(Be sure to read Part 1 of Larry’s Story first…)

My wife Beth and I discussed having weight loss surgery in early 2008.  We had heard good things, and bad things about it.  As far as I know, we only knew one person who had actually had weight loss surgery.  That person was not very compliant, and didn’t receive much education about her procedure and follow-up.  She didn’t have a very good result, in fact she ended up having her band completely drained and is living with no restriction at all… and consequently little to no weight loss.

We didn’t want to be like that.  We didn’t want to fail.  From our research online we found that people who have gastric bypass surgery lose weight!  Compliant or not, they lose weight.  Not saying that a person couldn’t drink milkshakes and eat cake and ice cream, and defeat the surgery, they can.  But, a large percentage of people who have gastric bypass surgery lose a significant portion of their excess weight.  We knew that we aren’t the most compliant folks you’ll meet, so our only choice was gastric bypass surgery.