ObesityHelp

My story starts a little different than most.  I was not always obese or even overweight.

I played several sports most of my life and it was while training, for a gymnastics meet, that I injured my back. 
This all happened when I was 17 yrs old.  The pain was excruciating most of the time. Back surgery seemed more of a risk according to the Doctors. The ensuing depression, pain and total lifestyle change- sports came to a halt overnight- made my life barely tolerable.   As I got larger, I had more back problems, more pain, more depression and it all became a vicious circle that gave way to Morbid Obesity 12 years later.

In early 2001 (I was 29) I had the surgery. Something didn't go right, because I passed blood and stayed at the hospital for 5 days.  I was sure I had made the worst mistake of my life.  Thankfully, the bleeding stoped on its own and I was finally released from the hospital.  The upside is that I lost all my excess weight with in 6 months and have stayed there ever since.  I'm was so glad that I had the surgery...so that's the short version of my story. :-)

o...k....
So, I guess when you switch to the new profile format, you gotta start from scratch, ey?

oh, wow in 2 months, to the day, I will have 4 years post op....hm, how time flies while you're starting a business, writing a book, teaching college and just generally enjoying life.

Was it always a bed of roses?  Heck now.  I bled internally for 5 days post op.  You know how there's the infamous 1% complication rate...yep. I was THAT guy.  On the flip side, I did get to goal in about 6 months and have stayed there ever since.

I will probably end up re-writing all this in a WAY more positive light.  I guess I'm a bit surprised to see a LOT of my info gone.

cyber-hugs,

El Cristiano