In August 2010 I looked at myself and said I want to live! I have not been over weight all my life, only for about 18 years or so. I’m an Air Force Veteran but after I got out I started to gain weight. It was a slow process I guess. At first I was over 200 lbs…then 250…then, due to my volume eating and eating the wrong things, I got to 344—my all-time heaviest. I didn’t really see myself as that large and heavy and life went on for a while. Then things changed, my life was going by and I wanted to be in my life! I would go to a theme park and sit and watch when what I wanted was to ride. This was because I got stuck in a ride a few years before—I was so big I couldn’t get out of it and I was so embarrassed. I was finding myself wanting to keep up with my family and friends, but it was getting very hard to do. I had hypertension and I had found myself hurting in areas that I never thought I would hurt. I could feel myself getting sicker. I had already had foot surgery to repair a toe joint that in part was caused by my weight…what would be next? All I knew was that I was in my mid-forties and I wanted to live to see my grandchildren one day, and to grow old with my husband… but I was wondering if I was going to live see my fifties!

For a few years I had considered Gastric Bypass Surgery for weight loss. I just could not do that to myself. Then I was on the internet last summer looking again at weight loss surgery and came across the Lap Band. I took this information to my primary care doctor and said I would like a referral to Jacksonville Weight Loss Center. My primary care doctor had said many times I need to loose the weight. I would lose a few pounds and then gain it back. It was a yo-yo on the scale and never saw below 300. This was a referral that would change my life.

From my first appointment with Dr. Cywes and nutritionist, KaLoni, I immediately started following the 30 carbs a day. I was weighing in at 332 at the end of September 2010. At my next appointment, in October, to start the process of getting a surgery date I had drop 25 pounds and by the time I got to my surgery day I was crying tears of joy as for the first time in many years I weighed 289! I was below 300 pounds and had not seen that in years! Today, one year out from the first appointment I happy to say I have lost over 130 pounds!

Lap Band surgery, Dr. Cywes, and staff has helped changed my life! I have more energy now then I have had in years! I can keep up with my kids. I challenge myself, I have walked/jogged two 5k’s and will do at least two more before the end of the year! This is the person I want to be! I am continuing with the follow-ups and support group meetings as I use these for accountably. I like to encourage those that are thinking of weight loss surgery to look at the Jacksonville Weight Loss Center for the whole package of help, not just surgery.

If you would like to share your weight loss story contact Kristi Anderson at Kristi@jsapa.com.