Like anyone reading this story, I had tried weight loss strategies all my life. The genetics in my family run strong, with mom and grandmother both obese. Both of my (adult) children are obese.

All the men in Don's family suddenly become morbidly obese at age 40. His daughter is morbid, and his son has not yet turned 40.

I'd met someone in 1976 who'd had "a" weight loss surgery, but I don't know what type. I observed her for 3 yrs. Then I moved away from the area. But she felt fine, and the weight stayed gone.

I met someone in 1986, who'd had a VBG the year before. He vomited daily, could not eat normal food at all, but had kept off 130 lbs. I saw him periodically for the next many years and his story did not change. I asked, "Would you do it again?" and he always said yes.

Finally, I met someone in 1993 who'd just had a VBG. She had only lost 35# by 6 months, so she revised to a gastric bypass, losing the rest of her weight. I lost track of her eventually, but I called the number she gave me. I had a battle with my insurance, but their exclusion was air tight. I refi'd my house, but the resulting cash didn't go further than paying co pays on all my medical bills for the year before. I'm still asking my VBG friend, "Would you do it again?" and he always said yes.

For one brief moment in the summer of 1994, in the state of Washington, we could get onto any insurance that we wanted. It was only a 90 day window, but several of us grabbed it. I had my surgery immediately, still asking my friend, "Would you do it again?" and he always said yes. I thought I had signed up for his life. My brief view of the WLS was long before I had internet, before OH, before yahoo groups......... only in person contacts. The VBG's vomited daily and did lose weight, but not much. The gastric bypass people had all lost weight, didn't vomit and over all seemed happier. That was my total research.

As it turned out, we had gotten one of the pioneers in the WLS field, and he had a most aggressive nutritional program. Even today, in 2008, his program was far more aggressive in supplements than any others I've seen. I was very surprised to find that most people had a much more conservative model of this surgery and did none of the vitamins or protein that we did. Their doctors all insisted we would die from this more radical surgery.

Times changed and life moved on, and we are largely healthy, most of our detractors are not healthy, or have revised to surgeries and nutritional programs like ours. We continue to age, now facing things we never thought we would, like graying hair and wrinkles! But we lived to face them, and meet our grandchildren, when we thought we never would.