Julie is Glowing After Successful Care from Northwest Bariatric and Foregut Surgery

4/29/2025

At 402 pounds, Julie – a mother of five children living in Pima – knew her health was deteriorating quickly due to her weight.

“That girl couldn’t even move without breathing hard,” Julie says of her old self. “I was on blood-pressure medication and suffering from sleep apnea, and something inside me started screaming, ‘I’m only 42 years old!’ I needed to be around for my kids.” Julie drove two and a half hours for a bariatric surgery consultation with Stephen Burpee, M.D., at Northwest Bariatric and Foregut Surgery in Tucson.

“I loved the office,” she says. “I could feel positivity radiating from just about everybody.”

After discussing her lifestyle habits, her general state of health, and her goals, Julie and Dr. Burpee opted for the SADI-S procedure. SADI-S combines a sleeve gastrectomy to shrink the stomach and an intestinal bypass to limit food absorption. This procedure is known to lead to significant weight loss and improvement in obesity-related diseases, including diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep apnea.

Julie had her surgery on Sept. 24, 2024, and followed post-surgical instructions about nutrition and exercise to the letter. Today, she’s about 170 pounds lighter.

“I’m healthier; my whole family is healthier,” she says. “My husband cut out sugar, so he lost 65 pounds all on his own. We have more energy – recently, I took a trip with my five-year-old to see her new kindergarten classroom, which I couldn’t have done a year ago. Other people tell me I have a ‘glow’ – and I also have a neck again.”

Julie has about 40 more pounds to lose, and it’s coming off quickly.

“I feel like a whole new person,” she says.

Congratulations to Julie! To learn more about surgical weight loss at Northwest Healthcare or request an appointment, please visit https://www.healthiertucson.com/why-choose-us-bariatrics.

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