I am 56 years old. I have been super morbidly obese since I was 6 years old. I tried everything. I would lose a lot of weight, just to gain it back. I started thinking last year that my only hope to help me stick with a diet was to try the only tool I had never used. Weight loss surgery. I picked up the phone and called the Bariatric Clinic. They sent me a packet to fill out and my first appointment was in February. I was 432 pounds. I went through all the protocol to get approved for surgery. I went to nutritionist, physical therapy, psychologist and doctor appointments for 6 months. Was approved at the end of July. I had surgery September 21st for a gastric sleeve. I am now 350 pounds. Let me tell you, it is the BEST thing I ever did. I can only eat a half a cup of food at each meal. Honestly, I am never hungry. I have to remind myself to eat when it is time. I would do it over again in a heart beat. I came out of surgery ready to jump out of bed and start walking. My doctor saw me walking the halls the day after surgery and he looked at me and said, "You are out of here cause you are doing fantastic." It has been 26 days since surgery and I have lost 20 pounds in that time. I am 82 pounds lighter than when I started this journey. As my doctor says, "You only get out of it what you are willing to put into it." He is right.

I had the sleeve surgery done in August 2014 and I had great results from it. I was required to limit my diet to 5 protein shakes a day for 14 days before surgery. I was hard but I knew it would be worth it. The hardest part was immediately after the surgery. I was in more pain than expected and the pain management at the hospital was horrible. Once I got home though, I was feeling better and following doctor's instructions diligently. I went back to work in a week after surgery. I went from a size 16/18 to a size 6/8. This is an amazing feeling. Recently though, due to many different circumstances, I have gained about 25 pounds back. I saw my bariatric doc yesterday and we have a great plan for getting the weight back off. I also meet with the nutritionist in a few weeks. The sleeve surgery was one of the best decisions of my life, as it gave me my self-confidence back.