If you have diabetes, you know that maintaining a healthy weight is an essential part of disease management. Because of this, your doctors have likely recommended a healthy, well-balanced diet combined with some sort of exercise routine.

However, for some of us, weight loss is a little harder than it is for others. There’s a little more to it than simply getting our steps or ensuring we get at least 30 minutes of physical activity in a day. Things like metabolism, family history, and age can play a significant role in how easy or difficult it is to shed the pounds and keep them off.

Tamika McCray, who has type 2 diabetes, weighed nearly 300 pounds. Her type 2 diabetes was getting worse and worse, despite taking insulin and oral medications. As a last-resort weight loss intervention, she turned to bariatric surgery.

Before she had even lost any weight, something crazy happened. Her diabetes seemed to be gone. her blood-sugar levels were consistently staying within a healthy range.

Dr. Francesco Rubino, who performed Tamika’s surgery, believes that surgery should be offered to more sufferers of diabetes, as it has been shown to be a relatively safe and effective treatment for the disease.

Check out the video below to learn more about Tamika’s story!