melissamiranda

I'm a Jersey girl and I'm a nurse, but also am very talented in Theatre arts. I try to stay involved with community theatre as much as possible. Singing, acting, and dancing are my ultimate favorite activities, but it's not so easy when you've got 100 pounds of excess weight to carry around.

I've struggled with my weight since I was about 12 years old. I've tried everything in the book to lose weight, like most of us have. Nothing stuck and nothing worked. I kept losing the same 30 pounds and was at my wits end. I was always in denial about my weight saying "I don't look as fat as I weight" or "I'm not THAT heavy for weight loss surgery" but the numbers don't lie, and it hurt to accept that fact that I was 'morbidly obese.' Those are 2 scary words that I heard my doctor say to me and I lost it. I needed to do something that I could stick to and follow for a long term period - something I could stick with the rest of my life (or would stick with me in this case.)

I had initially had a lapband surgery in July 2012 and ended up gaining weight after losing 40 pounds with it. I was upset and depressed and didn't want to admit that I had failed.
That's when I made the decision to finally face the music and make a consultation with a different bariatric surgeon than the one who did my lapband, since my doctor was no longer in practice. I chose Dr. Bilof out of Garden State Bariatrics and it was the best decision! He was understanding of my situation and recommended me for the gastric sleeve surgery, which I underwent on April 25th, 2018.

The journey continues and I can't wait to see what my weight loss journey has in store for me!