Hi All, Let's see I am in my fifties married 20 years to a wonderful support man am 5'2" and weight 200lbs. I have always been overweight I can remember at an early age not understanding why I was overweight or what it was just that I was overweight and the only one in my immediate family that was. I don't think there has ever been a time when I wasn't dieting or at the very least conscious of the things I ate that should not have not that that had ever stopped me. My biggest issue is that when I eat I just plain eat too much I only feel satisfied when I feel full and it takes a lot to get me there. To make matters worse somewhere along the line I developed the habit of eating once a day. In my twenties the only time in my life when I was actually thin. I discovered walking and love it to this day, yes I have been walking for the last 30 years not as much as I did when I was younger but I still walk 5 miles a day 5 days a week with hills. And yet over the years the pounds crept up. I think the walking has kept the weight gain in check to some extent. Anyway the walking has given me a false sense of security calling my self "fat but fit" thinking I was keeping any potential weight health issues far away. Then a couple of years ago my blood pressure started climbing along with my cholesterol and I really could not fool myself any longer. I know that if I do not do something my health will start failing no matter how much I exercise. I know I have trouble getting to my feet not just when I am on the floor but also rising from a chair. I also know that a life time of dieting has not worked and that I could not convince myself that somehow history would not repeat itself. That all my efforts keep me running in place I never go anywhere. So I have decided on the sleeve not for vanity sake though I know there is some vanity involved but mostly because I realize that I can either have my stomach under the knife or in a few years my heart. I had a bit of a wake up call with my pre op ekg it was considered borderline with the possible beginnings of major issues. I have to do something and this is my choice. Tomorrow 8/24 I go in for surgery. I am scared out of my mind about now. Scared about surgery, scared about recovery, scared about complications and most scared of it not work.

Nancy