WELCOME TO A NEW YEAR!!!
We are a group of individuals who weigh or have weighed 300+, or near there. This group was formed to provide a place for others like us to find support, inspiration, and hope. We are aware of the distinct problems that come with weighing over 300 lbs.
We want to invite everyone (roosters as well as chicks!) to join us in our journey. We share laughter and tears, heartaches and fears ... joys and celebrations. We also share what works for us and what doesn't.
We know the thread can move very quickly, and that people often make "personal" remarks and keep a number of conversations going. Please feel free to contribute even if you can't make personal comments all the time.
Finally, we also have several extra threads going on simultaneously such as Monthly Challenges, Weekly Weigh-ins, Recipes, Bios, Photos, Exercise, Info for Getting Started and more. Many of these threads are stickied at the top of the page. Please feel free to check them all out.
We have found this thread to be more than just a support group... we have found it to become a home. We invite you to join us!
Anyway, I tried to lose the weight for a year, doing everything they told me to do, seeing dietitians, counselors, etc. Finally I decided to quit wasting money on seeing them ($25-$30 every visit, sometimes multiple visits a week) because it wasnt helping anyway. I had given up on having the surgery. However about a year later, at the urging of my then-counselor, I found another place my insurance covered about 200 miles away in Omaha, NE. This may seem like a long drive, but really it was no longer than I drive to see my family that still lives in NE, so I was ok with it. So for all of 2010 I worked on meeting my insurance company's requiremets (LOTS of heartache there) and, 3 years after my initial inquiry, finally had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery 12/14/10.
I see a lot of hope for my future, for probably the first time ever. WLS is definitely NOT all hearts and flowers all the time, and it is NOT the easy way out, but I felt it was my last chance. I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, fatty liver disease, poly-cystic ovarian syndrome, and the lymphedema in my hands, legs, and feet was completely out of control. Thankfully I never developed diabetes, but I'm sure I would've had I kept going the way I was. 
