Darlyne

August, 2009 I went to a family reunion. Virtually EVERY female family member was extremely obese. That day, I spoke to one of my cousins that just had gastric bypass surgery. I thought "Wow, pretty drastic"-but was intrigued with the 30 lbs she had already lost (she was well over 350 lbs to start). There were the typical negative people talking about how bad an idea it was, but looking around, it made me realize what I was up against.    Right before my 49th birthday (October, 2009), I made my first appointment with the surgeon. Surprisingly, I was able to move forward with appointments with the dietician, psychologist, gastroenterologist and cardiologist very quickly. By January 2nd, I had completed all my pre-op appointments, received the "okay" from my insurance company and had another appointment to meet with the surgeon.    As an avid traveler, I have had difficulty with every thing from small airplane seats on international flights to trying to pull myself up on to a dive boat. I am looking forward to my surgery on February 4th, as I know that I am more than ready for a life-style change. I am looking forward to stepping out of this fat body and in to the body I know I should be in!