I am a 54 year old nurse, wife and mother of 9. I have 5 adopted children, 4 are still at home ages 5 to 13. I have a 25 year old entering his 3 rd year of international film school a 28 year old who is a phd candidate at Rutgers U and a 19 year old who is entering her sophmore year at NYU. the other 2 are finding their way. The yougers are adopted with my second husband. I have a special needs 10 year old with significant emotional/psych disabilities. I work as an RN doing home care for a VA hospital in CT. i love my vets! I have struggled with my weight since I was a teen. I had been a runner for 20 years that kept the weight off. Many years of diet pills to keep the trophy wife status then Doctor husband wanted. Once I gained weight, i was emotionally and verbally abused and ended in an ugly divorce. More weight gain. Despite my weight, my best friend and the greatest love and my life were married. Atkins for 2 years, awesome weightloss then bigger weight gain...optifast, medifast, scarsdale, south beach, juice, atkins again and again, for repeated failure. Now I have hypertension, arthritis, plantar fasciitis. I am miserable and sad. My husband supports me and my best friend supports me. I am almost done with my requirements and hope insurance is swift and my surgery sometime in October. Nice to meet everyone