I had gastric bypass back in 2003. I was at 265 and 5'5". I got down to 135 pounds and stayed that way for over two years. Some devasting things happened in my family and I found myself falling back into the eating to feel better and console myself. I was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia in 2000 and told I had only 6 months to live so I thought I had nothing to lose. I had a lot of pain from the hanging skin (I believe it was called a pannyectilum) it is hanging skin like an apron. Everything else toned up but I didn't exercise nor did I attend any of the support groups. Now I fluctuate between 195 to 200. I am unemployed as of June of last year, we are losing our first house that we purchased when we were 18 and 19 and have moved twice in 6 months to two different duplexes to save money. I have a wonderful family. MY boys are 21, 18 and 15. I have been married for almost 21 years, just turned 40 and live in fear of getting FAT and my cancer coming back. It seems like the bills for medical issues for my neck and back surgeries as well as all of the medications which I am getting addicted to to help control my pain in my heart just hurts. to see you succeed makes me joyful. i only wish i had the drive you have. i have been given ultimatums but like you said unless you want to do it it will not happen. I loved your story. best of luck to you.

Al mentioned he is on a gluten and meat free diet that someone (I'm assuming a nutritionist) in Chicago helped him develop. I missed the name of the person Al spoke about. Would you please provide the name of the person? I live in Chicago and am interested in setting up an appointment with her.

Thank you.

Al Roker,

I saw this segment on line, and still, sir, you are my hero!

I have followed your career (and that of Mrs. Roker, Debra) for years now. I enjoy your work, and very glad your will be around and healthily for years to come.

You are at 204!! Man, I am still hovering at 220, and trying, trying to get to 207. Black man, 51 (soon 52), diabetic; I have to do it. Thank you for the example you are setting for me, and if you please, the challenge to me from your public discussion of your success.

Many thanks again. I hope by the end of summer to send to you a success story of my own.

Warm regards,

James McIver

THANK YOU AL! I loved what you said...it's all about the mind and how you deal with the emotional part of food. I can't thank you enough for all the points you brought up. Most people who accomplish what you did, just talk about the food and exercise. You are the first person I have ever heard talk about then pure emotional part of that...you should be so proud of yourself. I am sure you helped a lot of people today! CONGRATULATIONS on being honest about the struggle and telling it like it is. I have always liked you, but now I really admire you!

I am 2 years out from my bariatric surgery. I was inspired by Al, to at the very least look into it. I am so glad I did, because at 5'6" and 372 my life was one only of pain, physical and mental. Now 215 lbs lighter, I can say that if it were tomorrow I would do it again without hesitation. If you are struggling with the decision to have this type of surgery I encourage you to at least look into it.

And for the nay-sayers (including a few insinuations on the Today Show, by Today Show people) that this is the easy way or cop out way to lose weight.... YOU are so wrong. This isn't easy. There are struggles with it as with ANY type of weight loss, and to make or infer to that type of "hype" does many a disservice.

Thank YOU Al for being an inspiration. And continued blessings in your life. I know and understand from "standing in your shoes" what you have been through and what you will go through in life.

best regards

s

I use to weigh 325 pounds and have lost 120 pounds on a 6'2 frame. No surgery just eating right and excercise. I don't think anyone who has gone "under the knife" should be posting anything about healthy living.

Congratulations to Mr. Roker! What an inspiring story! Now, hereʻs another that might inspire others whose families are struggling with child obesity. I hope that Ms. Obama will address this as well in her campaign.

The Today Show might want to consider covering a story on Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS), a complex genetic disorder that is one of the leading causes of obesity in children. My five month old grandson was recently diagnosed at three weeks old with this syndrome. Our family is now trying to get our arms wrapped around its complexities. What we do know is that while there are downsides to it, thousands of children are doing incredibly well - in fact - thriving in normalcy - with the aid of early intervention. Sadly, many families with obese children are not even aware of PWS and spend their lives barricading cupboards and padlocking refrigerators since their children never feel satiated due to some sort of "malfunction" (as I understand it) with the hypothalamus gland, which among other things regulates appetite and metabolism. Do hope we can learn more about it through a public awareness story on "The Today Show."

Dear Al, While watching food/cooking/chef portion of the show, I wonder if you eat that luscious appetizing food or do you taste it and spit it out of your mouth. It has to be difficult for you, as well as your co-host. Dying to know! Love you!

Hello, Al!!!

All I can say is AMEN!!!! I watch The Today Show religiously, and I watch you all daily, to be informed and inspired. This morning as I waited for your segment to come on, both of those goals were accomplished. As someone who, because of my 5'9" height, has taken my weight for granted, I have finally come to realize that I now have to, I must begin to take better care of myself. My weight is now between 250 and 275, far too much for my frame, and as I am listening to my body, e.g. the creaking, the pain, the heart beat after just a few steps up the stairs, etc., I know that I have to take care of my temple or else risk losing my life. And over the past month, I have been receiving small, yet extremely audible wake up calls to affirm this to me. So, yesterday (Sunday, June 6) after a week of fasting via water and crackers and praying, I am incrementally giving up those things that have been damaging my body. I am giving myself a year to take the weight/or extra inches off, and I WILL BE SHARING MY SUCCESS STORY WITH YOU ALL THIS TIME NEXT YEAR. Thanks, Al!!! You are an inspiration to all of us ~ fat or not!!!!

Al Roker--- I am so proud of you! I am very interested in hearing more on how you maintain your diet - lifestyle. I just had gastric bypass in 2/26/2010 Dr Fobes at Highland Hospital in Rochester. NY --- they are awesome support! Gastric bypass is the tool - you give me hope to continue moving forward and getting healthy- for me 50 lbs down, yeah!

Love you in New York Al!!!

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/comfort-cravings/201006/al-roker-shares-what-gastric-bypass-can-and-can-t-offer

I have been thinking about gastric bypass surgery. When I ran across this article, I decided to give it some more serious thought. I do have a lot of emotional eating issues that I need to tackle before taking this step. Thanks Al for sharing your story.

Dear Al - I was so excited to see the part of the Today show earlier this week that was all about you and the gastric by pass surgery that you had. I am 64 years old. I had a gastric by pass operation back in 1975 - when they were very experimental. Lets face it - we were the guinea pigs as far as this operation was concerned. When I had my operation, I weighted in at 300#. My normal weight - all thru high school and my young adult years was 180#. I now weight in at 140#. When I had my surgery in 1975, my doctor told me that the only thing he could promise me was that I would be alive in 5 years - after that, he did not know what was going to happen to me. He had started to do the by pass surgeries in 1970. I will never forget the first real food that I had to eat after my operation. I had been in intensive care for 24 hours. When I got back down to my room, they finally brought me in a tray of food. When the nurse took the cover off of the food, I was in shock! I had a large piece of Roast Beef, mashed potatoes with lots of gravy, and green beans. When I asked the nurse what was I suppose to eat, she told me to eat whatever I wanted to eat. She then told me that if I got sick, I probably should not eat that again. Can you believe that? Needless to say, I did get very sick. I still have to be very careful when I eat. I can't eat and drink liquids at the same time. If I eat, I have to wait about 30 minutes before I can have anything to drink. My sister had the same surgery about 5 years ago. They did her surgery so much different than the way they did mine. It has gotten to the point now, that I have lots of problems whenever I try to eat. The food will get sort of stuck in my throat. The only way that I can get it too go on down, is to lay down flat on the floor and let my stomach stretch out. When I do this, it sounds like a drain unplugging, but the food will finally go on thru and then I am ok. I do not like to go out to eat because of this problem. I do not enjoy family dinners - which includes things like holiday meals and get togethers. So, this is not good. But the way that I look at it is that if I would not have had this operation, I would probably be dead by now. I was gaining about 10 to 20 pounds each year. So, I am very glad that I did this. I still have lots of problems when it comes to drinking liquids. My best thing to drink is Coke Cola. I know that this is not good, but it stays down and it is about the only thing that I can drink. Back in 1975, when I had the surgery, no body had even heard about this kind of operation. When I would tell people that I was having a gastric by pass operation to lose weight, they would look at me like "What are you talking about?" or "Are you crazy? Why would you do such a thing as that?" Most people had never even heard of the operation. My incision was very long. It went from way up by my heart and then all the way down to my belly button. I believe that it must have been about 10 inches. Now they do this surgery and only have something like 3 or 4 small holes in the stomach. My how things do change. When you were on the Today Show before you had your surgery, talking about the operation, you made the statement that they had been doing this operation for about 25 years. At that time, it had been 30 years since I had had the operation. I wanted to get in touch with you at that time and let you know that you were wrong about the number of years that they had been doing this operation. But I could not get ahold of you at that time. So, when I heard you talking about your operation the other day, I decided that I wanted to email you and fill you in on my surgery. Thank you for sharing with us. I have been watching the Today Show now for about 40 years. It is the only early morning talk show that I watch. I love all of you guys. Great show - Love all of you. Keep up the good work. I hope that I did not bore you to death while I was talking about my operation. Nice to be able to compare. Thanks.