"I have been overweight since I was in elementary school, finally after graduating college I was determined to get the weight off. My mom took me to see Dr. Trippi in January 2007. I was scared to start the process but once I got started there was no turning back! Dr. Trippi taught me about meal plans, portion control, continuous exercise, and strength. Going into the office every two weeks held me accountable and gave me the motivation to stick to my plan. I was even able to manage my weight on my own for a three month break and still lost weight! The entire staff has been an amazing support for me. I've lost 75 pounds so far, and still counting. I highly recommend Dr. Trippi for anybody who is ready to make the leap into a healthier lifestyle." ~ Ashlyn G.

"I met Dr. Kim Fletcher at the Las Vegas Athletic Club in the summer of 2007. Las Vegas Bariatric Physicians had an information booth there and I stopped to talk to her about the program. It seemed to be what I needed to help me lose weight, but she told me it wasn’t covered by medical insurance. I took a card and brochure and backed away.

I had been working out at the gym with a personal trainer three times a week and going to water exercise classes twice a week. I was barely out of a wheelchair after three major orthopedic surgeries when I started this concerted effort. After six months, I was much stronger than when I started, but I still had lost only ten pounds.

The orthopedic doctor who did my back surgery was furious with me when I went back for my yearly checkup because I weighed more than when he did the lumbar fusion. At that time I had promised him that I would lose a significant amount of weight. He said that he wouldn’t have me as a patient until I lost at least seventy pounds. He didn’t believe that I had been trying at all and wrote a prescription for me to get lap-band surgery.

I was very upset and couldn’t face another surgery. I found the card for Las Vegas Bariatric Physicians and set up the appointment that would start the change for my physical appearance, improve my over-all health, and give me back some of my self-esteem. In the past, I had tried protein-only diets, pre-packaged food diets, group therapy, hypnosis, starvation and many more bizarre attempts to lose weight with little success or worse—bounce-back weight gain. All the former programs treated obesity as a moral weakness, a compulsive behavior, a gross lack of education or a social disease. All of the programs focused on food--whether pre-packaged calorie restricted portions, complicated food point systems or recipes shared in meeting sessions. There were words used like “naughty” and “cheating”. I had never tried anything like the medically based approach that Dr. Fletcher outlined. First, I had a complete physical exam with laboratory tests, medical history and a review of the medications I was taking. The next step was a consultation to go over the results. As it turned out, I had been taking three medications that were making it difficult to lose weight, one the actually caused weight gain and I was not being treated for the hypothyroid condition that came to light from the blood tests. My medications were adjusted and I was given individual personal attention, some vitamins, some instructional booklets and was asked to keep an eating diary. I was weighed on a special scale that measures weight, BMI and percent fat in my body. I had a terrible score!

The first month after the medication changes, I lost ten pounds. I continued to lose weight on a regular basis—and the weight was mostly pounds of fat! Dr. Kim Fletcher and Lisa gave me all the encouragement that I needed to stick with my effort to control the quantity of food I consumed, to eat in a healthful but still enjoyable way and to overcome any minor set-backs. I have been on the program for nine months and I have lost over forty five pounds. I don’t have to take any medicine for high blood pressure and I take half the dose that I used to take for cholesterol and diabetes control. I plan to stay with the program until I reach a healthy weight and then learn how to maintain this weight." ~ Carole P.