Has this happened to you ?? I can't get over this ... I have a PPO and self insured as in no company or corporate plan ... I heard some private companies do looking now ... I was told it was a Pennsylvania issue

Laureen, when is your birthday? I turn 60 on 8/8!! 'Twas a very good year! 

Hey Laureen!  How awesome to see you post!  This place certainly has changed over the years.  I can remember when you'd have to go two or three pages deep to find posts that were put up on that day.  Now you can go back a couple of years without much effort.  This place was - and can still be - a great place for support.  I know that for a large number of us, we used to be on here, seemingly, 24/7.  My fear is that, although there are obviously some who stay in touch, that there are even more who have seen this place fall apart and are going - much like I have - without any sport at all.

Don't beat yourself up over the 50 pounds.  I did that for far too long and realized that, just as I hadn't "lost 100 pounds FOREVER", I also hadn't gained 50 pounds "forever".  The bottom line is, we still have access to the tool known as weight loss surgery and, if we can muster up the desire to get back on track, losing those 50 pounds again is something very doable.  That's where I'm at right now.  For two weeks now, my wife and I have sat down and gone over menus before going to the grocery store so we can maximize our percentages of having mostly healthy food in the house.  I also go to the gym about three times a week right now.  Granted, those are baby steps compared to the all out onslaught we come out of surgery with.  But, hey, it sure beats making those 50 pounds become 60 pounds...and 70....you get the idea.

I totally get where you're coming from about accountability and the support group leader position.  Most of the old timers never knew this about me, but I would literally starve myself the couple of days leading up to the support group meetings just so I could weigh as little as possible when I got on the scale and so those new clothes I had just bought looked as good as possible.  I used to almost come to tears when I would look at myself sideways in the mirror and still see a little roll right around the waistline - even though I was in a 32 waist and only weighed around 180 pounds - skinny by most people's standards.  In a nutshell, I was obsessed and, in a way, that obsession allowed me to stay on track for a very long time.  Oh, what I wouldn't give to have even a portion of that obsession-led hunger and desire back!!!

Well, I'll let you go Laureen, I just wanted to hop on here to thank you for your reply and to say how great it was to hear from you.  I'll continue to pray that some of the old timers hop on here and see us posting and chime in as well.  There is absolutely no reason why - with all the weight loss facilities in the state - that Pennsylvania can't once again climb to the top of OH state boards!  I, for one, would LOVE to see it.  Take care and God bless!!!

I'll jump in, even though I no longer live in PA.

My surgery was at Barix in Juky 2009. 105 lbs gone! But 35 came back and I am working diligently in that. It is si slow, I lose patience....then realize I am headed the right direction. The old habits never really die, they just lie in wait for us to get complacent.

i truly loved the Barix support meetings when I was able to attend - often drove from Lancaster on a Saturday - and met wonderful people that I am still in touch with. Some have moved, as I have (Trish is now living near her daughter in Michigan). Some left the support group to do other things, and I know a few who have regained weight...

The issue of regain is more emotional than physical. I mean, we had this drastic surgery....and regaining weight must mean we failed. There is a lot of shame, a lot of guilt, a lot of self doubt. We know so well what dieting failure is. It's scary to face facts that pounds have come back on. I dare say this is the next phase of the REAL work. 

Anyway, I stay in touch with many post ops via Facebook, but rarely talk weight loss. I check out the Grads forum and the RNY board as well. And every so often stop here. Yes, it's grown quiet over the years. 

Does Barix still promote OH as a resource? Are they as busy as they used to be overall? 

I am so glad that you're still fighting the good fight.  I remember during both pre and post surgery, one of the things that we learned was that there was no such thing as a finish line.  It used to bother me to no end when someone would post "100 pounds gone FOREVER".  You play a very dangerous game of setting yourself up for failure when you make a comment like that.  It yells out "I've got this thing licked"!!!  As any veteran weight loss surgery patient can attest, there is no such thing as having it licked.  Yes, an educated one has a leg up on someone who just has the surgery, loses some weight, and then just lets the natural course of events take place.  It's about being proactive.  It's obvious to me that you've continued to use the tools you were given early on in your battle of obesity.

I'm guessing some of the other veterans that were originally a huge part of the "old" Pennsylvania forum are supporting one another through other social media outlets.  And, good for them!  But, it does rob the rest of the community that aren't involved in those other outlets of their experience.  I know when I originally posted last week, I was hoping to find some familiar faces to reach out to me and give me some much needed words of encouragement.  Instead, I see a few people have viewed my post, but no responded - until yours.  Weight loss surgery is a life long commitment and that means having access to places like this.  My prayer is that some of those veterans read my post, contact one another and make an all out effort to get this place back to where it once was - as the very best state board on all of obesity help!!!

As for me, my life has taken a VERY unseen turn for the better.  After a marriage separation during the early part of my weight loss journey, I dated a couple of different women whom I had met through this journey (I know you know who they are, but I'm not going to get into all of that - this isn't the place).  My divorce became official shortly after that and I was forced to move in with my sister because we had to sell the house and I couldn't afford to live on my own.  What was supposed to be a few months, turned into three years.  Unfortunately, during those three years, I became increasingly dependent on alcohol.  When I was finally able to afford to move into my own place, I found myself extremely lonely and depressed.  I turned to alcohol even more heavily.  Eventually, I was persuaded to enter myself into a faith-based addiction recovery center in New Jersey for five months.  It was there that I turned my life over to God.  I became a born again Christian on December 5, 2013 and my life hasn't been the same since.  I now have something I have never had in my life before - direction and a purpose.  It took me 46 years to realize that I couldn't do this thing called life by myself.  All that did was get me into a bunch of trouble, almost homeless and no clue where my life was going.  Now I live my life every single day for Christ and have started taking online classes at Harrisburg Area Community College.  I will be transferring to Lancaster Bible College next January to take nine bible courses and a literary course by C.S. Lewis to obtain a degree that I'm hoping is God's will to become either a Pastor at a local church or as a Chaplain and return to the Christian recovery facility that had transformed my life.  God is so good!!!