Somewhere Over the Rainbow

As my lap-band surgery approaches, I've been spending time with other weight loss surgery patients at my local support group meeting and also on YouTube. Each story of triumph-over-trials chronicled by before & after snapshots brings me to tears.

By losing weight, these patients have gained self-esteem and brand new lives. One husband watched his wife blossom from a home body to a cyclist and a hiker. The children are thrilled to have mommies that can play with them, ride amusement park rides, and are easier to hug.

Sure, their smaller clothes and figures are great, but it's their healthy, joy-filled lives that are unmistakable. They have found their 'somewhere over the rainbow' after long, hard battles with obesity.

For several years, whether watching patients on Big Medicine or meeting others online or in real life, I never imagined that I'd get my turn. It's just starting to hit me. My mother-in-law jokes that soon my husband will have a brand new wife (ME.) Perhaps her wisdom surpasses what neither my husband nor I can grasp yet--the magnitude of what is about to happen.

As of last week, I've met all of the requirements for surgery. Next I will see the surgeon again and hopefully schedule my surgery and get my insurance company's approval. I'm on my way to my 'somewhere over the rainbow' and I couldn't be more excited.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net