mysticblue
I am 39 years old. I live alone in a farm house in the country with my two dogs. Even though I drive into the city each day for work, I find I am unable to live that close to other people. It feels rather stifling. I do love the air of the country. This is probably due to living in the mountains for 15 years before getting my current job, causing me to move closer to civilization. I have worked in emergency services for many years as a firefighter and a paramedic, and now I work in emergency management helping communities with disaster work. My life as a paramedic caused horrible eating habits - as you never know when your next meal might be so you 1) eat bad choices on the run, and 2) eat very fast. So over the years I just kept getting bigger. Like most, I tried absolutely everything to lose weight but always ended up gaining it back plus some. Five years ago I had the Lap Band surgery thinking it would be the answer. Well, I never lost weight with the Lap Band and continued to struggle. I gained 25 more pounds.
After moving down to the front range, I had to get a new primary doctor. Well, he referred me to a surgeon (no one wanted to see me since I already had surgery and it didn't work). Dr Chae agreed to see me from the recommendation and he talked to me about my options with the Band. He also introduced me to the Sleeve surgery since I told him Gastric Bypass has never been something I would consider. I took this information and did some research and thought about it for a few months. Then, one day, it all made sense. I wanted the band hardware out of my body bad! So I was going to have surgery regardless, so if I was going to have another WLS that would be the time. Once I decided, I wasn't nervous about it at all. I tend to wait to make a decision, weighing all of the facts, but once made I don't have the nerves many do. I scheduled the surgery and within one month, it was over. I love not having the band. That alone made it all worthwhile.
Because of my failure from the Lap Band, I am not totally sold on this procedure and its success yet. But I have lost 42 pounds in two months so it is already better than my last experience. I plan to do things right for as long as I can as I do not want to fail again. Maybe now is my time.
