I was asked by the hospital where I had surgery (Summit Medical Center in Van Buren, AR) to do a photoshoot for a marketing campaign to promote the WLS program. I don't have the real pics yet, but someone snapped a cell phone pic fom the side. This was a huge NSV for me. I felt like a model and it was really fun!

I recommend everyone doing something like this for yourselves. You could go to Portrait Innovations or even WalMart portrait studios for very little $, but we all have SO much to be proud of!

A few other pics....

My FIRST 5k!!

Two legs in one!

My new size SMALL workout pants! (never thought I would be in a small anything!)

The before shot for comparison sake...

Amazing! You look fantastic!!

You were beautiful by any standards before and simply stunning now.

Did you run the 5k with that monkey on your back?

Thanks for the sweet compliments. I actually did do a lot of the race with her on my back or shoulders. We jog/walk on our bike trail In town and she does pretty well at keeping up. She wanted to do the race with me so I let her. I just carried her when she got tired. We were anything BUT competitive, but we had a blast and we will both always be able to say that we did our first 5k together. .

Thank you ALL for your incredibly sweet compliments! I have cried tonight as I have read through them. It's amazing how we never think these things about ourselves, but it starts to seem more real hearing someone else saying it. I can remember looking at everyone's pictures when I was deciding on (and waiting on) surgery. I always said that I would add mine to the mix someday. I'm just glad that someone else might get inspiration or excitement over their upcoming surgery out of the pictures. Thanks again everyone!!

You look fabulous!

Yes, you were very pretty before surgery and simply stunning now. Congratulations and what an honor and blessing to others you will be in the promotional materials for the hospital. Great job!