Hi, my name is Tonya. I'm a 44 years old mother of five ages 16, 2, 3, 4 and 4. Number 2 and one of the 4's I have permanent custody of and I'm trying to adopt :-) I am going to try and not ramble but I do sometimes. I was never an overweight child, never gained more than maybe 20 pounds extra in high school. In college I was able to maintain 135 pounds with no weight gain. I'm 5'5.

When I was 25 I got married. At 27 I got pregnant with my first child and gained 100 pounds. He weighed 11 pounds at birth. 10lb15oz exactly. From the year of his birth, 1998, until the present, I have not been under 200 pounds. My last weight was 300 at pre-op testing.

Years of being abused emotionally and mentally by his father made me turn to food for comfort. I don't drink or smoke or do drugs but I had my food. He fussed about my weight so I defiantly ate more and more. He said he was ashamed of me, told me I was worthless for 9 of the 12 years we were together. So, I left him in 2006 and in 2009 reconnected with my best friend from high school. We married that year and now have 2 kids together :-) he never made an issue of my weight and loved me the way that I am. So I thought, he deserves a healthier wife than this because he's so good to me. I really thought I could diet and lose the weight because I was finally happy. Nope. I had learned what a powerful drug food was and I couldn't let go.

Almost 5 years after I married this perfect man, I got my sleeve. I now 5 days post op and am feeling great.

Feel free to ask me any questions if you have any. I'm an open book :-)

I'm Jenny - 38 year old from Berea, KY. I have a house full of boys and am in the "waiting/hoping for insurance" approval part of the process.

I work in college access and love my job.

My husband and kids are all supportive of WLS. I decided it is something I need to do after taking the boys camping for spring break and coming back with a lot of back pain. I have been on the pre side for about 3 weeks and having no difficulty with the diet - but my dr says 30 g carbs and otherwise Protein and veggies so that seems easier than what I've read with others.

I have 2 sisters who have had VGS surgery - both lost an amazing amount of weight and had good experiences.

Looking forward to having a surgery date and wen more looking forward to having surgery!

Tonya - are you going to St. Joes?