A mother who stacked the books after gutting nocturnal dinner dates in the “youth phase” of her relationship has now lost almost 200 pounds so that she can play with her son.
Chandra Pearce, 36, from Burleson, Texasfound himself gaining weight after marrying her husband Chad, 36 years old.
The pair would offer meals from restaurants most nights, but after walking on the scale and seeing its heaviest weight – 387 pounds – Chandra knew that it had to change.
She obtained Chad, a worker of university security, to take photos to keep her responsible before losing 97 pounds in a strict diet.
But after Chandra started to collapse from an anaphylactic shock when her son had only a few weeks, she decided to look in a vertical gastrectomy (VSG) – a type of weight loss Surgery where a large section of the stomach is “cut”.
The operation allowed the mother of a person to lose an additional 105 pounds – and she is now an outbuilding of 189 pounds and an American size medium.
Now she is “healthier” for her team of sons, one, and has more energy to play in the park with him.
Chandra, a childcare director, said: “It was a kind of youth’s phase to go out for dinner almost every evening.
Chandra Pearce, 36, a mother of one from Texas, lost nearly 200 pounds so that she could play with her young son (before)
The mother has gone through multiple health fears and a strict diet to lose weight. It went from 387lbs (left) to a thin 189 pounds (right) and an American medium
“We had no children, so we were going to work and then dinner.
“You are just happy, with your best friend who has fun and it’s only six months after our wedding, I noticed my weight.
Chandra and Chad made the knot in March 2015 and the new bride did not realize the weight she had put until she got on the balance in October of the same year.
She said, “It’s weird because they say it doesn’t come overnight.
“I see the same person I saw then, and I know that it does not make sense, but there was only one day when it caught my attention.
“I thought:” I’m going to have my weight “, and it was such a shock because I had never seen this weight before.
“I got off the scale and I saw again and I saw the number again and I was overwhelmed. I thought “I take control.”
“I told my husband,” Please take these photos of me because I never want to be here again. “”
Chandra and Chad made the knot in March 2015 and the new bride did not realize the weight she had put until she got on the balance in October of the same year
Chandra was then diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and was put on metformin – a drug used to treat high blood sugar – to help treat it.
She started a strict diet – going to homemade meals or toasted chicken and vegetables if she came out.
She said, “I lost 100 pounds by myself. Meanwhile, we were trying to get pregnant.
After having undergone several operations, including his unlisted fallopian tubes and various cycles of intrauterine insemination (IUI), the couple decided to try adoption.
Chandra then fell pregnant naturally but unfortunately lost the baby because she had established herself in her cervix.
She said, “It was the most difficult part of my whole life. I had everything I dreamed of, and it was gone.
Despite their sorrow, Chandra and Chad took over the adoption road in August 2022 and have since become parents at the crew, now aged one in May 2023.
Only a few weeks after bringing back their new addition to the house, Chandra suffered a fear of health.
Chandra started a strict diet – passing meals at home or chicken and toasted vegetables if she went out, losing 100 pounds. In the photo: before (left) and after (right)
She had recently been prescribed at the Ozempic to help continue to treat her diabetes and allow you to lose weight.
She said, “It was probably when my son was about four or five weeks old that I had my first anaphylactic episode.
“The doctors sent me for allergy and immunology tests, but everything came back clear.
“The three times I collapsed, my doctor had changed my dosage of Ozempic.
“I don’t know if he doesn’t lock in my system, or if it was something that I ate with perhaps. I just thought: “I have to get out of it.”
“I was content with my size where I was, and I didn’t want to count on anything.
A friend recommended Chandra to Dr Cribbins, a specialist in bariatric surgery, for a vertical gastrectomy (VSG).
She said: “When I made the consultation, I wanted a wonderful life for my son, but I was also afraid.
The mother suffered the operation in August 2024 and lost another 100 pounds and had no episodes
“The doctor said that if you do this procedure, you can get out of everything. It changed my thought a little.
The mother underwent the operation in August 2024 and lost an additional 100 pounds and had no episodes.
She said, “I lost an additional 100 pounds. I now have much more energy to crawl on the ground and go to the park’s slides with it. My interests work and are healthier for him.
With its new breath, Chandra’s diet has completely changed.
She said, “Before eating a lot of fast food, sandwiches and fries. We had a lot of pasta, me and Chad loved Olive Garden.
“Now I don’t eat a ton. I have shakes and protein snacks, but I don’t even want bad things.
“I had to get rid of all my closet because I was XXXL and now I am like a large size, sometimes a medium.
“I can shop in normal stores before having to go to specialized stores to find things and I can no longer buy in these stores.
“I don’t know exactly what my style is now, I feel like I have more options.”