For most of his life, Jose Luis Jimenez has had difficulty maintaining a healthy weight. His weight affected his health and how he was able to enjoy life. Jose eventually developed diabetes and hypertension, and even gave up many beloved activities. His friends and family urged him to consider bariatric surgery.

It took the birth of his granddaughter to motivate him to make a change. His granddaughter, who is now an energetic 4-year-old, loves piggyback rides and playing chase with her abuelo.
“Not being able to play as often as I wanted and for as long as I wanted with my granddaughter was my main motivation,” he said.

Jose was impressed from his first consultation with Chi Zhang, M.D., a bariatric surgeon. He said Dr. Zhang was able to “quickly calm my fears and walk me through the process all while speaking Spanish – my native language.”

Unfortunately, Jose’s medical procedure that was scheduled for March was postponed due to the new coronavirus pandemic. The surgery was quickly rescheduled and completed in early May once elective procedures resumed at Broward Health Imperial Point.

“We were able to bring in Mr. Jimenez for his gastric sleeve procedure once elective procedures could be resumed,” said Zhang. “Mr. Jimenez is a classic example of a bariatric patient. He has a body mass index of 50 and four obesity-related comorbidities. He has hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and sleep apnea.”

The surgeon expects that weight loss will reduce all four debilitations by 80% allowing Jose to have a more active life and reduce the need for his medications.
Jose said his initial reservations about returning to the hospital immediately evaporated once he saw the extraordinary measures the hospital took to ensure his safety, as well as the safety of the caregivers.

He is now looking forward to being able to keep up with his bubbly granddaughter.