 My name is Angela Hathaway. I had the bariatric gastric sleeve surgery through Mid Michigan Medical Center Midland and I've lost 134 pounds. I am a wife to my husband Keith and I have two little boys. I've had problems with my knees since I was junior high age and they were just getting worse, problems with my back. Everybody suggested maybe if I got the weight off it might help with my problems. I actually was with my family physician Dr. Paul Berg and he was helping me out with one of my foot problems. I said well I've heard that being overweight affects your feet and all your joints of course and he suggested that maybe I should look into gastric surgeries. The first six months after my procedure was a difficult time because you're still not allowed to eat a lot of things but progressively as the weight kept coming off I got so much more energy. I was actually doing 5k's, was able to play with my kids and I didn't mind going shopping or doing all those normal things that a lot people take for granted because I was always too tired to do them. I was able to do the things that normal people would do and actually enjoy them. When people ask me about bariatric surgery I don't really sugarcoat it. I let them know that it is not easy. It is a tool to help them and that with some hard work and dedication to the program that is outlined to them that they can be very successful and it's rewarding and it's the best decision I ever made.