LIFE IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES...YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO GET!  Well, Forest, if you eat the whole box of chocolates, you will get fat, just like me lol!    I am a 39 year old, Military Wife and Mother.  I have four children, ages 22 down to 4, and a beautiful Granddaughter almost a year old already.    I am five foot one, very small body frame, and I had Gastric Bypass Surgery August 17, 2007.  My highest weight was about 320 lbs. when I was prego with my four year old (who was a big suprise blessing by the way!).    At the beginning of the Surgery Process I weighed about 282.  Now, almost seven months later, I weigh 151 and have gone from a size 26-28 to a size 8.    I cannot tell you how much this surgery has changed my life.  Most importantly, I have gone from taking about 16 pills  a day for high blood pressure, cholesterol, asthma, joint pain, you name it, to FOUR VITAMINS.  That is it...four vitamins.    I can take my girls to the park without having to sit and rest every few minutes.  I can play my flute again.  I can sing silly songs without getting winded, I can fit into a booth, my belly does not hit the steering wheel when I drive, and I CAN BREATHE!    I am me, the Kathleen that was buried inside the Kathleen that depression and sadness created.  Food was my comfort, my drug of choice.  I still do fight with it sometimes...I always want to eat when I am stressed (which trust me is quite a bit!).    I know there will be no easy fix for that.  People often say I took the easy way out by having surgery.    For me, it was the only way out.  I just do not have the willpower it takes to get the weight off by myself.  Of course, if I had, I would not have gotten as big as I did.    To those people,  I can only say since you did not pay for the surgery, what do you care what I do anyway?    People are so good at judging others, so they do not have to look at themselves.  I feel really sorry for people like that.    This surgery is the best thing I ever have done FOR MYSELF.  It is life saving, life altering,  and such a blessing!    Yes, there are risks.  But, there are many more risks to staying fat.  Yes, I have lots of extra skin.  I have WINGS on my arms, about 20. lbs. of belly skin,  but you know what?  I am an old Grandma anyway, and those arms will be flabby, but they hopefully will be holding Grandbabies for many years to come!    If I kept the fat, the Dr. said I would probably die before I was 50.  SO, for me, I made this choice.  And every day, every single minute, I rejoice in this choice!  To anyone reading this profile who has not yet had the surgery,  I will humbly say this.  Your soul is what is you.  Your body is your tool to use while you are in this life.  Why not have the healthiest, strongest tool you can to be the best spouse, mother, person you can be?      There is nothing to fear but fear itself!  My Surgeon, Dr. Kenneth Warnock, is the very very best of the best!  I trust this man with all my heart, and I believe firmly that God uses Dr. Warnock to help us souls that are buried inside of our bodies, yearning to be set free.    I feel free now, and there are no words to express how truly good, how truly empowered this makes me!  Now, I eat to live, not live to eat.  Thank you Dr. W, for giving me my life back!  GOD BLESS!!  If you need some support, please feel free to message me.