I was 560 pounds… and I had no quality of life. That was David Smith's story. He's living a different reality now.
"I couldn’t tie my shoes. Walking across a room felt like a marathon. I was constantly self-conscious, uncomfortable, and exhausted. Even though I held down a job, everything in life was a struggle," David recalls. I love hunting, but back then, I couldn’t even climb a tree or make it far from my truck."
That all changed when David chose weight loss surgery with Dr. Husain Abbas, bariatric surgeon and weight loss specialist, at Memorial Satilla Health.
Today, David weighs 235 pounds. He can hike miles into the mountains, track game. "This past season, I went miles into the woods and took down a deer. I never could have done that before," David says with a smile.
David has the energy to be in the gym regularly. "I’ve built strength, gained confidence, and found something I truly love. It’s not just weight loss. It’s a whole lifestyle change," he says.
Was it easy? No. It takes commitment.
"You have to relearn how to eat, how to live, and how to show up for yourself. There were tough moments, even mental battles. But I would do it all over again in a heartbeat," David tells others.
The surgery didn’t just help David lose weight. It gave him his life back.