WEBVTT

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My name is David.

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I had the vertical sleeve on
January 6, 2011.

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I lost 184 pounds.

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Before weight loss, my life was
pretty miserable.

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Physically I was a mess.

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I had diabetes,
high blood pressure,

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sleep apnea, arthritic knees.

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It was hard for me to even walk
a block without pain.

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What really drove me to weight
loss surgery was

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going to the doctor.

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She took me aside,
looked me in the eye,

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held my hand, and she said
basically, David,

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if you continue down this
road, you are going to die.

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Hearing those words is what
really moved me

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to making a decision
for health.

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A lot of people think, oh, it's
just having surgery

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and, poof, you lose weight.

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They don't understand that there
is work involved.

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The surgery is the tool that
enables you to have

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a healthy life.

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But it is your decision-making
and the choices that you make

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after surgery that really give
you the result.

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Living a bariatric lifestyle
before you ever have the surgery

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becomes so important.

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If I hadn't learned those
things before,

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it would be too late and I
wouldn't be as successful

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as I am today.

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My dad had open heart surgery
and it saved his life.

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I was given a death sentence.
This is no different.

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This is a life-saving operation
that I had.

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But I have to make the active
decision every day

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in order to sustain the
weight loss,

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and that takes work and that
takes real will power.

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People really have to think
about how much work it takes

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in order to be successful.