DonRodolfo

My name is Carlos . Vertical Sleeve Talk was suggested by my nutritionist on my first visit with her in February. I've been lurking here since and I believe this is my first post.

I am a 50 year old male. I am married going on 23 years. I have a 20 year old daughter that should be graduating college this December. I'm an Information Technology type currently in the role of a Datacenter Specialist.

I've struggled with weight my whole life. I grew up in basically a poor household where cleaning your plate was mandatory at every meal whether you were full or not. My weight started gaining rapidly in college and I basically starved myself to lose 88 lbs. It got me in the weight range acceptable to join the Air Force but little did I know the weight would come back several times over. To say I caught grief over my weight in the military would be an understatement. As soon as I got out my weight started going up again. Many time I would start exercising and eating better and lost 30 - 50 lbs only to put it on again. There's a price to be paid for doing this over and over again and for me it was finding myself at 415lbs at the end of last year. This is fine if you're 8 feet tall, not so much if you're 5'9". I finally gave in to my wife's repeated suggestion that I consider weight loss surgery. So many people we knew had it and were doing well with it.

It's my turn now. I'm going to be able to enjoy life again, to go out and do things with my family without having to constantly worry about a place nearby to sit. Or having to worry about fitting in an airplane seat. Too many more things to list.