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

I have always been too busy to take much notice of my weight. I have always been the shy, stay-at-home type of person. When I was in school, I always did what I had to to not be noticed, just blended into the background. I had a few friends that I hung around with, but we were never the "partying" type. When I started college, I was going to school full-time and working 30+ hrs/wk. I ate whatever was most convenient and working at a fast food restaurant was no help either. I tried dieting several times, Slim-Fast shakes, counting calories, Herbal Life supplements. I would lose 20-30 lbs, get stuck, then gain it all back plus some. Once I got married and started working nights it got worse I think. My husband and I had bought a house and I was three months pregnant when I lost my job. This threw me into another emotional eating spiral. Things worked out and my weight steadied around 280 lbs. I got pregnant with our second child and I topped the scales at 311 lbs at 9 months. I knew then and there that I was going to have to do something about my weight, but I just thought that it would start to go away once our little girl arrived. I did drop back down to around 280, then I started stressing about money, kids, work and the weight came back. I stayed depressed and tired most of the time. I didn't know what I would do

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

The most humiliating thing that ever happened to me was while I was grocery shopping. I was pushing the cart with my then 2-yr-old in the seat. I was picking out the shredded cheese that I wanted and some small child hollered out, "Hey, fat lady!!" I wanted to scream at his mother for raising such a rude child, but inside I knew he was right. I wanted to sit in the floor and cry in the middle of Wal-Mart dairy section. Since then, I have never been able to chase my children around the yard, play basketball with my son, or do any real physical activity with them.

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

Since my surgery, I have had some enjoyable shopping trips. I was finally able to find clothes that my body shape matched to a little better. I didn't have to worry if the seats out in public would be able to accomodate my wide backside.