On April 15 2024 I finally faced the fact that I’d lost a total of 198 lb, and a wave of gratitude washed over me. It truly turned my life around in every possible way. I went from dragging around 5XL shirts and size‑48 pants to fitting comfortably into large shirts and size‑32 pants, but I won’t pretend it was easy. In hindsight, I wish I’d found a different, gentler path to weight loss and stuck with it.
I follo wed every instruction to the letter, only to end up in the ER in June of last year with a painful ulcer. They tried to manage it with medication, but nothing helped. By December my gallbladder was gone, and less than a week later I was back in the hospital battling pancreatitis. Two weeks later I couldn’t even sip water; the ulcer’s pain was relentless, and I needed another surgery, spending another week in the hospital followed by two more weeks off work.
In the end, things have settled. I’m healthier than ever and in better shape than I was in high school, yet if I could do it all over again, I’d say it wasn’t worth the suffering. I hope you never have to face anything so severe, but if you do get an ulcer, fight hard to have it treated immediately those seven months were the worst of my life.
