After I gave birth in 2010, I attempted to lose weight quite a few times. I reverted back to my old fail safe...the south beach diet. This diet has worked for me numerous times and fairly quickly too. I also got a prescription for phentermine from a local doctor. In Hawaii, only one type of phentermine is prescribed, which is the non time-release pill. I used to get it in New York and have only used the time-release capsule in the past. I'm not sure if it was the pill or if it was me, but it didn't work for me this time around. I was able to eat through the symptoms. It wasn't as long lasting and didn't do much for my night time eating. My husband and I purchased an elliptical, but I rarely used that. I even tried to go walking with my cousins, but it was just different this time.

Everything was different this time. I couldn't find my motivation, and when I didn't succeed my depression would take over. I have always been able to overcome, but not this time. Worst of all, was the pain. With every pound that added to my frame, I found a new nerve, muscle, or tendon that ached. I had pain when I stood too long. I had pain when I sat too long. My feet, heels, back, arms, shoulders, neck, and everything in between were in constant pain. Eventually my workouts subsided, and I entered the cycle of putting on weight and being in pain.

I started to think of other options of losing weight. I saw an old co-worker on my facebook that used to be 400 lbs down to less than 200 lbs. I haven't seen any pictures of her in a long time and was surprised at how much weight she lost. I started searching her facebook page for any clues for her success. Alas, I finally found a discrete post from a year prior about her surgery. That was when I really started to think and wish about having weight loss surgery. I have thought about it when I was lighter, but I have always been what I like to call a "healthy fat person." I don't have diabetes, gout, high blood pressure...nothing. I was now a weight where the doctors would start to take surgery as a valid solution for my problem.

I often wished that I wouldn't have cravings about food that was around me. I often wished I didn't always have this problem and that I could fix it somehow where it didn't dictate my life. So in June of 2013 I made my first move towards getting weight loss surgery. I called Dr. Fowler's office.