“Take care of yourself. Don’t be content with food. And I was always caring for others, so I had to learn it in a difficult way.”
A New Orleans — Harvey man had a second chance in his life when his wife offered to be a living organ donor. Then he got a third chance in his life because someone he had never met decided to become an organ donor.
Jeremy Perry is 47 years old and healthy. He weighs 165 pounds and is not taking any medications for high blood pressure and diabetes, but his journey to health has been difficult.
“It piled up between working and not exercising and eating what I wanted to eat,” Perry said.
In the past, he weighed almost twice as much as he does now. His weight was 320 pounds. It caused renal failure. His wife was a match and gave Jeremy one of her kidneys in 2009. At first he was against it.
“We have children, so I’m more afraid of her health than I am. At least I’m going to make sure she’s here for them,” Perry said.
The weight Jeremy lost to restore the first kidney transplant. He was currently on dialysis and needed another kidney transplant, but he had to lose his weight again to qualify.
“We know that when your body is healthy, your kidneys are much better, because it’s not just about weight loss, it’s about solving diabetes, high blood pressure, and a variety of metabolic disorders,” he said. increase. Shauna Levy, Medical Director of Bariatric Clinic at Tulane.
In some places, obese patients are denied transplant surgery.
“Kidney transplantation is a life-saving procedure, which basically robs us of that opportunity,” said Dr. Funbe John, director of the Tulane Transplant Institute.
Therefore, Tulane has a two-step process to give the best possible results to kidney transplant patients. First, a gastric sleeve surgery was performed by obesity surgeon Dr. Shauna Levy to help Jeremy lose weight. It also helps regulate hunger hormones and metabolic disorders. And when it was controlled, Jeremy received a kidney transplant.
“It’s like a double joy of excitement. Not only do you lose weight, but you also have kidneys, you don’t get dialysis, and your life is just free,” Dr. Levy said.
Jeremy was motivated and took the opportunity as a challenge. Then he took his health to a whole new level, exercising him and completely changing his diet.
“I’ll walk 14 miles in the morning. Yes. I’m on the embankment. I walked back from Gretona Ferry past Algiers Ferry,” Perry said.
One morning, after being chased by a wild coyote for 10 minutes, I couldn’t stop exercising. At half his weight today, he is a picture of his health. Now he has a message for everyone who hears.
“Take care of yourself. Don’t be content with food. And I was always caring for others, so I had to learn it in a difficult way. I now have to finally take care of Jeremy, “Perry said.
And doctors say that not only does exercise help you lose weight, but tense muscles also help your body handle insulin better.
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