Ok. So my story has been told before. So here is the short version...

Banded 22 Feb 2005, after one last year long try to "do it on my own". I was 24 at the time, and suffering from PCOS, type II, high blood pressure, and my knee and back were killing me all the time. My health sucked.

I also looked pretty bad. I was pretty enough, and my husband loved me just as I was, but I really wasn't happy with the way I looked at that weight.

So, I was banded, and at about six months post op, I became a veggie. No real reason, it was just something I wanted to do. I also started running. Slowly at first. But by the time I was a year or so post op, I was running 4 or 5 km a day. I never kept a tight fill, because I wanted to be able to eat lost of fruit and veggies, and a tight fill would have stopped that.

By June 2006, I was at goal. My PCOS was much better (I had been having regular cycles since about 6 months post op) my blood pressure was perfect, my sugars / insulin were perfect, and my back and knee were *so* much better, it was amazing.

I ended up having a tummy tuck in August 2006.

By December 2006, I had been totally unfilled. I have been ever since.

I have stayed at 107lbs / 49kg for the last 2 and a bit years now.

August 2008, I had to have the tube shortened, because it was sitting on my diaphragm, causing nasty shoulder tip pain. It was an easy surgery, and I go back to my normal life within 24 hours, and started running again in 2 weeks.

Overall, I am very happy with my weight loss, but I am far happier with the changes I made to my lifestyle.

I am still veggie, and I still run daily. I am as proud of this as I am of the weight loss. Maybe more so.

So. yeah. There it is.

What an awesome story!! What I find amazing with this surgery is how it really is life changing if you let it be. Keep going girl!

chickie - keep repeating your story, because it's an awesome one.

i stole a recp of your's early on - lentil pizza, and it's a staple of my husbands wkly.....cheers!!