I am in the same boat as u are as far as being alone. I am a single mom of 2 my surgery was in July 2012. I am here to tell you it is hard, really hard bit you CAN do it !!!! I recovered in the hospital for 1 day and then came home had terrible pain due to a hernia repair also but I did it and you can too! Good luck on your surgery and recovery and previous poster is right this is a hard thing to do, not the easy way out like everyone thinks but it's the best secession I have made into life. My weight was 417 when I started and I am down to 289 now still have a long way to go but every day I work at it and you can too!!