I used to be, and still am, a very large man. Large as in fat.... REALLY fat! Be a guest on "Oprah" fat... Doesn't fly anywhere fat... makes all-you-can-eat buffets put out the "Closed" sign fat.

I used to weigh 570 pounds.

Yup.... 570.

That, my friends, is fat. F-A-T.

So I decided, after hearing yet another Doctor tell me I was going to die if I didn't lose weight (He was number 3,893 to say that) to go and get a weight-loss operation. That was back in November of 2002, two months after I got married to Angela. The reason that I listened to that doctor, and not the 3,892 that preceeded him, was that I developed diabetes in 2002. Diabetes is bad news, It can kill you if untreated, and the best treatment is to, guess what, lose weight.

So I started to research the different operations that are available. (Actually, I just listened to my friend Christy, who was about to have a surgery for the same thing) I chose a Lap-Band.

But then a bad thing happened.... I got sick. Real sick. As in "Last Rites" sick, so I couldn't have the operation... as my surgeon delicately put it "It would kill you".

With very few days of interruption, I was sick and going to the doctor's office every freakin' day from November, 2002 to August, 2003. Then I got sicker. The ER Doctor looked at Angela and said "We're going to take him upstairs in just a few minutes". Angela had to ask "What for". The Doc was as gentle as he could be when he told her I was being admitted immediately. After a couple of days, I asked for a Priest, and finally turned it over to God. Basically, I gave up trying to fight death, if that was what that was. Father Martin came to the hospital and annointed me, and I relaxed for the first time since I had gotten sick.

The next morning, the Doc came in and said he was going to try something new to fight the infection that I had. He called it Avelox. It was a green-yellow Fluid that looked like Chartreuse Liquor, and it was administered by IV line. in about 18 hours, the Doc was back saying "OK, Your infection is completely gone, and you can go home tomorrow morning". (They kept me another 2 days, just to be sure).

I attribute the healing to God, because the docs had tried EVERYTHING in the previous 9 months.

I came home from one hospital on a Tuesday. The next Monday I went to another hospital and had my Lap-Band surgery. I have only had two very minor colds since that surgery, thank God!

So yesterday I was watching a videotape of me being Baptized into the Catholic Church... (No, videotape wasn't around when I was a baby, I did that in 2002)...

I was bigger than a house on that tape.

When you lose a lot of weight, the brain takes a long time to "Accept" your new body image. I started out at 570 pounds.... and that was a while back.... before my surgery, I had lost a lot of weight because of my illness, so my all-time high weight was NOT my weight at surgery... which, in turn, was LOWER than my post-surgery weight. (I wasn't sick, and could eat again, so the weight came screaming back on)...

ANYWHOO....

After I saw that videotape, I walked into the bathroom and stepped onto my specially modified Doctor's balance-beam scale, you know, the one where I drilled the pointer and hung lead fishing weights to make the capacity of that scale 570 pounds?

I weighed myself..... 385

I used to weigh 570 pounds, now I weigh 385.

When I lose another 185 pounds, I will weigh 200 pounds.

I am half way home..... and wanted to share....

Wendell

NOTE: Since I originally wrote this, I have revised my goal weight to 225 pounds, and I now weigh 381.

Rock On, Wendell!!

You are an inspiration!

Wendell Just reading your post has reminded me of how great this band thing is!!! It is giving us our lives back!! Congratulations on such a wonderful weight loss!!! wishing you many happy and healthy years to come!!!

You've lost a person, congratulations, I know you're so proud of yourself, you go Wendell!

your hard work has paid off! what a job! you will be at your goal before you know it. thanks for posting and giving us your story. you have been thru so much but you have come out shining!

peggy

What a wonderful story. You are amazing and an inspiration to others. I have no doubt that you will reach your goal. Welcome to the board!:clap2:

Wendell, Congrats on the weight loss and for taking the steps needed to try and get healthy again. Great to hear your story, very motivating.

You have done a super job. I know you will make it to your goal.

Wendell,

I love reading stories like these!! You inspire us all to keep going. Thanks for posting & good luck. You will make your goal!!

Wendell, what an inspiration you are! What an accomplishment to be 1/2 way down. Life is precious and you're living it now! Shawn

Wendell, that is just so awesome!!! Truly an inspiration!!! We would love to see some before and during pictures!

CONGRATS!!!!

Keep up the great work.

Heyas Wendell, I've never weighed 570 pounds but I've sure felt like I have. You must be feeling great, not only because of the weight change but because you took control of yourself and your life and made the decision to live. Welcome back to life, my friend. I think that's why we are all here. Even though you have a ways to go, Im sure each day has enough rewards to keep you motivated as you continue the journey to good health. I pray that you and your bride share many years of health and happiness. Keep us posted on your progress. We are all beside you along the journey.