Mike Foster, 51, weighed 15 pounds at birth, 250 pounds in grade school and 667 pounds when he underwent LAP BAND surgery in August 2004 at St. Francis Health Center. Now the director of men’s shelter at the Topeka Rescue Mission weighs 250 pounds and no longer has to walk with a cane, sleep with oxygen or take insulin. He’s shown at right holding his pre-surgery slacks. Now he can put on his socks, walk the dog and serve as an associate pastor at his church while taking a fourth of the medications he once took.

“I rode a roller coaster at Silver Dollar City for the first time in 30 years,” said Foster, whose success inspired his wife and daughter to lose more than 100 pounds each. “My whole life has changed. I can go to movies and Royals’ games because I can fit in the seats. My goal now is to parachute out of a plane.”

Referring to his surgery as “life changing,” Foster said, “People think this is the easy way out, but it’s definitely not. I’ve lost more than 100 pounds through diet and exercise before, but I gained it back. The risks of undergoing the surgery were less than living the way I was.”