I Met the Godfather

In Phoenix, I met the man who invented the Lap-Band. 

We shall call him The Godfather.

A humble man indeed.

So humble that he prefers that his real name not be mentioned here.

He says that he was just wanting to keep his job at the time (1990s-ish) and he thought a gastric Lap-Band was a good idea.

So, he designed it.

And he helped to get it patented.

Back to the epic moment...

After the Godfather gave a bad-ass presentation full of graphs and spreadsheets showing the many successes of the Lap-Band among many, many studies, I walked over the Godfather and said, "Can I have a photo with you?"

He smiled and said "Sure, of course."

We were in a rather dark conference room so he walked me over to the bright light that was streaming through the windows.  I suppose he thought that we could capture a great photo in the better light.  He was right:

After we took this pic, I showed him a before picture of me at about 255 lbs that was on my iPhone.

He smiled and congratulated me on my weight loss.

I thanked him for inventing and creating such an important device that has affected my life in so many ways.  

The Lap-Band has affected my health. For the better. 

Then I cried a little.  Maybe a lot.

And let's get one thing straight: I don't cry...I'm not a crier.

Then he got a little weepy and he kissed me on the forehead.

We hugged.

And then we said good-bye.

Did I meet the man who saved my life?

Nope.

I met the man who invented a tool that helped me save my own life.

His invention brought me into the light.