My struggle with obesity began after the birth of my first child. From the age of 18 I fought, and lost, the hard fight. I would lose major amounts of unwanted fat. Every diet I ever tried worked for awhile. I was pretty good at getting off the unwanted pounds. But, alas, keeping them off proved to be my biggest downfall. Before I could even wear all my new clothes, I would chubby back up and they wouldn't fit me anymore. I just got fatter and fatter with each passing year.

I had pretty much given all hope of ever being a normal size when I read about this new lap band  idea. I knew within 15 minutes of finding this info on the Internet, that I had found the answer to my long years of misery, despair & longing to be normal.

The band was not yet approved in the United States but, they were doing it in Mexico at a price I could afford. Without further delay, I began a feverish search for more information. I had never even been to Mexico, and I had heard all the stories about how "you can't drink the water" and blah, blah, blah, but my desire to be thin felt lots more important than being "thirsty." (It isn’t true anyway – Monterrey is a very fine big city and there is no reason to be leery of anything).

The most difficult part was telling my husband what I wanted to do. He was very skeptical (why wouldn’t he be? He had been with me through all sorts of “new weight loss schemes” and he had seen them all fail miserably). I argued my case well and convinced him that I owed it to myself to try this new lap band idea. I decided to not tell my friends and family as I didn’t want to hear all their opinions and also, if it didn’t work I hoped to spare myself the humiliation of another failure. As the weight began to melt away I just told people that I was cutting down my portions and exercising more. I did not tell all the truth until I had lost 50 pounds and was sure the lap band was really going to work for me.

I was a bit scared and anxious as I boarded the plane (alone), but I toughed it out and just kept moving forward. My spirit told me that I had found my, much prayed for, miracle. I was picked up at the airport and "hand carried" through each and every step of the procedure. The lap band surgery was very easy and my recovery was rapid. It all went incredibly well and the rest is history

My banding date was Feb. 6, 2001. I began to lose weight, never had a gain, and one year after my operation I had lost 105 pounds.

I am in perfect health now, look so much better and feel as though the lap band has given me a second chance at life.  I, even six years later, have to pinch myself to be sure I’m not just dreaming. My weight remains stable and I expect it to stay that way. I try to avoid high calorie junk foods and try to stay mindful of how far I have come as I never want to revisit that Dreadful Obesity Place again. I try not to ever take my miracle for granted.

For me, lap band surgery was my ticket back to a normal life.  My husband says I now seem like the girl he met 50 years ago, in fact, he says that getting back a happy, smiling, energetic wife made the lap band the best investment we have ever made.