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

A mess! An utter, complete, depressed, mother of 2, unhappy mess.....me in a nutshell. I haven't always been overweight. Throughout my teens and early twenties I was very athletic. I competed in gymnastics, joined a swim team, played tennis, worked out with weights/stair master/treadmill, taught aerobics and step aerobics at the local YMCA....and then had a knee injury while downhill skiing. Everything can to a running halt. It was like I hit a brick wall and all of my momentum was gone. I had knee surgery six months later, and within a year of surgery had my first daughter. Needless to say, a sleep-deprived, hungry mommy doesn't workout very much! I ballooned to a high weight of 160 lbs. and sought help from my personal physician. She was fantastic. I was put on Ionomin and lost 40 lbs. I was back to the "me" I knew and loved. I began running again, actually running daily with my husband, riding my bike, and feeling normal. Then.....I had my second daughter. I gained 75 lbs. during my pregnancy and never lost it after she was born. I suffered postpartum depression and began taking anti-depressants to combat the severe downs of my everyday existence. I never lost the extra weight even though I tried Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, diet pills, and ultimately a liquid diet (Optifast). I had the most success with Optifast, but in the middle of my journey, the hospital that Optifast was afflilated with in my area decided to cancel all patients who were not self-pay. My insurance had never once questioned my coverage, and paid 100% of every single visit and every shake I needed for four months straight. It all came crashing down when they hospital asked all of us for $15,000 up front or "good bye." I was crushed. Finally something was working well for me and I was thrown out to the wolves (food) with no support, no help, and no understanding of what to do on my own. I said good bye, as did each and every person who started with me, and after me, in our support group. I regained the 45 lbs. I had lost plus thirty extra pounds. It was at this time that my sister-in-law had RNY and was having tremendous success. I kept the idea of surgery in the back of my mind, until a year ago when health issues began showing their ugly face.

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

There is no "worst" thing about being overweight. The list is limitless - unending - like a circle. Putting on socks, tying shoes (slip ons are so much easier!!), putting on a bra, finding underwear that don't pinch or chaff, finding a bra in my size (nearly impossible!!!), walking up a flight of stairs, coming back down that flight of stairs with knees buckling beneath you, unable to keep up with your family walking down the street, sleep apnea severe enough that a good night's sleep is impossible - waking as tired as I was before going to bed, needing a nap every day after work, unable to find clothes that fit, being unable to ride roller coasters at Cedar Point or Kings Island because I can't fit in the seat or buckle the safety harness around my stomach, unable to order tshirts with the rest of the staff because xxl and xxxl is embarrassing to write down where everyone else will see it, turning down dinner or drink dates with friends because of how I look, refusing to go to parties because of how i look, begin embarrassed to show up at my daughters' events for school because of how I look, unable to shop for clothes for myself while my family is with me because I don't want to embarrass them by shopping in "big girl" stores/sections, afraid i am embarrassing my girls, unable to find a bathing suit that fits for spring break, not playing golf with my family because I can't keep up, unable to to take hikes with my family because I can't keep up, worrying about my health each and every day....and the list goes on and on and on.

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

My surgery is scheduled for June 10, 2013.