I'M not the same person I was on 1/29/14. I was sleeved 1/30/14. I've lost, gained, lost and gained over 70 pounds 4 times. I knew I needed a life change. I was fortunate enough to have the insurance company and my employer give me the financial stability to proceed with the sleeve. During this past five weeks I have been on this site at least twice daily. Although I've really never posted before the advice and inspiring stories you all share are making this journey easy for me. I'm not an outgoing person and am not real comfortable posting to a bunch of strangers about my feelings. Today I realized you all our not strangers. I look forward to hearing the accomplishments and feel sad when you are sad. I just wanted to thank you all for being there. Although we haven't met and I don't post know that you have helped me tremendously and I am thankful. Wish you all the best in our lifelong journey.

You are right, we are not strangers. We all share something in common. To use an analogy from a 12 step program, we are like the surviving passengers of a shipwreck. We come from different backgrounds, some of us from steerage, some of us from the luxury cabins. But we huddle together sharing blankets and help each other out of the Water.

We are survivors and we are not going to let our weight define us anymore.

Spaz, the best of luck to you in this journey. Hope you will post often. This site has been a life saver for me. Only this group of people can understand what life is like now.