Nearly 200 Pounds Lost Between Married Couple with Weight Loss Surgery by Dr. Michael Feiz

LOS ANGELES, May 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- When Courtney Haecker went with her husband Nicholas to a seminar about gastric sleeve and Lap Band in Los Angeles, she had no intention of undergoing weight loss surgery. However, she ended up proceeding to have gastric sleeve surgery just two weeks after Nicholas, on March 8, 2013, after coming to the conclusion that she could afford to lose weight, too. Courtney and Nicholas both credit Dr. Michael Feiz, board-certified bariatric surgeon, for helping them lose a combined 190 pounds in less than a year, and keeping it off.

The decision to undergo bariatric surgery came to Nicholas, 33, when his coworkers at a construction company broached the subject with him, and they referred him to Dr. Feiz. Tired of hovering near 300 pounds on the scale and wearing a 3XL-sized shirt and 44" waist pants, Nicholas said he had little energy to exercise, and joint pain made it near impossible. He also didn't want the trend of taking blood pressure medication and snoring loudly at night to continue. Asking his wife Courtney, 30, to come with him to a free weight loss surgery seminar in Los Angeles, she decided it would be a good idea for Nicholas to start a weight loss journey with the surgical route. She was also intrigued by what she calls Dr. Feiz' personable approaching, praising him for being "straightforward, and no BS". By that, Courtney meant he tells prospective patients that lap band, gastric sleeve or surgery to convert lap band to sleeve was not a magic bullet to weight loss. She and Nicholas appreciated his honesty as they moved forward on their weight loss journey.

"A lot of other [weight loss centers] would sell you on the idea that 'you'll be skinny for the rest of your life,' no matter what happens after the surgery; whereas [Dr. Feiz] was saying 'hey, I can get you there, but you have to put in the work. Once you leave the hospital, it's now on you,'" Nicholas said of his experience with Dr. Feiz. "It was really cool to get a dose of reality that he would give me all the tools, but unless I use them, I'm not going to be able to lose weight."

Excited to get up and moving after their respective surgeries, after Nicholas and Courtney made it through their recovery, they began hiking up and down mountains soon after Courtney recovered. Nicholas compared the experience to video game character Mario running faster when pushing the "B" button.

"Once you have the weight off you, you can do things you haven't done in a long time," he said, adding that he can now do pull-ups, and he practices them at home on his pull-up bar. "It's cool to be able to do pull-ups, because I'm not carrying an extra 100 pounds, anymore."

Perhaps the best part of going through with gastric sleeve surgery, Nicholas and Courtney said, was the fact that now they have energy and feel better about themselves. Nicholas no longer needs to shop in the "big and tall" section, and now he wears a size L shirt and a 32" waist pants, a difference of 12 inches from his previous size. Courtney is grateful that she and her husband are now able to play with their nephews and nieces and keep up with them, without having to take a break to catch their breath.

To learn more about sleeve gastrectomy in Bakersfield, Huntington Beach, and Lancaster and throughout Greater Los Angeles, as well as other types of bariatric surgery, please visit www.drfeiz.com. Free weight loss seminars are held every week by Dr. Feiz, and consultations can be made by calling 800-868-5946.

PR Submitted by www.Cyberset.com

SOURCE Dr. Feiz and Associates