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Choosing Life: Going under the knife to regain control

For some people battling obesity weight loss surgery is their only option to regain control.

Would you go under the knife to pave the way for a better future?

First Coast News is following the weight loss journey of Jacksonville native, Julie Dahlin. Standing 5’ 4” tall and weighing in at 525 pounds at her heaviest, Dahlin underwent metabolic surgery called sleeve gastrectomy. 

The size of her stomach was reduced from 16 ounces to two ounces. That’s the size of a golf ball.

"We make a small tube out of the stomach,” Dr. Husain Abbas, Medical Director at Memorial Hospital explains. “There are some other technical parts to it where you have to remove the right parts. When we remove that we notice now that we can measure some of those hormonal changes internally."

He says sleeve gastrectomy is not just weight loss surgery. It alters a patient's metabolism. The way these patients are treated medically has changed over the years.

"Initially what we thought was if we make the stomach smaller you will eat less and lose calories but that's not how it works,” Abbas said. “It's not as simple as that."

Doctors now pay closer attention to hormonal changes after surgery making sure a patient’s body properly reacts to triggers letting the brain know it's OK to shed pounds.

First Coast News caught up with Dahlin two weeks after her surgery. She had to catch her breath while standing in her kitchen explaining how she eats very small portions of food in containers made to hold baby food.

"When I make cottage cheese for being at home I just fill this and then I'll eat it with a teaspoon.”

It takes her 20 minutes to eat four ounces of food. She eats from six containers a day with 64 ounces of liquids. Dahlin also does light exercise around the house and says she’ll eventually take walks around the block as she steps into her new normal.

"I am hoping by February my activities have increased,” Dahlin said. “I'm not setting myself to a number for goals. I'm setting myself to non-scale victories. So, different sizes of clothing. Maybe walk around the zoo. Maybe walk around the mall without having to take breaks. Things like that."

Dahlin had to stick to a strict diet during the holidays. Her plate of food on Thanksgiving day was served on a teacup saucer.

Dahlin’s journey continues to be a struggle but she's determined. She recently met one of her weight loss goals and First Coast News' cameras were rolling as she did something she had been dreaming about for years. 

You’ll see her fulfill her dream Thursday on Good Morning Jacksonville.

FULL SERIES:

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