As most stories go, I was overweight all of my life.  Diet after diet!  I never could hold on to the trophy long enough.  It seemed that I had lost the same weight over 50 times and it managed to find it's way back onto my body.  I can remember when slim-fast first came out.  I had a paper route and on my way home was a pharmacy.  I would park my bike outside and buy me a can.  The pharmacist knew me well.  I had told him they were for my mother and he would allow me to buy them.  I would drink them at lunchtime in elementary school.  Hiding in the bathroom, I would mix the powder into my milk carton and guzzle it down.  But after school I would srike back with a vengance, hitting up the liquor stores for chips, candy and soda and swearing that tonight I wasn't going to eat dinner.  O.k. after slamming dinner down, I would pinky-promise myself that tomorrow was going to be different.  Little did I know that this pattern would be MY LIFE.  Before long, I was 14 and buying every weight-loss pill I could get my hands on!  By the age of 28, I had a serious addiction not only to food, but to Ephedra.  Losing 93lbs. and 65 more to go, I was desperate.  At a plateau, I decided to take drastic measures.  I doubled up on the pills.  After three days of literally coming in and out of consciousness I snuggled into bed for the night.  I felt myself slipping away into a deep dark whole.  I knew that unless I pulled myself out, I would die.  Waking up in the hospital and finding the doctor doing a spinal tap was not pleasant.  I had the usual tests done and found out that I had a stroke.  I was fortunate enough to be whole afterwards.  I had to go to treatment afterwards, all the while taking the pills.  The obsession to take of the weight was driving me.  It didn't work.  I had failed, this was the last time that I was going to allow the weight and more importantly my battle with food addiction to win.  I investigated WLS and found my answer.  I went to meetings and orientations and set my sights on Dr. Fobi.  My husband refinanced the house and I was on my way.  I had my surgery at age 30 and here I am 4 years later, standing on the mountain and declaring my victory.  As for my addiction with food, I battle it daily.  Some days are good and some days are bad, but I will never give up the fight.  I now have hope to live and leave a legacy to my beautiful daughters.