wineguyd

I've been overweight since the age of eight. I've been obese since the age of 10, and I've been morbidly obese since the age of 28. No one in my immediate family is overweight so I can't say it's genetics, perhaps it was environment or emotional, for what ever reason I could never control my weight gain. Ironically, I was never a junk food or sweets fanatic, I just simply breathed my food down and needed to eat double or triple a normal portion to feel full. When I was 18, in an act of desperation, I enlisted in the Israeli army and volunteered to one of their most grueling infantry units in hopes that I would finally loose weight and get fit. I was 270 when I joined and after 6 months of basic training I was 200, lean and fit like an olympian. I maintained that weigh throughout my two and a half year service and then upon discharge I returned to the US and entered college. My body took full advantage of the break from a combat life and immediately started to re-inflate the fat cells, by the time I started classes I was 210 and by graduation I was 235(this despite training in martial arts 3-4 times a week). Once out of college I started putting on about 5 pounds a year but all the while my doctor was telling me that I was very healthy despite the fat...great BP, great colesterol etc.

By the time I was 30 I was 255 and growing, every diet took me down 10-20 pounds only to put it all back plus 10 pounds more. I no longer thought about being trim or fit I was starting a family and a business and that came first. The first signs of problems started when I was about 40 and my wife told me I was frequently not breathing during my sleep. I was tested and found positive for sleep apnea, of course my doctor now told me diet was critical which only led me to put more weight on. Over the years my blood pressure creeped up from perfect to risky but never high, my colesterol stayed pretty good but I was out of shape and bursting out of my clothing.

In 2008(before the financial meltdown) I was starting to show several metabolic symptoms, high blood pressure, high colesterol, sleep apnea, borderline diabetic and most debilitating...I was experiencing a burning sensation on the front of my left leg between the knee and pelvis that my doctor told me was the result of all my extra weight putting pressure on nerves in my back in my spine. I was a walking time bomb.

When the market meltdown took place in September 2008 my wife lost her job and my business lost 60% of it's income. I knew I had a battle before me that would dwarf anything I experienced in the Israeli Army. I knew that I had to take my future in my own hands to prevent becoming homeless and the last thing we could afford would be my having severe health issues. I made the decision that I needed once and for all to get healthy and lose the weight ASAP. A friend of mine had done Lap Band four months earlier and he already had lost almost 50 pounds so I took his doctors information and met with them for a consultation. By the time I had my surgery on January 9th 2009 I was up to 275 pounds and was the fattest and most unfit I had ever been in my life.

The surgery was a breeze, checked into the hospital at 6:30 am, in the OR at 8:30, woke up at 10 and checked out at 11am. For those fearful of surgery, getting a colonoscopy is more of a bother, even having a tooth pulled was more painful. When the anesthesia wore off in the afternoon I felt like had done a belly flop in a swimming pool...it stung but I never felt the need to take the prescription pain medication they gave me. I dropped by my business in the evening just to see how things were and I returned to work the next day.

I did the "Realize band" and I must say that the experience has been text book perfect for me. My doctors were spot on in their explanations of what to expect and not expect from the procedure...I dropped almost 30 pounds in the first month and I was down 50 pounds in less than six months. The most amazing thing was that by the time I was down to 225 every single metabolic symptom had cleared up...BP normal, colesterol normal, apnea GONE, burning in leg from nerve pressure GONE! Even more surprising was that every winter around February, since my early twenties, I would always get a severe bout of bronchitis that would last for at least two weeks while I took antibiotics. I have not gotten bronchitis for the last three years, in fact I have not been sick once in three years...not even a cold.

I am currently 205 pounds, my goal is 190. The charts say I should be 168 but that is not possible for my frame, I have a huge chest and I'm big boned. I was a size 20 neck, a 44 waist(about to hit 46) and I was a size 58 suit...in other words an XXXL. I'm now a 17 neck, a 44 suit and as I write this I'm wearing a pair of J. Crew Urban "Slim Fit" chinos size 34/32 and I wear "slim fit" cut shirts...Un F@#&ing real!!!!

I've had a total of three fills on my band and I've reached a very comfortable state where I can eat a normal meal with a little care and I've even been to Peter Luger's Steak House four times since having the procedure. I suppose I could get another fill to force me to eat less and lose the last 15 pounds but I decided that from this point on the weight will come off from will power and exercise...the band is now a safety valve that simply wont let me regress.

I am definitely a different person as a result of the band, I'm still working like a dog and struggling yet I'm enjoying life more than any time in the past. My wife and daughter tease me that I've become a narcissist and even say that I'm going to "come out of the closet" any day because I so love dressing up in fine clothing, something I never could enjoy for 50 years!