Around July of 2014 as a former Police officer and current EMT actively working on an ambulance, I struggled completing tasks while treating patients. I felt how can I honestly be helping these people when I honestly couldn't even help myself? I felt as if I were in the way of my colleagues and was also preventing them from doing their jobs. At this point in my life I decided that I was tired and had enough of being overweight, not being in control of my life with my bad habits and feeling miserable all the time. I then decided to speak with my insurance company at work to determine if they would cover a medical procedure for weight loss. I then found out that they did indeed cover weight loss surgery but I had to wait for the next election cycle in order to select the proper coverage. Around October I contacted TLC at the recommendation of a friend who had Gastric Bypass performed by Dr. Scarborough and set up a consultation with him. Around the middle of December I met with Dr. Scarborough and staff and they felt I was a strong candidate for the gastric sleeve procedure. The office staff handled all of my insurance questions and needs and got the approval for my surgery. We then set up all the steps and procedures I needed to take and complete prior to surgery. After completion of those procedures, I had another consultation with Dr. Scarborough at which time he advised all the steps I had to take the two weeks prior to and up to the day of surgery. My surgery was scheduled for March 30 2015. When talking with Dr. Scarborough I was truly concerned with the two weeks of the liquid diet and the procedure itself. He convinced me that all would be fine and that I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. I then set out on the first steps of my journey with the liquid diet, it was honestly hard the first three or four days but I truly looked forward to the journey towards a new and better life for myself. After about the fourth day all my anxiety went away and it became easier each day leading up to the surgery. The day of surgery came and I stepped on the scale to see how much I had lost on the liquid diet and to my surprise it was 30 pounds. With that new information in my mind I now knew I could complete this journey with no problem. The day of surgery came and went with little to no complications, I obviously had some pain but no where near what I had imagined it would be. I was off work for 6 weeks for recovery and it was only that long only due to my profession and Dr. Scarborough not wanting me to cause any damage to myself before I completely healed. I went back to work on the ambulance and my weight just seemed to melt off. I was completely satisfied with my results and astonished at the way my progress continued. Dr. Scarborough and staff were there for me anytime that I had any questions or concerns. I went from before the liquid diet weighing 490 pounds, to now as of 01/17/2017 weighing 256 pounds. My family and I couldn't be more happy with my results. I can now do things that I could never do before. I can walk without becoming tired, out of breath or needing to sit for a short break. I have become more active and enjoy getting out and doing things. I don't feel embarrassed about myself out in public and now enjoy being around people. I would strongly recommend anyone with any questions or concerns about their weight and health issues to discuss your options with either one of the doctors at TLC Surgery. To this day I am still losing weight at a healthy pace and maintaining my weight loss goals. If I can help anyone along their journey please don't hesitate to ask the staff for my personal email address and I will help you in anyway that I can.