Our favorite quotes:

I was the first person at the Dayton VA that my doctor sent for sleeve / bariatric surgery. I was her first candidate that she sent. I just couldn’t get control of my weight (at 5’1”). I had talked to other people who had had [weight loss surgery], and I decided it was something I needed to have.

I want my relationship with food to be different. I don’t want it to be about going to food when I’m scared or excited. It’s not always the scary feelings, it’s the happy feelings too. I don’t want my relationship to food to be about emotions and about nutrition and substance. I want to change that relationship with food.

I’m a recovering alcoholic. I’ve been doing that for a while and I still go to meetings even being sober for a few decades. I still go to meetings because I’m still vulnerable. I’m a food addict. I have that problem.

The surgery didn’t fix any of us. The surgery gave us a tool to initially lose the weight. The tool won’t last forever unless we learn to hone that tool. We have to keep that tool sharp. I proved that. I gained all of my weight back. But I also proved that I could lose all of that weight again. I was able to prove both of those… before my RnY conversion. I believe I was only able to do that with support.