LanaMae

[font=verdana, geneva, sans-serif]I don't feel my story is much different than anyone else's. I've been overweight since I was 14 (size 18 throughout high school). I married too soon after high school and was divorced with two children by the time I was 25. I weighed about 280 at the time and decided to hire a personal trainer. I did Weight Watchers and was in the gym faithfully 2 hours/day for 6 days/week and I lost 80 pounds...only. In the meantime, I met a great guy online who lived out of state (I know...not ideal, and a little scary, but it worked out!) and I ended up across the nation for a few great years where I was introduced to southern cooking...and gained 100 pounds....within a year. :( My husband and I began the bypass process, but after not being able to lose the required amount of weight, we were both defeated, depressed and gave up. Here we are 5 years later...still mobidly obese, unable to conquer this demon in our lives. [/font]

[font=verdana, geneva, sans-serif]I recently had lunch with an old friend who had the vertical sleeve about 6 months ago and was thrilled to see her progress and learn about this exciting "new" procedure. The whole bypass procedure involving rerouting of your insides was scary to me and the sleeve sounded so much more reasonable. Well, I emailed my doctor the same day and within an hour, he referred me to the bariactric center for surgery. My husband's doctor referred him the next morning.[/font]

[font=verdana, geneva, sans-serif]We attended the Bariatric Orientation on March 1 and met with the surgeon March 13. The surgeon took into account 24 pounds I lost in the last year and said after my nutrition and mental health appointments, I can be scheduled. My nutrition appointment on March 19. [/font]

[font=verdana, geneva, sans-serif]The scariest thing for me is that I can do ANY diet for a period of time, but after awhile the old habits creep up. I'm hoping this tool will help keep me on track and losing weight will keep me motivated. [/font]I'm so ready for this change! I would like to connect with others who are going through the same thing so we can keep each other in check.