 My weight was holding me back in many ways, airplanes, roller coasters, playing in the yard with my niece and nephews, everyday activities. Some of the complications I had with being overweight was fatty liver disease, high cholesterol, pre-diabetic, so they held me back with my health a lot. I heard about bariatric surgery. I had a best friend of mine, her mom went through it. I've known a few people I had worked with that had had it. I called my primary care doctor and talked to her a lot about what the procedure was and she sent me to Dr. Banachi and had me talk with him. I was super nervous going into it and I just went to a seminar at Mid-Michigan Health and they were also supportive and they just talked a lot about the surgery and what was going to happen before and after and they're very supportive. My husband and my mom were my ultimate supporters. They're always there. They're going to push you along, give you support, help you find support. I had an awesome support with my husband and my mom. With having my bariatric surgery and all the support groups so close to home, it was so nice not having to drive hours to get to where I needed to be and I could go to my appointments after work and it was nice to have it close to home. I had a bariatric weight management team who helped me figure out all my doctor's appointments, what I needed to do prior to surgery and they really helped me get a calendar set out and get all my doctor's appointments on there and they're very helpful. I had to go to two nutrition classes. I went to two bariatric support groups. I seen the psychologist for psych evaluation. I had to see my primary care doctor for six months prior to surgery. I was very anxious going into the surgery but I knew I was making the right choice and I was super excited and a little nervous at the same time. My surgery went very well. I had a couple complications after surgery but those were just minor and I was in the hospital for a few days and was able to go home and as soon as I got home I felt like a million dollars. Pain was very mild and I was very happy. This is definitely not an easy fix. There's so much that goes into having bariatric surgery. After surgery I was on a liquid diet for two weeks, pretty much just liquid, just water, liquids, broth and then two weeks after that was pureed food so anything you can put in a blender peas, green beans and then after two weeks with that it was very mild low soups and stuff that was easy to chew up really well to swallow. Your body has a really good restriction still on your stomach. I can only eat about four bites and I'm done eating but I focus on eating my proteins first and then if I have room for fruits and vegetables afterwards I will but I eat about every two hours on the hour. Three months after I had so much more energy I was confident, I was ready to tackle the world. I have lost 115 pounds total. It was almost exactly half of my weight. If you're thinking about bariatric surgery go to a support group. They have them all the time at Mid-Michigan Health in Alma in Midland. They have them all the time and people are so supportive and they will never push you into something you don't want to do. If it sounds like something you want to do go for it because I wish I would have done it a long time ago.