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

I weighed 121 when I graduated high school and married at 18. After having 3 children in less than 3 years, I weighed 122. Less than a year later, my middle child, John-John died and within 2 weeks I gained 20 pounds. My husband and I divorced and I stayed at that weight for several years, very uncomfortable and feeling fat at 142 pounds (lol). After I remarried I decided to try dieting so quite a few years passed with no permanent success. In fact, as so many others have done, I would lose weight on a diet and regain more weight than I had lost. After just 8 years of this I had reached 210 and a picture of me forced me on yet another diet - losing 60 pounds and regaining 75. Finally at 243 and 49 years old I went to my doctor who told me I had become diabetic and had metabolic syndrome which meant I was at high risk for a heart attack. I WAS ONLY 10 YEARS YOUNGER THAN MY DAD WAS WHEN HE DIED OF A HEART ATTACK. And I was almost as big as my Mom had been my whole life (250 pounds). Bariatric surgery seemed my last chance for lasting success.

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

Getting almost as big as my mother, having to ask for the large seat belt on airplanes, needing to use handicap stalls in the restrooms, not feeling like moving or walking, medical issues were beginning, had always had back pain but it was increased by the weight. Trying to keep up with my 3 wonderfully active grandchildren. My husband hurting and having difficulty doing the physical stuff that I want to do to keep him from doing it all himself.

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

WALKING 3 miles a day, working full-time as a photographer in my own studio and I even RAN! I went to Washington on a trip and looked at my niece in her size 10 jeans (I was wearing 16s most of the time then) and I asked to borrow her jeans. I slowly pulled them up, expecting to find them to tight at any second, but they came all the way up and I could ZIP THEM UP. I was so excited I wouldn't take them off, so I bought them from her and wore them a lot of the time. 18 months after my surgery, I had a serious car accident which left me extremely light sensitive. It took 2 years of trying different medications before I was able to escape that darkness (to the point that we had plywood windows and I used a 7 watt lightbulb when I felt up to reading.) Needless to say, I felt like a medicine would not be found, was suicidal and gained almost all of my weight back. I got up to 223. It's been 5 years now since the accident. I take medication daily for the light sensitivity (neurotin) and with that my light sensitivity stays away. In fact, I've been able to go on vacations and live a normal life (Thank you, Jesus). About a year ago, I started not being hungry much of the time and have lost 24 pounds and still seem to be losing very slowly, which is okay with me .... NO MORE DIETING. I go to the gym occasionally and often take my dogs out on short walks (3 or 4 times a day). So I'm starting to move again and I'm getting stronger also. I am still able to do so much more than when I weighed 243, but still have to shop plus size :{. I'm hoping that this very natural seeming weight loss will continue until I'm under 160. I am concerned about the amount of nutrition and medication and vitamins that I am losing (or am I?) because of the actual surgery. I think now I would chose the Band instead of the Roux en Y. I am concerned that I will stop losing weight or even gain weight if I'm not careful or if I have another injury that causes me to not be able to move as well as I do now. Would I do the surgery again? IN A HEARTBEAT! That freedom that I enjoyed for those 18 months was worth it totally, even though I've had issues since. And I'm still quite a bit smaller than I was when I had the surgery.