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Hi Everybody! My name is Paul. I am the youngest of 6 kids, I was born January 24, 1963 (that makes me 44 for those of you trying to do that mental math right now.) Yes, I'm the "baby" and my older siblings remind me of that all the time.
I'm married to the most wonderful woman in the world - really - Lori. She's great. We started dating in 1982, and got married in 1986. We've got 3 great kids, Paul, Aaron and Anna.
Paul is 18 and started college TODAY - makes me feel old. Aaron is 16 and will be in 11th grade, and Anna is 13 and going into 8th grade - Yes, I do have 3 teenagers in the house - feel free to say YIKES!! I'm proud of all of them - they're great kids, and I'm actually enjoying these teen years.
That picture is last summer when they were volunteering with kids at Vacation Bible School. The theme was Treasure Island, but they chose to go with the Johnny Depp version of Pirates instead - go figure!
I'm very involved with my church. It's a non-denominational Christian Church. I worked with the kids there for the past 15 years. I was the Children's Ministry Director for the elementary aged kids for quite a while, but my wife and I are now starting to work more with adults in need.
I have been in the illustration profession for the past 18 years. I manage an team of illustrators that do technical illustrations for the automotive industry. My wife is in a similar industry, she works in the technical publication end of things.
When I have down time, I do like to do some gardening.

Those are a couple pictures of my yard. We live in a suburb of Detroit, and of course that means we live in Michigan, which is the only state that we're all born with a map of attached to our arm (if you don't know, Michigan is shaped like a mitten.) So anytime someone asks a Michiganian where they're from, of course the hand goes up and we start pointing to our palm.
Michigan is a beautiful state, surrounded by the Great Lakes and made up of two very different penninsulas. Here's a picture of the Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) bridge which connects the two penninsulas. It's 5 miles long and goes across the Straights of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet. Every Labor day, there is a walk across the bridge. Once I reach goal, I want to do it.

My wife is actually from the upper penninsula, her home town is 600 miles north of Detroit. It's amazing you can drive for 12 hours and still be in Michigan!!
I like to travel. Best trip so far has been last year's Hawaiian Cruise - truly amazing. Lori and I did that for our 20 year wedding anniversary.
We have one very spoiled dog, a Silky Terror, I mean Terrier named Rocky.

That's a picture of him on my daughter's bed. See what happens when you let your kids pick out the colors for their room! We got Rocky from a rescue when he was 5-years-old. He's 12 now, and definitely part of the family.
I'm close with all of my family. My dad passed away two years ago - he was the most wonderful man you could ever meet. He taught me about life by example. He was a very kind man. I never knew anyone who said a bad word about him.

My mom is 81 and lives a couple miles away from me. We see her several times a week. She has 15 grandchildren and 1 great grand. My wife and I both come from large families - between us we have close to 40 nieces and nephews! A lot of them are getting to the marrying age now, so that is the new season in our lives, going to nieces and nephews weddings - wow time flies!
Well that's me in a nutshell. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Since my first fill, I was feeling some restriction, and doing well with it.  Then suddenly it seems like I can eat anything, and a lot of it!!  I have realized, with the help of reading Kevin Phillip's blog, that I forgot to use this band as a TOOL, I've been thinking of it as that "magic bullet" or "magic pill" that would allow me to do what I want, but keep losing weight.  I've been at the same weight now for close to two weeks, and I know it's because of what's been going IN MY MOUTH.  Today I've made a concious effort to THINK before I eat, and to drink a lot of water.  I can't believe how QUICKLY we can (or at least I can) slide back into old, bad habits!  I want to be down 75 pounds by Christmas - I know that's very attainable IF I DO MY PART.  I will start exercising today, eating better today, and taking responsibility for this journey.  Now mind you, I'm down 38 pounds in about 6 weeks - I'm happy with that, it's just I can feel my habits slipping, and I want to take control of them before it goes too far.  I get fill number two in about a week and a half - I'm hoping for a lot more restriction after that!!
If you're reading this YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE!!

Thanks - Paul 

I had my first fill this week.  It was definitely different than I expected.  I felt things more than I had hoped to!!!  It didn't really hurt - other than the needle going in, but I thought it would be more accurate and only 1 poke.  It took 3 pokes to get it in the right spot.  
The doc is very happy with my progress - I'm down 34 pounds on his office scale - 38 on my home scale, so I'm moving in the right direction.
I can tell a big difference, even though it's my first fill, in the amount of food I can eat at once, and also in how much more it is necessary for me to CHEW!!
Well, that's it for now.

Paul 

I'm back to work today.  I was kind of anxious to get in here and get back to a real schedule.  It feels good to be doing my job again.  I'm not good at relaxing, I'd rather have something to do.  Although, while I was off for the two weeks, I did get my yard in order, so that was a bonus.
I head back to the docs tomorrow to have my port incision looked at.  It still isn't closed all the way, but it's looking good, so I'm sure he'll be pleased.
Well, back to work now, I just wanted to keep my posts up-to-date.

Well, I went to the doc yesterday for my first post-op visit. I was officially down 22 pounds, all looked real good. My port incision is a little suspect - seems to be "seeping" a little. He has me cleaning it with peroxide and putting some neosporin in it. I go back next week for him to check it again. Tonight - OUCH! Oh my goodness - I got something stuck - WOW - how uncomfortable!! I had just poured myself a glass of Crystal Light. I was walking past the stove, and on top was a tray of steak fries - without thinking I grabbed one, popped it in my mouth (they weren't mine - they were the kids from dinner) took a sip of Crystal Light and BAM! it was stuck! It took about 15 minutes of walking, breathing deeply and "spitting up" to get it out. What a lesson - 1) only eat what I should and 2) NEVER DRINK WITH FOOD!!! I think I was getting a little arrogant since things had gone so well. Now I know to SLOW DOWN WITH THE FOOD.

Hi Everyone, I am now 4 days post-op and feeling really good. I haven't had anything more than water, juice, sf popsicles and yogurt so far - but all has gone down well. Today I'll try some creamed soup - I'm counting on that working too! It is amazing though how much better I feel everyday. Each day I wake up thinking "wow, I feel a lot better than yesterday!" I have one more week off work, so I am counting on feeling great by the time I go back. My wife needs a big prize, she's been taking care of me - and our dog who got hit on the head with a bowl that fell from the cubpoard - I'll put a picture of us out there. He ended up at the emergency vet with a big gash on top of his head. He's feeling better, but I must say, I think he's been whinnier than me!! He hates that colllar he has to wear. Well, I think I'll be trying on clothes today to see if they feel looser yet. Talk to you later --- PN

Well, I'm two days Post Op and starting to feel better - wow I HURT yesterday.  I have never had surgery before, so this was a real new experience for me.  I feel a lot better today.  I was shocked when I got on the scale after my week of liquids I was down 16 pounds!  What a nice kick-start to losing my 100.
I am going to have some Boost today - need to get some protien in.
I will upload a couple pictures today from my hospital stay.

Well, tomorrow is IT!  It is a weird feeling - I'm sure all of you who are Post OP have felt this - WOW , it's here.  I'm happy, excited and have peace.  I have to be honest, I never thought it would come this quickly.  I started the process - first doc visit  - in mid-February and three months later here I am!  
I tied up all my loose ends at work today, and boy - there were a lot of loose ends.  I'm off for the next two weeks, returning the day after Memorial Day - hopefully a little lighter.  I think I've lost close to 10 pounds doing this liquid diet this past week - which has not been nearly as hard as I expected.
Well, I doubt I'll get to post tomorrow, but I'll be home Wednesday from the hospital, and I'll try and post then.
For those of you who are believers - Please pray for a good, uneventful surgery, no bad side effects and minimal discomfort.  Thanks - Paul

OK, Surgery day is the day after tomorrow. To say I'm excited is an understatement. My excitement comes on many levels - FIRST I am anxious to get the surgery part over and be on the true new path of weight loss that I've longed for. SECOND I am excited at the thought of eating something, ANYTHING again. This liquid diet has been HARD! I'm looking forward to being past that. Not a whole lot to say today - hope all you moms out there had a great mother's day.

Today is Saturday, May 12, just three more days until the big surgery date! I'm really excited that this is going to really happen. The nutritionist has me drinking 5 Boosts, 1 Instant Breakfast, a V-8 eating a sf popsicle, light and fit yogurt and broth each day. Honestly, I've only been doing 1 instant breakfast, 2 or 3 Boosts the popsicle and yogurt. By 9:00 at night I'm totally whiped out - I'm sure that's because I have taken enough in. Today I'll try and do everything on her list. Well, that's my post for today. The clock is ticking....