Las Vegas, Nevada & Orlando Florida, Get The Mini-Gastric Bypass for Life!!

Mark Draper Male San Jose CA United States: Share

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Question about the hotel in Vegas

Started Nov. 17, 2008

On the Road to a lighter me!

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Mark Draper left a comment for Ross A. Libbey

on Friday

Mark Draper is now friends with LaRell Herbert and David Huber

on Friday

Bobbie commented on Mark Draper's blog post 'It's my 1 yr Birthday December 3rd'

Congrats Mark!! what an amazing journey this has been for you!! I'm so happy for you. you look wonderful!! can't wait for 10 more months for me to see where I'll be!!! thanks for giving me something to look forward to! many blessings!!

December 3

Stephanie L commented on Mark Draper's blog post 'It's my 1 yr Birthday December 3rd'

Looking Great Mark!! It feels so good doesnt it? I am so happy for you and Paula, I remember your journey as well it wasnt long after mine! Congrats and keep up the good work!

December 3

Renee commented on Mark Draper's blog post 'It's my 1 yr Birthday December 3rd'

amazing! you look amazing, your update is amazing! congrats, I cannot wait to see what i look like in 10 more months on my anniversary :)

December 3

Rose Wolfe commented on Mark Draper's blog post 'It's my 1 yr Birthday December 3rd'

I remember when you and Paula started...I always think how happy people will be in a year from now when they get an approval and surgery date..it makes me smile inside...:) ps I don't exercise either..LOL...it still hurts

December 3

Angela commented on Mark Draper's blog post 'It's my 1 yr Birthday December 3rd'

Happy Anniversary Mark! You look great! Glad to hear everything is going well!!!

December 2

Franz "DAN" Froehlich commented on Mark Draper's blog post 'It's my 1 yr Birthday December 3rd'

AWESOME!!!!! I love it!!

December 2

Profile Information

Hometown:

San Jose

First Name:

Mark

About Me:

My name is Mark Draper. I am 47 years old and have been happily married for 27 years. I have 2 grown children and a 15 month old grand daughter. I have a huge support group with family and friends. I sing in a church choir that has 60 members that support each and every person with whatever their needs happen to be. I am also part of a 12 person Bible study and have their full support and prayers for success.My wife and I met in high school 32 years ago the day I wrote this letter. When I was a sophomore and she was a freshman in high school we were both pretty active and didn’t struggle much with our weight. My struggle has been over the past 32 years since we have been together. I have tried many different diet programs with fair results only to gain all the weight and then some back. The most I have ever weighed was 427 lbs and it scared me. I guess the phrase Morbidly Obese is the trigger for me. According to the dr. for my height I should weigh 175-185 lbs. That number is so foreign to me that I know without serious help I will never be able to achieve my goal. My current weight is 375 and I see myself going the same direction unless I get some real help and change my lifestyle. After 4 years of marriage (1985) I had gained 50 lbs and decided to try nutri- systems. I was able to loose 40 lbs and keep it off for a short period of time. The biggest problem was this was before the new more flavor able food came out. After gaining the 40 lbs back I added another 50 lbs. we were married young so we spent a lot of time eating at mom’s house where it was excellent food but may not have been the best choices. My wife’s family has struggled with weight for as long as I have known them. I really grew up with her family rather than my own. My struggle continued. In 1996 at 325 lbs my wife and I decided to diet together and went on Weight Watchers I found it very easy to manipulate the points and eat anything I wanted so in 2000 at 427 lbs I had heard about Dr Alperin medical weight loss center. I signed up and after 16 months had lost 90 lbs. felt great went on a vacation and decided that I could take a break from the program. It was not inexpensive. It took me about 12 months to gain back all but 52 lbs of it which I still have not gained back. In 2003 at 376 lbs I tried to go on the Atkins all protein diet lost 60 lbs but gained it back in 6 months. 2004 the South Beach diet was the one that was going to work. NOT. Early 2006 decided to go back to Dr Alperin because it seemed to work and it was close to home. Was doing great lost 80 lbs was going to the gym the in November I shattered my toe and have gained all of the weight back that I lost. I was not able to walk because I had nerve damage that needed to be repaired surgically. I am right back where I started and it is so frustrating. I think the biggest problem that I face is that I’m 375 lbs and even if I lost the 75 lbs again I’m still 300 lbs. I need drastic measures to get me to the point where I can go to the gym and actually fit in the machines and not get winded walking from my car to the gym door. I have a good outlook on life. I have a 14-month-old grand daughter that I want to be able to chase around and play with in the future. I have been diagnosed with type II diabetes high blood pressure. Although not taking medication for it. I do take Zoloft daily for depression from Job loss and stress. I have been a member of a GYM for many years and have not been able to work out because of my size. I have contacted a personal trainer for after the surgery and look forward to increasing my cardio and endurance. I have been watching the success stories and cannot wait to be on the other side of this and feeling better.

Email:

marksdraper@yahoo.com

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Mark Draper's Blog

It's my 1 yr Birthday December 3rd

Wow , i can not believe that a year ago i was sitting in a hotel room in Vegas. I had just finished going to the pre-op clinic and was irritated that i had to fill out all of the paperwork again. I guess the good thing was that it took my mind off the anxiety of the surgery. At that point i just wanted to be on the other side. To say that the surgery has changed my life is a bit of an understatement. Dr R is a miracle worker and i have never felt so good. I started out posting a lot on this webs… Continue

Posted on December 2, 2009 at 7:00am — 13 Comments

8 Months since surgery 130 lbs gone forever 20" gone from my waist Amazing!!!

It has been a couple of months since i have posted. i hit a 6 week plateau at 115lb loss and thought that maybe i had stopped loosing. I decided to go back to basics by eating soups and limiting my input of food. i was finding that i was eating 8 small meals a day but seemed to always be eating something.There wasn't too much i could not eat which worried me a little . i looked up the 5 day pouch test and decided that i needed to shrink my stomach. Worked like a charm i am now down 130lbs and fe… Continue

Posted on August 17, 2009 at 7:50am — 4 Comments

6 months down 110lbs feeling GREAT!!!

So it has been 6 months since the masked man did his handiwork. There are things that I tried at three months, like milk, that didn't agree too well. Yesterday I tried again and it was fine. A couple of things that I still cannot seem to eat are hot dogs and balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

I have been periodically checking my blood sugar and I'm amazed at how normal it is. Blood pressure is normal too. Paula noticed that I seem to be a little grumpy but I'm blaming stress, not the MGB. Paula and… Continue

Posted on June 8, 2009 at 9:30pm — 5 Comments

5 months 100 lbs 56 waist to a 42 4xl to xl PRICELESS!!!

I can't believe that its been 5 months since that masked man came intot the OR and stabbed me 5 times. I have been doing so much that i haven't really been online very often. What i can tell you is that i have been eating all kinds of food and have only had problems with Balsamic dressing. Have really changed my eating habits and feel like im eating all day long. My weight loss stalled a couple of weeks ago and i didnt loose any weight for 2 weeks. getting frustrated i stopped weighing myself an… Continue

Posted on May 14, 2009 at 11:05pm — 2 Comments

80 Lbs in 90 Days!

Well here I am 90 days out and feeling great. I have lost 80 lbs and gone from a 4XL to 2x. I wasnt going to buy new clothes but it was a must to buy some new pants. went from a 56" waist to a 46" and could only fold the fabric over so many times. I have been enjoying some of the foods i thought i would never have again. Steak in very small quantities has been excellent. I am still having problems with milk and am not ready to try the soy or lactaid. I saw my old boss the other day and she was a… Continue

Posted on March 5, 2009 at 3:30pm — 10 Comments

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At 6:38pm on October 29, 2009, CHRIS W said…: It'd be great to see you, Mark! And Paula, too! WOW. She looks incredible. I've been gone mostly all summer, so I apologize for not keeping up. No internet there. Duh. I'm going to get cable installed or somesuch next year! It's closed now (for the winter), so I'm catching up on my "real" life!!

You two look wonderful!!

Chris

At 7:19am on March 19, 2009, francis j rosengren said…: Thank you I appreciate all the help I can get!
Duke

At 9:30pm on March 17, 2009, francis j rosengren said…: Mark congradulations on your success. I was refered to you by Paula who was kind enough to send me a contact letter with a lot of valuable information. I would like to use you as a contact.
Thank you
Duke
fjr555@comcast.net

At 1:45am on January 21, 2009, Paula D said…: You're looking great, babe. We have GOT to get a new picture of you and Leah on the motorcycle - now that she is nine months older and you are 50 lbs lighter.

At 8:09am on January 18, 2009, Thomas Burke said…: 48 lbs down, Mark?! Just amazing. Glad to hear it. I unfortunately came down with an intestinal virus or the intestinal flu. We're really not quite sure. I spent 8 days in bed, only to get up to go to the hospital to get IV fluids. It was quite a bad spell. Fortunately I am out of the woods. I went back to work this week and started my supplements and actigall too. All of that got delayed until my illness subsided. I had the runs up until a couple of days ago. Now I'm better. Today I am 1 month new. I am onto Stage III. Everything seems to be going down well. I did have some tuna, and I think the mayo made me a bit queezy, but other than that, I had a chicken enchilada last night and all is well in the digestive track so, I am optimistic. Thanks for the update!

At 9:36am on January 5, 2009, Stephanie L said…: Hey Mark thanks for the encouragement. :) Good luck with stage III foods, trust me when I say that buy some beano pills. They take the gas out of food and will make stage III food a bit more pleasurable. My pre-op nurse told me she uses them and I do too. They work like a miracle. :) Feeling a bit better today but I hope the nausea will go away completely soon. :) Tell Paula hi for me and give her a big hug for me too plz.

At 7:22am on December 30, 2008, Stephanie L said…: Hey Mark, thanks for the compliment. I am doinng great with stage 3 foods. So far no problems. I take Beano before every meal and I find I have to take 2 beano before I eat beef or I get bad gas. Other then that I havent found any problems. Just small amounts of food. I am still Lactose intolerant but doesnt really bother me. Protein shakes I am having a hard time keeping down. I feel great tho, and now in stage 3 it is a bit easier for me since I do most of the cooking in my house so now I can eat what I cook for my other half. Just take it slow and add one thing at a time. I find things I hated before now I actually like...carrots being a good example. I love carrots now as a veggie. Hope this helps Mark.

At 3:02am on December 21, 2008, Paula D said…: Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Maaaaark. Happy birthday to you!
Love ya

At 7:42pm on December 15, 2008, Thomas Burke said…: Hey Mark,
Glad to here your December 3rd re-birth went well. Yes, the mustache must go, but it takes me 3 weeks to get it back. I think I am going to have some time on my hands, so that should be no problem. Since you just had your procedure, I bet I will be in close contact with you going forward, in case you run into anything I should be aware of. I'm signing off now, and will get back on here in a few days I hope.

Best!

At 6:53am on December 15, 2008, Stephen Picott said…: Mark,
beileve it or not i am 294 lbs. down from 316 physcing myself up i guess.I had a test done recenlty and of my 294 lbs i have 185 ibs of muscle and 109 ilbs of fat so basically i am a line backer in strength ... that is the good news but need to loose the fat.
i am going to work hard to keep my muscle
I am type 2 medication controlled diabetic. i am ver physcially active and now have moderate artritis in both knees occuring in the past 3 months. i need to be active so i need a big change to keep the quality of life