Hans Meijer
My story is that I am 29 years old, originally from the Dominican Republic with a Dutch father and a Puerto Rican/American mother...thus the European name for a kid who grew up in the Caribbean. Anyways, I had always been somewhat of an athlete played all sports during high school and of course loved to eat. Unfortunately when I went away to college my active lifestyle playing sports was drastically reduced and I began to pack on extra pounds that I didn't necessarily need, as I was already weighin in at about 280-290 when I graduated high school. I do have a big body frame as I am 6'3 and "big-boned"...is that another word for fat?...Anyways, 7 years after graduating college and living in South Florida (yeah!!! South Beach) I moved to the North Pole...Minnesota...in pursuit of a great career opportunity with a major corporation. I had been one to never really go to the doctor plus I had gotten tired of scales not being able to read my weight, but when I arrived to Minnesota something came over me and had me go to a full physical and to my suprise the doctor I had chosen as my primary low and behold had a scale that could weigh me. To my suprise and trust me I was so suprised that my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw my weight of 443. I couldn't fathom being that obese...I must have been in denial. I never really had any health complications or phsychological issues with being obese...or maybe I was just good at downplaying it, but at that moment I knew that something had to be done because I was out of control. So I quickly inquired on a Bariatric Surgeon and my primary referred me to Dr. Dan Baker (the most awesome surgeon around) and my journey began sometime in April of 2006 @ 443. I went through all of the paperwork, appointments, etc...and my surgery date was scheduled for 11/6/2006. As I am writing this it is 2 months since my surgery and I am at 323. So I have dropped a whopping 120 pounds since the process started and 90 since the surgery. I consider myself very lucky in that the process has been a smooth one and I have yet (knock on wood) gotten sick or felt any of the side effects.
My Weight Chart:
