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

I was a chubby kid who became a heavy teenager and then discovered the "Freshman Spread" at college when I gained even MORE weight. My weight struggles continued through adulthood as I tried every diet and exercise program I heard of. Nothing worked. My body just wanted to be "thick". It had a devastating effect on my self-esteem through my dating years.

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

Not able to buy stylish clothing and experiencing rejection from men through the dating process.

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

October 2013 -- This month marks the 10-year anniversary of my Biliopancreatic Diversion with the Duodenal Switch surgery. I believe that surgery has made me healthier and stronger. At my highest weight in 2002 I was 310 pounds. I lost 30 pounds during my pregnancy, but it slowly started coming back on after the baby was born in September 2002 so I knew I needed to do something to stop it. Diet and exercise, weight-loss support groups, nothing helped. Finally I heard about Dr. John Maguire and the miracles he was performing through weight-loss surgery. At first, it sounded like something from a horror movie. To completely rework the way the human body processes food sounded like tampering with the work of God! But I saw the positive results through several of my co-workers who had the DS and knew that this was the surgery for me. We were fortunate that at that time, General Electric where we worked had EXCELLENT medical benefits that paid for the DS surgery. In the first months after surgery, I dropped weight so fast, it was surreal! 15 to 20 pounds per month! I got all the way down to 140 that first year at which point friends, family and co-workers all thought I had some sort of terminal disease. I was too thin, my face was gaunt and my skin quite pale. Fortunately, I experienced "the bump" that everyone talks about and I leveled off at 155 which was a good weight for me and my body. I maintained that weight for 3 years. In 2007, I experienced some stress in my personal life, and although I made no change to my eating or exercise habits, slowly my body started putting on weight. It was odd, my menstrual cycles were getting heavier and heavier and I was gaining weight. Several trips to the doctor didn't reveal anything conclusive. In the spring of 2010 I had an abalation to resolve the menstrual issue and low iron levels that accompanied it. And my family made a move from Ohio to Virginia in June 2010, at which time I changed careers. Remarkably, my health immediately improved. Since June 2010 I have seen a HUGE decrease in migraine headaches (from 3 or 4 per month to 3 or 4 per year), I easily dropped 20 pounds with minor changes to my diet and exercise and my iron levels are so good I don't even take a separate iron pill anymore, just my multi-vitamin! My doctor in Virginia believes the weight gain and health issues I was having in Ohio were caused by stress. So, if anyone asks what can sabotage the positive results of the DS surgery, I now tell them "stress". So how is my health today? In a word -- GREAT! I'm maintaining 170 pounds, blood pressure is 92 over 58, good cholesterol levels. I can eat a normal size meal, so unlike friends who've had the RnY surgery, no one ever even suspects I've had weight loss surgery. My RnY friends get questions when they eat a few bites and then stop while out to dinner with friends. I have also met several people over the years who received the RnY who have gained most or all of their weight back. Unfortunately I've lost touch with my DS friends from Ohio, so I can not say whether any others have experienced any health complications or issues from our surgery. I know that for the first 7 years, out of the more than 20 people I knew who'd had the DS, complications were minimal and usually related to vitamin or mineral deficiencies which just needed a change in amount of daily supplements. I will continue to post to this site and let you know if there are any long-term negative effects from the DS surgery. As of the 10-year mark, though, I can say that clearly there are none.