In 2021, Bronx resident Shirley Dawkins lost her father to COVID-19 pneumonia. She used food to deal with the depression, which resulted in her gaining 100 pounds.
Dawkins, 51, of Co-op City, missed her dad Walter Dawkins a lot and she did not recognize the person she saw in the mirror. Dealing with her weight and diabetes, she needed to make a change.
“I took food as my comfort,” she told the Bronx Times. “I went through it for two years.”
During that time Dawkins ate Chinese food, drank soda and chowed down on sweets nonstop. Her primary care doctor told her she must change her diet and see a nutritionist because her blood pressure and diabetes were getting worse.
“I used to get up in the middle of the night and just eat,” Dawkins said.
Dawkins found a therapist, but changing her diet was much harder. She quit fast food and gradually began to lose weight. The process was not easy, and she endured many setbacks.
“I said this is the heaviest I’ve ever been, I’m taking control of my life today,” she said.
Dawkins heard about a procedure called laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy that could drastically help with weight loss. She did some research and discovered Jacobi was named a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). The department has successfully operated on more than 3,000 patients over the last 16 years.
According to Dr. Ajay Chopra, medical director of the bariatric surgery department at Jacobi, a sleeve gastrectomy is a less complex procedure so there is a minimal recovery time and a lower chance of long-term complications.
“It’s important for patients to realize that bariatric surgery should be considered a tool to be able to control appetite and food portion size,” Chopra said. “Equally important is a commitment to change and adopt healthy eating habits. These habits are emphasized as our patients meet with regular nutritionists before and after their procedure.”
Dawkins wanted the procedure, but her family and primary care doctor were not on board. They thought she was taking the easy way and were nervous about the surgery. But Dawkins did not let them deter her.
However, Dawkins could not just show up for the sleeve gastrectomy. She had to undergo numerous procedures, including bone scans, cat scans and much more from September 2022 until May 2023.
The one person who was in her corner throughout her battle with depression, preparing for the surgery and after, was her husband Dennis Morris. He was her rock and was always there for her—much like her father was when she was a child.
“My dad was just a genuine guy,” Dawkins said. “My husband has the same characteristics as my father.”
Dawkins had to lose 50 pounds prior to the surgery and on May 15, 2023 underwent the procedure.
But after the gastrectomy there was a slight hiccup. Dawkins’ blood pressure was too high, so a blood transfusion was done, and she spent another five days in the hospital.
Dawkins, who works at Macy’s at Bay Plaza Mall in Co-op City, was on medical leave from May 2023 to October 2023. When she returned to work, the security guard didn’t even recognize her.
“When my primary care physician saw me she said this the lady I really know,” Dawkins said.
Today, due to her change in diet and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, she lost 100 pounds, is no longer diabetic, walks to work and is loving life.
“I get tickled when I look in the mirror,” Dawkins said. “After all I’ve been through since my dad passed away, I’m finally at a place of peace. It’s (the gastrectomy) is the best decision I’ve made in my lifetime.”
