Hi! I’m Michelle and I’m 28 years old and I work in recreation and I’m here today to tell you a little bit about what I’m doing here and how I came to be here.

I’ve been overweight my whole life. I’ve never known anything else. And, about a year ago, I started to feel differently about myself and I decided that – in just over a year, I’m turning 30 and I absolutely just didn’t want to be overweight anymore. So, I started looking into what my options were. I have tried every diet in the world and I keep ending up back where I started and I was looking for something that I could use for life – a tool that could help me, that I could bring with me, that I could keep – sort of a resource. I ended up looking into what was available which was – my two options were either gastric bypass or this lapband. So, I decided that for me, the lapband was going to be the right decision. With gastric bypass, it’s very invasive and it would take a long time taking off work and I just couldn’t afford to do that. So, I think that for me, the lapband was where I belonged.

So, on May 28th, I booked my surgery, which is happening on July 26th. I’m nervous and excited. I think I’m a little bit more nervous of the change than I am of the actual surgery. It’s a big change, you know? And, it’s a lot of work and I’m excited for it. So, when I started deciding to come in, I found CIBO.

CIBO is this amazing clinic where half of the staff have had lapbands themselves and they’re just so supportive and they’re looking to help you find the right way to do your journey. So, I just found that it was a great place to be and I instantly felt like a part of the CIBO family.

So when I was asked if I would do something like this, I was more than happy to maybe help somebody else begin their journey. It’s a scary thing to do and it’s a lot of work. And today is July 5th, and I’ve started my pre-op diet today (I’m a little hungry!). But it just happened that way and my journey is coming to – it’s getting to a point where it’s going to be the surgery soon and I have about three weeks left of this pre-op diet – have to get my liver all nice and sleek for the surgery! And other than that, I’m really looking forward to it and I’m looking forward to chatting with you and having you see me go through what, you know all the work that I have to put into it and, hopefully, somebody’s inspired by that and wants to make the change in their own life. So, looking forward to chatting again soon and see you next week!