12 years later and "I'm Still Here" - surprisingly.  I used to think I wouldn't make 30 and then the mantra was that I wouldn't reach the age my mother was when she died - 34.  Now at 37 there is no mantra.  Result!
 
The weight loss is depressing from an aesthetics point of view but then I was always a victim of vanity.  My legs are as thin as pipe cleaner due to this lipodystrophy
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipodystrophy
 
This causes my knees to hurt on a regular basis as my legs are not strong enough to bear my weight for a very long period of time.
 
My skin is covered in Spider Angiomata all over my truck and to my horror - the face.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_angioma
 
But I am alive so I do not feel that I should complain.  I will not talk about this topic very often as it is not the main focus of my life anymore, but it's important that it's out in the open.  Brave or Stupid?  I deal with it only when I have to. The tablets have no side-effects any longer that I can tell so I will count my blessings.
 
I am definitely one of the lucky ones.