In 2016, our patient Amanda Maher, decided to take her first steps towards her life-changing weight loss journey. When she came to Dr. Ricks and his support staff at Ricks Bariatrics, she weighed 416 pounds. She started this journey with the goal to be more active and healthy for her family. At the time, she could barely walk a block without becoming winded. After meeting with Dr. Ricks and his staff, they recommended that Amanda have the Duodenal Switch procedure.

The Duodenal Switch procedure is where both the stomach and the small intestine are modified. Part of the stomach is removed, and also includes an intestinal bypass. This makes the stomach smaller, so that it does not hold as much food, but also makes the path through the intestines shorter. This ultimately reduces the hormones that tell our bodies that they are hungry. However, this procedure is not solely responsible for Amanda’s success. She strongly believes that the key to her success came from consistency in both diet and physical activity.

Today, Amanda weighs 205 pounds, and thanks to her hard work, is able to be more active with her kids. She enjoys indoor cycling and loves going on long rides. She can ride up to 10+ miles, which is something that she never thought that she would be able to do– let alone enjoy doing. When asked to share some of her highlights of her incredible weight loss journey, she said that she could not have done it without the support and resources from Dr. Ricks. We are so proud of you Amanda!