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I have been height/weight proportionate during most of my life. It wasn't til 1998, when I was injured in a devastating fall, that life changed, and I started gaining weight. The injury to my hip and back took their toll, my activity lessened and things remained difficult because of a loss of insurance around the same time. When I moved to Florida in 2001, I found they would not insure individuals with pre-existing medical conditions. They considered the hip and back problems as pre-existing and no one would insure me for the next 11 years. My hip and back just got worse and worse as I waited for age 65 when I could get Medicare and FINALLY get insurance again. In the area I live in, most people aren't able to get coverage through employers and are at the mercy of the insurers, but once someone turns 65, coverage is guaranteed for the first 6 months, so now I finally have coverage. During the last 11 years, I probably consoled myself with food at times, but basically the hip and back injury resulted in me only being able to sit in a chair and this was the only way I was not in constant pain. After getting Medicare, I found physicians who could help with the hip and back problems wouldn't consider the corrective surgeries unless I could lose weight. By this time, I couldn't even walk to the mailbox. The difficulty walking started affecting my right knee as I compensated for the left hip and back injuries, so now I need a hip replacement, knee replacement and back surgery. I decided to get Bariatric Surgery after realizing it would probably take another 2 years to lose the weight and that would be so painful and difficult as I had already been confined to a chair for the last 11 yrs. I think I have made the right decision as a Sleeve will expediate my other surgeries and help make my recovery from the surgeries much more comfortable. I look forward to the success I know I will have and was looking for a support forum I could turn to during this journey.