Re: Haven't posted in awhile

[Guest guest]

Dawn,

So glad to hear from you and . I have often wondered what happened to

you two. Glad to hear that all is well with and that you too are going to

have the surgery. This is such " a life giving back surgery " I would do it

again in a heartbeat if I had to. Great to hear from you all.

A. B.

Lap 3/22/03

Dr. Steve Weinstein

Mobile Infirmary Medical

386-245-141lb

BMI 65/40

[Guest guest]

welcome back, dawn! great to hear that omar has regained his

quality of life. keep up the good work & wtg on reaching out to

others:-)

lori h.

23 grateful months out in the magic city

> Hi Everyone,

> I've been a member for awile but haven't posted much. My name is

Dawn

> and my husband and I live in Orlando. had LAP-RNY at the

> Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida with Dr. Rosenthal on

April

> 7, 2003 and has lost a total of 240 pounds! He started at 525 and

now

> weighs 285. His is the inspiration and love of my life and I'm so

> very happy for him because he has his life back.

> A little history about us. I met in a chat room in January

1999.

> At that time he had been housebound almost 5 years. He didn't

leave

> his room, people had to come to his home and take care of all his

> personal needs and he had basically lost all his friends because

of

> his downward spiral into becoming anti-social and a non-

contributing

> person in society.

> he wasn't always like that though. In high school he played all

> sports and was on the wrestling team and football team. He played

> college football in Ohio and that was when things began to change.

He

> busted his right leg and his football days were over. He moved

back

> to Miami and graduated from UM but depression began to take over.

He

> then had to take care of an ailing grandmother and then his mother

> became ill. Add to that some BAD personal relationships and you

had

> the recipe for bad things.

> His grandmother passed away and then his mom. By this time he had

to

> quit work because the company that he worked for, who had been

> sending a special van daily to get him to work couldn't afford to

do

> that anymore so quit his job.

> The way he dealt with everything was through food like most of us

> have done.

> When we meet in the chat room I was living in SC. We began

emailing

> each other and then talking on the phone. I went to meet him a few

> months later and we have been together ever since. We got married

on

> March 23, 2002. There were many things in out way and it hasn't

been

> easy at all but we have managed to keep it together and finally

are

> looking forward to a bright future.

> I myself am obese and I am in the process of getting all my stuff

> together to have GPS. Hopefully, it will be sometime this summer.

I

> was reading the post from the woman who went to the amusement park

> and that made me want to write. hadn'r been to Disney since

1985

> and 1 of his motivations to lose weight was to be able to walk

around

> the park and ride the rides. Well, he has been able to do that

twice

> this year so far. It was so great seeing him doing all those

things

> he wanted to do. I'm so proud of him and he deserves all the

> happiness he gets because he is such a caring and wonderful human

> being. he is truly a GOOD person.

> I am hoping to stay more active in this group from now on. For

those

> of you that have had some setbacks in trying to have this surgery,

> please hang in there because it will be worth it. The quality of

life

> that you will receive after the surgery is worth all the

paperwork,

> stress,pain in the butt people you have to talk to, etc. We all

have

> to take it one day at a time but there will be a reward for all of

> your work and patience.

> For those of you who live around the Orlando area, and I have

> get togethers once a month for any pre/post op people and their

loved

> ones. If you're interested in this just let me know. We also are

> willing to visit with you one on one if the monthly get togethers

are

> difficult for you to attend or if you have some concerns about

being

> around a large group of people. We can meet at your home, a

library,

> coffeehose/bookstore, wherever you feel comfortable. We just want

to

> lend support to others and help whenever we can.

>

> Sincerely,

> Dawn Barrera