JohnBill

I've been heavy all my life. I was 250 pounds as a senior in high school. I wanted to join the Air Force to get out of my small little podunk town, but had to lose a lot of weight to do so. I did it, but it wasn't in a very healthy fashion. I spent almost 21 years in the Air Force and battled my weight the entire time. Running was the only way I could stay within standards and still eat almost like a normal human, so run I did. I was up to about 50 miles per week towards the end of my career. Unfortunately, all that running wore me down over time. I ended up with chronic plantar fasciitis, knee pain, etc. After I retired, I still tried to diet and exercise, but the pain got to be too much. The weight piled on. One day, out of the blue, we had a discussion at work about people having lap band surgery. I said "I'd do it, but Tricare would never cover it". Someone said "Tricare's been covering it for a couple of years now". I was immediately on the trail. Took about two months, but I ended up getting approval and just had my surgery on 17 May 2010. I'm so looking forward to getting my life back.