could barely get up,” she says. “I was on oxygen 24 hours a day. I got a home health aide; she is the one who got me up and walking.
“I have arthritis all down my spine and herniated discs,” Lisa adds. “I couldn’t stand for more than a few minutes at a time.”
Going all in
Lisa and her home health aide went for regular short walks, and Lisa lost a little weight. In 2024, she decided once and for all to have bariatric surgery. Sheila Weaver, DO, who had been treating Lisa’s sleep apnea, helped convince her.
Lisa returned to Rohit Soans, MD, whom she had seen before when considering bariatric surgery.
“He is the most amazing doctor I’ve ever had,” Lisa says. “He is so positive and uplifting. He explained everything that was going to happen and was so encouraging about the surgery that it gave me the energy and the mindset I needed to get through it.”
Lisa and Dr. Soans scheduled a surgery date. But fears of another post-operative infection lingered in Lisa’s mind. Dr. Soans put those fears to rest.
“He said, ‘There is a less than 1% chance you will get an infection, and I’m going to do everything to make sure you have success,’” Lisa recalls.
Lisa had a gastric sleeve procedure in March 2025. Surgery went quickly, and Lisa used hardly any of her pain medication. By the third day after surgery, she was doing well and moving around.
‘Overwhelming’ changes
On the day of her operation, Lisa weighed about 280 pounds. Today, she weighs 196. Her goal is to reach 150 pounds by the end of 2026.
“I haven’t been this weight in 11 years,” she says.
Lisa began physical therapy in October 2025, which has improved her mobility, strength, and stamina.
“I can stand for more than an hour now,” Lisa says. Before surgery, she could stand for only a couple of minutes. Now she’s more active than ever.
“I’m averaging almost 2 miles a day, which is all that I want right now,” Lisa says. “I feel like I’m almost normal again. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by how much I’m able to do.”
In fact, Lisa signed up for a breast cancer walk in Philadelphia in May 2026. And she tackles the stairs in her three-story house without getting out of breath.
Because of her weight loss, Lisa has reduced the number of medications she takes for her type 2 diabetes, fibromyalgia, and neuropathy.
“I went from taking 13 medications in the morning to 6,” Lisa says.
She’s still learning what foods and eating habits are healthiest for her. Lisa credits Alexis Newman, RD, LDN, one of Temple’s Bariatric Nutrition Care Coordinators, for educating her.
“I see Alexis every two months, and she’s amazing,” says Lisa.
Lisa’s journey to dramatic weight loss and better health has given her new confidence and self-compassion. And she’s not looking back.
“I did this to be healthy, not to be skinny,” she says. “Over the past one-and-a-half years, I’ve lost a whole person: 125 pounds. I can’t imagine having that weight back on my body again.”
Lisa knows she made the right choice.
“I would recommend bariatric surgery to anybody who needs it,” Lisa says. “You don’t realize how life-changing it is until you have it. And I definitely would send them to Temple. Everybody there is so positive.”
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