After 116-Pound Weight Loss, Woman’s Medical Issues Disappear

As an adult, Sonia Rodriguez was always overweight, at about 200 pounds, but she went about life with a full-time bank job, a husband and two school-age daughters. That all changed in 2016, when she entered a five-year plummet as her 22-year marriage ended, both her parents died, and crippling panic attacks led to her retiring early.

Food was her solace. Extra-cheese pepperoni pizza, hamburgers, bacon, and rice and beans were dietary mainstays, and they collectively added up to trouble.

“That was my life,” Rodriguez says.

The extra weight caused all kinds of chaos within her body, including diabetes, hypertension, cirrhosis, kidney disease, irritable bowel syndrome and colitis.

It Was Time To Take Control

When she was 49, in 2023, Rodriguez met with a new primary care provider. That’s when she learned about her multiple medical challenges. Those sprang her into weight-loss mode despite having had little luck with an array of diet programs in the past. Surgery seemed like the only workable option.

After dismissing a bariatric surgeon who was ready to operate after no more than an online visit, Rodriguez discovered Dr. Muhammad  Ghanem via an online search that led to his YouTube videos.

Impressed, she booked an appointment at the Orlando Health Weight Loss and Bariatric Surgery Institute, where Dr. Ghanem is a fellowship-trained bariatric surgeon.

At that point, she weighed 302 pounds with a BMI of about 50.  “She was headed in the wrong direction, for sure,” Dr. Ghanem says.

He explains that it’s not just how much someone eats, but the hormonal changes that take place when a person gains weight.  “As hormones change, the body is not able to regulate itself in the same way as before, including both weight and blood sugar,” Dr. Ghanem says.

Due to her many medical challenges, Rodriguez’s own research had led to the conclusion that she should get a sleeve gastrectomy procedure, which removes four-fifths of the stomach. Dr. Ghanem suggested the same option, in part because some other procedures can cause ulcers in patients with heart issues, and Rodriguez had a stent in her leg due to a hereditary cardiac situation.

Eager as she was to get going, Rodriquez needed to pass hurdles first. Dr. Ghanem told her to quit smoking, so she stopped cold turkey. He said to cut out caffeine, fatty foods and salt due to high blood pressure, and she did. He also required a psychiatrist interview; clearances from specialists in gastrointestinal medicine, kidneys and cardiology; and a nutritionist consultation.

The nutritionist insisted Rodriguez fill up on vegetables before eating other foods, and swap in fish, and protein bars and shakes for red meat. “I was not happy. I did not like it,” she recalls. But she cleared her pantry and fridge of pancake mix, crackers, sausages, hot dogs, soft drinks and more, a “traumatizing” experience, and swapped in water, juice, fruits, sprouts and vegetables to steam then oven-crisp.

Better from Day One

In December 2023, Dr. Ghanem personally wheeled Rodriguez into the operating room. Two hours later, she woke up and started walking. “I just felt sore with little pain or discomfort,” she shares. Everything was going well. Early the next morning, Dr. Ghanem shared some bad news: A biopsy during the sleeve surgery showed that Rodriguez had cirrhosis of the liver, which could require a transplant if it got any worse.

Rodriguez went home two days later, followed the prescribed liquid and then soft-food diets, and took the prescribed vitamins. Her body began to change. She lost 50 pounds by June and was able to walk without back pain for the first time in years. She began eating vegetables including beets, which she dislikes, and her cirrhosis changed to the less dangerous “fatty liver”—a highly unusual but welcome reaction. After being on the verge of needing dialysis, her kidney numbers improved. “Kale saved my life,” she claims. “I put it in everything, and welcomed asparagus and spinach into my diet, too.”

Today Rodriguez takes 10,000 steps a day, cycles, swims laps and uses a stair machine. She eats small portions of her favorite foods, such as “half a slice of pizza, light sauce, followed by water; that satisfies me.” For celebrations, she skips big meals and instead meets friends for a concert or a walk in the park. She is now 186 pounds, wears a tankini to the beach and is always on the move.

“I’m able to stand for hours. I go to the theme parks with my daughters. I used to rent a wheelchair to do that. Dr. Ghanem gave me my life back,” she says.

Her 18-year-old daughter, Kayla Senquiz, cheerfully shares her size 10 clothing, and her 25-year-old daughter, Cristina Senquiz, a behavioral therapist, is scheduled to have a sleeve gastrectomy procedure with Dr. Ghanem this year.

Rodriguez is in college now, studying medical billing and coding. “I feel like myself,” Rodriguez  says. “I got my life back.”

“Obesity can have so many complications,” Dr. Ghanem adds, “but it’s never too late; something can always be done.”

She praises the Orlando Health team for helping her accomplish her goals.

“The whole staff makes you feel welcome, even a heavyset person,” she says. “Even the receptionist knew my name. They were always receptive to any question I had. I didn’t feel singled out there; I didn’t feel fat.”

This content is not AI generated.