300 pounds later....am I living a dream or is this in fact reality?

[ladypoohbear 123]

Awesome. I tool feel like I'm in a dream... but no your not in Kansas...its reality. I too am loving life. Have a great time.

[Pat-rice 30]

Thanks for sharing your story with us Jim. What an inspiration you are. I am in bandster hell right now patiently awaiting my first fill on December 2. I wish you continued success!!!

[MarieMarie 346]

Thank you for sharing. I am in banister hell and don't see the end any time near. I am so upset at my Doctors lack of support. It is great to know there will be brighter days ahead

[Jim1967 3,569]

Tomorrow morning I board a plane for Orlando for a 7 day Disney/Universal Vacation. This was the reward I set myself in 2012 when my journey began. I told myself if I could ever make goal this is how I will reward myself. It amazes me how different life is from 3 short years ago when I could bearly stand on my own two feet for 10 minutes.

My advice....set a goal and never lose sight of the dream. Put yourself first and get the help you need to be successful where ever it may be.

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

OMG Jim this just made my day.

Have enormous fun!

[dylanmiles23 2,198]

Jim. You looking f'n amazing. I hope you and Kelly have the best time.

Arlene

[Debbie3sons 1,936]

WOW what a change since you last posted I bet your family & You are ecstatic about the transformation , you should do a side by side if you can & take a look at what YOU have done , SO AWESOME .

[gowalking 10,790]

I hope you and Kelly have a wonderful trip Jim! Take lots of pictures so we can see them, OK?

[SIJoe 111]

Hey Jim. Looking good! I just returned from Walt Disney World. I have some advice if you're talking a "princess" with you (as did we) who has her heart set on meeting Elsa and Anna - plan to go when the park is to midnight or 1AM and make this the last thing you do. The wait times during most of the day was 2 to 2 1/2 hours and we could never get a fast pass. We went about 11:40 PM and waited for about 10 minutes. And be careful of the scooter people and strollers - it's an obstacle course out there!

[sweetgagrl00 39]

Hi Jim,

I have to say I can relate to much of what you had to say in your story; even cried a little. I'm so proud of you!

[UrNoKenButUwantaBarbie 4]

Jim omg you look wonderful. Congratz. ????

[Mommyfrid 12]

Your story is such a motivator to me. That's great weight loss in 2.5 years. I just had my first full today. So I'm early in the process, but dedicated!! I had my band surgery on Feb 6, 2015 and as of today I have lost 38lbs. I have probably another 200lbs to go. You should be extremely proud of yourself. I can't wait to be where you are and post my success story!!

[pgi 1]

_{Thanks Jim for your inspirational story.}

_{I'm glad I'm not the only person that is experiencing "Bandster Hell" as you put it. I'm looking into getting my 2nd fill since I seem to be hungry a lot still & am starting to fall off the wagon. I'm hoping to get back on track before too much damage is done.}

_{Wishing you & your family the very best of health in the future.}

[staceymeaux 90]

Thank you for sharing. I especially like your comment " There was no way it would work and I will be known as the fat guy who couldn’t lose weight with WLS". That has been my thoughts and hesitation about ever having the surgery. I am now in the pre-approval stage doing the liquid diet. So hopefully by the middle of next month I will know if I am approved for the surgery and get a surgery date.

[Jim1967 3,569]

Thank you all for the kind words. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back in here and reply. Work and life has been crazy as of late. Northeast really got hit hard this Winter and we've had snow every single weekend since beginning of January.

I think in regards to the band life I believe you really have to take it on and make it a project. To be honest when I reached a point where trips to the Doctor office became less frequent I began feeling more out of touch with the process.

As time has gone on I still miss the frequent interaction it but I am enjoying life more than ever. I only see my band doctor one every 6 months. This last time they asked me if I wanted to push it out to a year and I said no way.

April 16 will be my 3 year anniversary. I still have my days when I look in the mirror and see a very large man. I have lots of loose skin that needs to be taken care of at some point. I am betting with skin surgery that scale will easily drop another 10 and maybe even 15 pounds. I have sag every where and it is not pretty. My wife has been nothing but supportive and said she is so happy I am healthy and energetic once again.

Bandster hell was the toughest phase for me. I think it was 6 or 7 months before I really found the zone and the weight really started moving. It was frustrating as hell but I stuck with it because it was all I had. Anything was better then the alternative. If you find yourself stuck in bandster hell or even going in the wrong direction with the scale the LAST thing you ever want to do is cancel appointments out of embarrassment. Doctors and adjustments cannot help you if you do not go to those appointments and let it all hang out. No excuses, no embarrassment just tell them what is really going on and let them help you.

Right now I fluctuate between 159 and 163. Not bad for a guy starting out at 488. Please let me know if I can be of any help to anyone. I know I don't get on here nearly as much as I should but I do get email notifications of PM's and responses threads I participate in.

Thank you again and I hope you all become successful and happy losers :-)