How?

I have decided to write a book.  It's about time.  So I bought Khaliah Ali's book that she wrote with my surgeon.  I figured if I am going to write a book about this experience, I should read what else is out there.  In the intro, she talks about Dr. Fielding, the same surgeon I see, and she asks, "How do you thank someone who gave you your life back?"  I cried.  How do you do that?

I remember the day I went to New York University Hospital the first time to attend an informaiton session, it was about one year ago.  I was still on the fence.... and this attractive, smart, laid back Aussie got up on the stage (there were about 400 people there) and told my story.  My story, your story, all of our stories of trying and failing and self-hating.  He talked about the statistics and the likelihood of any of us losing the weight and keeping it off.  He talked about bodies failing after years of carrying around so much excess weight.  And, sometime during his speech, he made me a promise.  He told me that if I committed, he would change the course of my life.  And that change began that night....

I am not done, I am not at the goal that Allergan and Dr. Fielding set for me.  I still have 40 pounds to go.  But I have to confess that I am at the precipice of my own personal goal.... to weigh less than 200lbs.  I made a commitment that night, inspite of what other people said, inspite of what other people thought, inspite of the stress it would put on my relationships and inspite of the radical change it would have on my outlook and my state of mind.  I don't regret a single moment of this journey.  And I do not know how to thank someone who gave me my life back - other than living my life to the fullest (and maybe writing a book about it).