Hi I'm Melissa and I live in Jacksonville, Florida. I have been told all of my life, that I was overweight. I look at pictures of me when I was younger, and boy do I wish to be that size again. I have finally topped the scale at 335 pounds at about 5 feet 6 inches tall. I switched insurance at the beginning of 2008, so that the band would be covered. I have my first consult on January 23rd; so my journey is beginning. I predict I will have my surgery in May, once I have done my three months of nutritionalist, etc. I have also determined, I will not be informing any of my family members of my surgery. All of my family lives in NC, so it won't be too hard to conceal it. I want to see the look on there face when I go home for Thanksgiving and have hopefully lost some weight. I'm tired of being obese. I saw a picture of me sitting in a chair at Christmas and burst out into tears; I had no idea that is what other people see when they look at me. I don't see it in the mirror, as I do not look in the mirror anymore, but now, I need to project a better image. I'm ready to make that change.