Well, this whole thing has just gotten a lot more "real" for me. So I guess I'll start the "my story" part.
I've been overweight my whole life. First diet as a pre-teen. Lots of family of origin stuff. Likely a similar story to a vast majority of the people here. 
I did pretty OK as an active "fluffy" woman for many years - did belly dance, went skiing, took Krav Maga... as someone else said here, I was healthy and doing well, until I wasn't. A knee injury ended up with a knee reconstruction and 18 months of rehab, then I decided to change careers (IT to nursing) and my weight started climbing through nursing school and my health started crumbling. First I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, then my irritable bowel flared up, then I had a reaction to a medication and ended up needing a heart procedure (all fixed). Then I graduated from nursing school, and thought the active job would help. Then aches and pains in joints, especially my feet, started me on a hunt for a diagnosis. Auto-immune arthritis changed everything for me. Without medication, I was rapidly approaching a point where I couldn't do my job as an ER nurse. With medication, I'm susceptible to infections, which doesn't bode well for a nurse, especially in the ER. I started treatment and left my dream job. Luckily, I have extensive IT experience and coupled with my RN and ICU/ER experience, I was able to transition into a healthcare informatics job. That's when I realized that the 13,000 steps per shift (3 times a week) was actually helping in relation to my weight, because the scale started trending up almost immediately after changing back to a desk job. Topped 300 lbs (which had been my "I will never let myself be that weight" weight) and I started seriously considering VSG. Discussed VSG with my rheumatologist who enthusiastically supported it.
I did pretty OK as an active "fluffy" woman for many years - did belly dance, went skiing, took Krav Maga... as someone else said here, I was healthy and doing well, until I wasn't. A knee injury ended up with a knee reconstruction and 18 months of rehab, then I decided to change careers (IT to nursing) and my weight started climbing through nursing school and my health started crumbling. First I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, then my irritable bowel flared up, then I had a reaction to a medication and ended up needing a heart procedure (all fixed). Then I graduated from nursing school, and thought the active job would help. Then aches and pains in joints, especially my feet, started me on a hunt for a diagnosis. Auto-immune arthritis changed everything for me. Without medication, I was rapidly approaching a point where I couldn't do my job as an ER nurse. With medication, I'm susceptible to infections, which doesn't bode well for a nurse, especially in the ER. I started treatment and left my dream job. Luckily, I have extensive IT experience and coupled with my RN and ICU/ER experience, I was able to transition into a healthcare informatics job. That's when I realized that the 13,000 steps per shift (3 times a week) was actually helping in relation to my weight, because the scale started trending up almost immediately after changing back to a desk job. Topped 300 lbs (which had been my "I will never let myself be that weight" weight) and I started seriously considering VSG. Discussed VSG with my rheumatologist who enthusiastically supported it.Now I'm going through the insurance hurdles. Met with the surgeon, very much liked her. Met with the nutritionist, who was about what I expected and had nothing new to offer me. This week I went back to my cardiologist to ask for surgery clearance. When he did my procedure 4 years ago, he wanted a followup stress test after a year. A couple of scheduling screw-ups (one on his staff, one on my part), several job/insurance changes, night shifts, and then the auto-immune stuff kept me from getting that done. However, in the ICU and ER I had many opportunities to offer myself as a test subject for people learning to do EKG's so I knew my heart was fine. Anyway, he was really encouraging about the surgery and scheduled me for a stress test next week so he can clear me ASAP. I meet with the doc in my surgeon's office who does her supervised diet followups, as my insurance requires 3 months of that silliness. My rheumy will write the required 2nd opinion that I need surgery, and then I need to get my therapist to clear me or if she won't (I'm seeing her for food issues, but she's mildly opposed to the surgery on principle) go see whoever my doc's office has. Since I already have sleep apnea and sleep with my CPAP, I don't need a sleep study. I swear, all of this nonsense is going to cost me hundreds of dollars in copays before we even get to the EGD and VSG. Luckily I've already almost met my deductible for the year.
I feel like I'm in limbo right now, doing the insurance hoops dance to get approval. So it hasn't been feeling "real" but somehow felt so much more so when I met with my cardiologist. We're targeting early August for the surgery, and that seems so far away. But it's not, really.
In some ways I'm incredibly lucky. I have a super supportive husband who loves me no matter what weight I am, but who will also do whatever he needs to support me in being healthier. He'd love to be more active than my current situation allows, and prefers to eat healthily. So I won't have him sabotaging me or being unsupportive. My closest friends (chosen family, really) are concerned because we know people who have had serious complications (and a couple for whom the surgery may have contributed long-term to their deaths) but they are also super supportive. I have a sister who had the VSG several years ago in S. Korea, and she's been pressuring me to have it ever since. Which is nice, but she's one of those people who are convinced her way is the only way, so it can also be very annoying. My Dad thinks I just need to buck up and eat right and exercise, and my Mom is worried that the complications my sister has had (not really related to the surgery, except in Mom's mind) and doesn't want me to do it. I have a good job that is not very physical, so my time off work will be minimized (I'm planning one week completely off, then working from home 1-2 weeks as needed) and my boss is super supportive.
So really, I have everything I need. It'll be up to me to follow through with this and do what I need to do, in order to be healthy. And learn some patience until this summer. 