Hello , my name is Melissa and I live in a beautiful town named Surf City NC. I am a mother of 3 boys which can be more than I can handle on some days . I started considering wls after the birth of my second child so that was about 4 yrs ago. My ob/gyn said he wasnt pleased with the statistics and advised me not to persue it. Well move ahead 4 yr and I had moved here and on a trip back home a friend of mine had had the surgery. She was my inspiration. she looked great and I thought if she can do it so can I. So when I returned home to Surf City I started looking. I found Dr. Miles in Wilmington and made the call. They told me of all the documents they required to start so I started gathering. In late August of this yr (2007) I had it all together and went. I was disappoitned in all the things youhad to do but I figure there must be a reason! So I did everything I had to do and I started before I left their office. At my first appt I weighed in at 425. They give me a prescrip for  phentermine and I was out the door. One week later I went in to have  heart rate checked and I had gained 4 pounds . But I decided that this was it and I was going to put everything I have in to it next visit I had lost 12 lbs. I can't tell you how great that felt . The only other times I have every lost that much was after child birth! So anyways it is now Jan and I have done all the running and paperwork but I still am over the weight limit for the cat scan table. They called and offered me a surgery date of today Jan 25 last week but I was afraid I couldnt lose those last 4 lbs in a week. So now Feb 25 th is my day and I am completely horrified. I am scared of failure afterwards. I don't think I am so scared of the actual surgery but I am afraid that I will fail and something will happen after. Anyways.....I am working on the fear and I am so tired of being this way I hope the determined factor will overcome the fear. Now if I can just lose those few more lbs...maybe I can hope for a cancellation and I can go early so I will have less time to worry.