Melissa, the first patient featured on My 600lb Life, is my personal friend. We met in an alone mom group. Her daughter and my son were born a few days apart. We all joined the group as soon as we got pregnant. We supported each other through pregnancy, life with an infant, and beyond. We have been friends for 6 years now. I didn't know her when she had her surgery. But she was open and honest about it, telling the group what it was like, and how the surgery had made it possible for to have her daughter. How she lost her baby weight. We all watched her national tv appearances. We watched how hard her journey was, that the surgery was not a magic pill.

Then I decided to take the plunge myself. My lap-band was a joke. I lost no weight. It caused GERD so bad that it damaged my vocal chords - for years. I thought nothing would work. I had lost most of my baby weight, but I had given up. Melissa didn't let me. We were busy with our kids and didn't talk as much, but after my dad started telling me that his friends had done well with the conversion to a sleeve (his band worked like a charm), I got some hope. Melissa fought her weight problem and won. Why couldn't I?

So I did it. When my surgeon told me he absolutely wanted me to have the sleeve, that the clinic application was just a formality, that the second my insurance approved it, he'd do the surgery, I said yes. And Melissa became my cheerleader. When my OCD picked up and I obsessively worried that I would fail again (because I thought I was the failure, no matter what my surgeon said), I knew that if Melissa could do it, so could I.

And I did. I am down 35 pounds. My BMI has gone from over 38 to 33. I have lost 40% of my excess weight. Twelve more pounds and I have officially succeeded (made national average). Another 3 pounds and I am under 200 again. Fourteen after that, and I am at goal.

I know people say the show is sensationalized. Maybe it is now. But watching Melissa, it's real. It's inspiring. I'm proud to cal her my friend

Nice post, @galfriday

I have never seen the show and don't want to contribute to "sideshows," which the show's always seemed it was, based on posts about it I've read here.

But your post about your friend makes it clear that there are things about the show that are legitimate.

Congrats to both of you on your WLS successes thus far.

Thank you . If you are going watch the show, I'd go for the earlier episodes. Much less melodrama.