MY 6 MONTH WLS REVIEW

On July 25th I will be exactly six months out and I thought I should reflect on my journey to date. If you care to read on I thank you in advance and if you choose to move on thats great! I want to list my positive experiences followed by my negative experiences just so I can make my own comparision. POSITIVE EXPERIENCES 1) Started out at 283 lbs, today I am 223-226 almost a 60 lb loss WOW! 2)Self esteem was in worse shape than I thought because it went through the roof at my 30 lb mark. I began to feel so damn good about myself! 3)OH.com provided an unexpected bonus of some of the most wonderful people I have ever met. 4) My physical abilities have drastically improved both at work and at play. I can work an 8 hour shift starting at 5 AM, come home and not want to colapse on the couch for a 3 hour nap, now I just keep on going. At the gym I can finally take the agressive 800 calorie burner RPM class and I love it. Also started jogging 3 weeks back as well. 5) Actually meeting some of the great OH folks at the new support group like, Robin, Violet, Andrea, Lisa, Kristine to mention a few. Very nice to meet them all! Also looking forward to meeting more of my OH friends one day like, LisaMarie, Tavia, Debra and yes perhaps Ilyssa and Happy Looser too, who knows? Your all such an inspiration to me! 6)Im thinking I should stop here before I put everyone to complete bordome! Negative Experiences Not too many negative issues resulting from my WLS, perhaps just a few? 1) Unfortunatly, I lost my angel and I'm not mentioning the persons name but I do very much miss the great support that was provided to me. I recall a post of mine a few months back when I had a really crappy day. My angel actually called me at work with genuine concern about me! Without a doubt it will always be one of those life experiences that I will carry to my grave. In all my years no one EVER reached out to me like that. I still get choked up just thinking about it! SORRY THATS JUST TOO MUSHY BUT HAD TO MENTION IT! I guess angels come and angels go? sniff sniff 2)There was another time when there was a misunderstanding on the NY board and I stopped using OH for a period of about two weeks, I was so upset that I removed the great looking web page the nice people at OH set up for me, that was such a dumb thing for me to do it was a great web page, live and learn. 3)The marriage is ever so stressful and yet so difficult to walk away from. If I do that I lose my daily contact with my sons and I can't seem to find the strength to make my move! They are everything to me! In closing, I am Sooooooooooooooooooooo Happy I had the wls and continue to love, embrace and enjoy each and every day of my new life. If you actually read this long and dull Kenny review then thanks and God bless you! Love to all Kenny 283/225/180

Hi Kenny Yes the LapBand and weighloss surgery in general are truly life altering things! The date of our surgeries can be considered the start of our new lives! I know my rebirth day is just 2 days before yours. My only regret is that I didn't do this sooner. Insurance problems made me give up my quest 3 years ago. Thank God my appeal to the state won this time. My LapBand brought me back from the brink & has given me another chance at life. Keep up the good work! Your post is not long and dull. It truly is heartfelt. God bless you and keep making this a success. Marcia 296/250 so far/125

Marcia thank you for taking the time to read all this! It means so much to get this support! Best of luck to you as well! Thanks Kenny

Awesome post Kenny. So much of what you say is what I feel too. I'm so glad that your experience has been a good one, mine has been too. The added bonus of this surgery has been finding OH and making some really great friends and then getting to meet so many of them. People who have not had WLS can be supportive, in their own way, but it is not the same support as we can give each other. You are doing great, Kenny boy - you look great, you sound great, your weight loss is great and you are doing some great things for yourself and for your boys. Missed you at the meeting on Sunday! Hugs - Robin

Hey Robin and thankyou for taking the time to read this. Your support as always is very helpful to me! Thanks again! Hopefully I will be riding my bike to the meeting on Sunday? Kenny

Beautiful post, nice to finally reclaim the life that you so rightfully deserve. Hope your guys know how lucky they are to have a dad like you! Hugs, ANDI PS. i'll be at the meeting Sunday and i fully expect there to be tissues, hugs and mass support as the day prior i'm going to visit my kids at camp and i have to leave them there for another (4) weeks ARRGHHHH!

Thank you Andi! Before you know it you will be looking forward to camp 2007! Kenny

So true, Robin! My hubby sometimes feels hurt because he said he wants to give me my support. I told him he is doing great, but there's a special connection with those of us who have had WLS. It's hard for him to get that. And by the time he wanted to join the club, it was too late. And he just keeps losing and losing, and the older son has lost 9 pounds. We've all lost 160 pounds together Thank you for those chips they were sooooo good. I keep meaning to look them up, just been on limited time lately Kristine

I wish you nothing but the best. Keep up the good work, Kenny! Try not to focus on negative things too much, ok? Some people have problems that have nothing to do with you so dont take anything to heart. Feel good!

Tavia thank you so very much for taking the time to read Kennies story! Yes I agree that everyone here has their own individual STUFF and it sometimes invokes certain reactions to others! With regard to the two individuals that reacted negativly towards my heartfelt love and kindness, I believe their past experiences with others influenced their reaction to me. More to that point, Violet had reccomended a great book in our support group, its called, " The Four Agreements" and unfortunatly I don't recall the author? Anyway, the book is about getting caught up in others opinions and allowing them to make judgements about us and feeling crappy about it. The point is, just as you stated, it's their stuff, and in these particular instances, I should not get down on myself! Sorry, I rambled on way too long here you probably have a delicious shake waiting for you! Again thanks for your continued inspiration! Love and Prayers Always Kenny