Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.

I've always been the little fat girl with chubby cheeks, big eyes, and a pretty smile. I was never noticed for nice legs or flat tummy, just the little fat girl with chubby cheeks, big eyes, and a pretty smile. All through elementary school I was never the girl who anyone wanted to play with on the playground, because I couldn't keep up. Fast forward to middle school and I slightly began to be popular because I found away to make my weight not be an issue because I was really smart and really funny. I remember that day in 6th grade when I broke the desk I was sitting in, that day my brain nor my comedy could keep the children from laughing at me because the fat girl had crushed the desk under her huge body. I'd never been the kid to binge eat or over indulge. I would eat breakfast, lunch and dinner like anyone else but growing up in a southern family, breakfast, lunch and dinner were grand occasions. There was no cereal and milk it was grits, eggs, bacon, biscuits, syrup, etc. So even though I didn't over indulge I was consuming things that as an adult I would not be able to shake. I made it through middle school and ventured into high school and this is where my life began to spin out of control. I went to a school that I did not like and that no one there liked me. I was the new girl on the block and I was fat and smart. I've always attended optional schools where the work was challenging and fun, but for high school I attended a regular old high school with regular old people who didn't value education like I did. I felt alone and really depressed. I turned to boys and food to numb my frustration with it all. Things got really bad when I could no longer walk up the steps to class because of my weight so I had to use the elevator. So now not only was I fat, I was the weird fat girl who couldn't even walk the stairs to class. This sent me into a real depression. I was on homebound for my 11th and 12th grade year because I just couldn't deal with it anymore. This is when I ate, and ate, and ate, all day everyday. I would stop and do my homework but then it would be time to find something to eat. I graduated at the top of my class and now it was time to go to college. My mother was overweight so she knew what I was going through. She was one of the 1st people in our state to have gastric bypass surgery and she lost almost 300 pounds. We had a talk one day and she asked me what I thought about it. I didn't really know what it was or if it was something that I wanted to try. Life continued to go on and I continued to gain weight and loose weight. In 2006, my mother passed away from complications from her bypass surgery and it left me thinking why would I want to put myself through all this and end up dying before my time. That day I decided that I would not be going through with the same surgery that had helped in taking my mother from me too soon. I continued to gain weight and one day I went to the doctor for a checkup and I told her what was wrong and she said it sounds like your blood sugar might be high. She checked it and it was 590. She was like you're diabetic. I had no words for her or words for how I felt at that very moment. The one thing in my life that I prayed I would never get, I got. Another depression hit and things just started to spiral out of control. 6-7 months passed from my diagnosis and my doctor was talking to me about somethings and he asked me if I had ever considered gastric bypass surgery. I told him my story and he told me to do some research on it now and see if I feel the same way. I did my research and I was surprised to find out that things have changed and complication rates are very low. This eased my mind about it all and I started to imagine what it would be like to be small, and enjoy life. I began to warm up to the idea and now I'm convinced and determined to get this surgery to save my life.

What was (is) the worst thing about being overweight?

Not being able to do anything. I struggle with simple things that most people take for granted. Going to the movies, restaurants, plays, games, everything is a struggle and involved pre-planning.

If you have had weight loss surgery already, what things do you most enjoy doing now that you weren't able to do before?

I hope that I will enjoy the little things like tying my shoes or walking up stairs and not be about to pass out. I won't take anything for granted because I'll think back to this time when I couldn't do anything.