Yvette Lopez says she has a second chance to live again.

From size 24 to 8.

"When I look in the mirror, I'm a totally different person." That's what 26 year-old Yvette Lopez has to say after her New Reflections surgery. "I'm thin!" she laughs.

Yvette hasn't always been happy with her appearance. She's had a weight problem since she was about ten years old.

"I was chubby, gained weight, put on more and more weight and by my teens I was really overweight," she says. "My problem was I would overeat. My portions were not small, they were big portions and basically that's how I gained my weight-big portion meals."

By age 25, her weight had ballooned to 270 pounds. She wasn't happy.

"I was tired, had a lot of fatigue, I would fall asleep all the time, I was exhausted. I didn't feel healthy, I was always perspiring, as soon as I came out of the shower I would perspire all the time, and I felt like I was at my wits end," she says.

During this time she hurt her back in an on-the-job injury. Her doctor recommended surgery to treat her back pain but told her she was too heavy for the operation. She tried to lose weight with diets but after losing several pounds, she put the weight back on. The obesity along with the back pain severely limited her life.

"I couldn't do anything anymore. Basically just walking from the car to the front door was a task. I would get home and just want to go lay down in bed. I couldn't take it anymore. I was tired of being tired" she says.

Her doctor recommended weight-loss surgery and specifically mentioned New Reflections.

"I talked with Jana and Dr. Martinez and they answered all my questions and made me feel very comfortable, so I decided to have the surgery there," she says.

In March of 2006, Dr. Martinez performed a laparoscopic gastric bypass and twelve months later, Yvette was 131 pounds lighter.

"Sometimes I don't realize I'm this thin. And other times I look at myself and I'm like 'Oh my gosh, look at me I can't believe it,' wow!"

Since surgery, Yvette says she's discovered a whole new life.

"I can go to the gym, walk long distances, go shopping, wear normal-sized clothes and I have more energy," she says.

Like all patients, Yvette had to learn to eat differently after surgery. However, she has adapted to her diet and says she doesn't feel deprived.

"I love food. I still love food. But now it's controlled. And I love that part of it," she says.

As for her back problem, the pain is substantially less and her doctor says her new lower weight will now allow the surgery.

Yvette sums it up by saying, "I'm alive and I feel like I got a second chance to live again. I would do it a million times over!"

And what about having gastric bypass surgery with New Reflections?

"This is the right place to go. You're gonna love these people!"

Keep in mind that everyone is different; individual weight loss varies and all patients don't receive the same health benefits. The outcome of weight-loss surgery greatly depends on your determination to follow a healthy diet and lifestyle as well as your willingness to follow doctor's orders.

You'll have a much better sense of what to expect from weight-loss surgery if you come to one of our support group meetings and talk with our surgeon, our staff and our patients. Then you can make an informed decision on your next steps.