Well, it has been a very busy year post band...not only am I adjusting to my husbands death and being a widow, but also having two college age kids leaving, one for grad school, meaning this is it..I am now entering the second half of my life...and it's going to be all about me baby!! But, getting here has been an up and down journey. Two years ago after my husband passed away from a long and painful illness, my daughter went to a local MD to see about getting a band using some of the funds he left her. It was his dying wish that she loose some weight. She did this on her own down were she was attending college. I got some of the bills and halted the process and started looking online...after a missed "seminar" in which the MD failed to show up for the 10 of us waiting...I was pretty discouraged, and so was she...then I found Dr. Ortiz's site and had many wonderful conversations..So we decided to have my daughter's procedure done at the OCC. Best ever experience from that moment on. I manage a large healthcare facility and was very impressed..so much so that 4 months later I took the "plunge" and now a year later major changes have occurred.

The first year seemed to fly by and many changes had to take place. Of course during this time I started a new second job as an adult healthcare professor, and added in another stress/major change factor into my life...in hindsight it didn't matter..my journey had begun and I wasn't able to stuff down feelings with food...So what have I learned? Well, for starters, what I can and cannot eat, how that changed with each fill, the time of the month and stress..how to slow down my chewing, how to give up many kinds of meat, so now I take protein, how to add in liquid/chewable vitamins and lot's of water, no soda (diet or otherwise). How to find new ways to cope with stress...my favorite being massage at Massage Envy a very reasonable place--about the same cost as overeating my feelings would have been..How NOT to weigh myself everyday and freak out, but to instead wait until my pant size or measurements go down..and buy a new "fit" instead, much better then beating myself up mentally when a number on a scale doesn't move. How to enjoy life more now that I am not constantly obsessing about my weight. How to take complements without feeling myself "shrink" inside. And how to count my blessings. Honestly, if I never loose another pound my quality of life has changed for the better dramatically. But of course there are areas to continue working on..like exercise, which is probably at this stage my last hold out..but no worries--I have a plan as soon as my last kid hits the tarmack...walking, aqua aerobics, sea kayaking..here I come..all things I enjoy. I am already doing yoga and thank god for that..I can move and touch my toes were my students 20 years younger cannot--I make them do this when we start getting tired or stiff...So unward...and upward..Best move ever!