Modern Medicine
in the Treatment of
Morbid Obesity

Every person’s birthday is related to his coming into this life, but to some people, it is about redefining goals and, in some ways, their being born again.

Today is a day of celebration and a birthday for me, which confirms and seals the success of the last few years of self-development and redefines the way I will live the rest of my life.

There has to be a reward for every struggle and every success must be something which is ongoing, otherwise it is bound to fail.

For five consecutive years, I made an effort to lose the extra pounds.

It all started with an operation to fight morbid obesity carried out by the treating physician, Dr Ilias Sdralis, who came to correct the mistakes I had myself made in my past.

The operation, which I underwent to combat morbid obesity, is called Biliopancreatic Diversion with Long Alimentary Limb with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and cholecystectomy and appendectomy. In the years after that I had plastic surgery to remove excess skin on my abdomen, arms and chest.

After recovering and losing 105 kg, I want to tell my friends here that it is a difficult path but, at the end of the day, it is one that can only offer us joy and health.

Anyone undertaking surgery to fight morbid obesity has a difficult path to tread. For this reason, a person has to act according to a holistic approach regarding their lifestyle and nutrition, and their psychological state is also important after their surgery.

According to Aristotle, man’s purpose in life is “HAPPINESS” and this is the end goal of this operation which has to do with our health, because life is truly a beautiful thing.

For every difficulty and every personal struggle, they will have the advice of a scientist who is a specialist. Do not hesitate to ask for help.

I would like to publicly thank my treating doctors, as well as those who stood by me.

In closing, I would like to wish each of you the very best, for your physical and mental health, as well as for your personal struggle.

Happy fifth birthday to me!

One year, a month and a day later! January 21, 2019 at the Interbalkan Medical Centre, Thessaloniki! February 22, 2020!
I’m healthy and I’m well! I’ve always been beautiful!
The best team and the best doctor of all was by my side! Ilias Sdralis, may God bless you! And of course, a shout-out to those who supported me during those difficult days that we experienced as a family, since at the same time we had had a bereavement…

Exactly one year has passed! I thank God and all those who helped me be born again. Many thanks from the bottom of my heart to my doctor, Ilias Sdralis, for making me what I am today.

In November 2019, after a serious problem where I had difficulty in swallowing even liquids, with the team’s help, we found what was wrong with me, and today is the 5th day after my operation.

The facts are well known: childhood obesity, one diet after the other, like all of us do, wasted money on weight loss institutes and taking new dangerous medicines every time they came onto the market. All this led to the placement in 2006 of a gastric band and then a repositioning due to it shifting in 2008. I lost 44 kg in 2007 but due to gastrointestinal bleeding with the band opening, I regained 30 kg, which frankly, is just a drop in the ocean, in terms of weight loss.

After two pregnancies and trying all the new diets (Zone, Unit, Ducan and the list goes on), in November, I arrived at the office of an obesity surgeon who I trusted because of your experiences. Someone whose CV, published work and awards, someone whose training, attitude and measured words, all convinced me. While I only went in for band removal, I decided in the end to go for a gastric bypass surgery with a single anastomosis. Many thanks to Mr. Ilias Sdralis for the consistency of what he told me, and my impeccable surgery, as well as his excellent collaborators, from the anaesthesiologist to the dietitian, the secretary and all the wonderful staff of the Interbalkan Medical Centre who made the difficult postoperative days roll by smoothly.

It was just one year ago, on the feast of Agios Isidoros that my journey of weight loss started at the magical and blessed hands of my doctor Ilias Sdralis and his wonderful team.

If there is just one thing that I’m sure about, it is that I would definitely take this step again with this particular doctor. I have never felt myself to be in safer hands. He was always there to support me, answering my every question, helping me, and I didn’t feel alone making this big decision of mine. You know, going for a second time for an operation for obesity is a very difficult thing to do, but if you trust your doctor, you have nothing to fear.

I really want to give everyone a piece of advice, now that you are starting your own research. Look into it carefully, don’t just look to have the operation on the cheap and fast as I did the first time. I wish I had been wise enough then to look into it more and to have chosen my favorite doctor, Ilias Sdralis, from the start. I am here for anyone who needs advice or help. I’d be glad to help in any way if I can.

I wish you all the best in your struggle, I know I still have a long way to go, but I’m not afraid of anything.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, doctor.

Two years ago today, I started, my weight was 110 kg… and now I am steady at 57 kg…
I won’t say it was easy but with a wonderful doctor, Mr. Ilias Sdralis, and the people I had at my side, I think it made all the difference! Αlways do, whatever is good for you!

June 17, 2015, day of my rebirth, Ilias Sdralis, my godfather. I started at 123 kg and 178 cm in height. I stabilized at 80 kg in 2017 and, with diet, lost another 7 kg. When I was 73 kg I went in for abdominoplasty with Mr. Ilias Athanasopoulos. Every winter I put on 5 kg, but without dieting the kilos drop off again on their own by Easter time. I work out and manage a restaurant portion of food in the three hours that we will be sitting there.

January 2015 weighing 112 kg, and January 2017 just 61 kg. A huge debt of gratitude to Mr. Sdralis Ilias, the doctor who took care of me!

A big congratulations to me on the struggle I had and the fact that I’m doing all I can still, and also to all the people who have also achieved what they did.

Happy New Year to all, wishing you health and lots of love.