Welcome to my Blog- This is something I have pondered doing since this new adventure in my life started. So many people seemed interested in my journey, but at the time it was a very personal matter. Something I wasn't sure I was ready to share and something I felt some would not understand. Perhaps I didn't want to deal with the questions because I didn't know the answers.

I did keep a diary because I thought one day I may want to make a quilt depicting my long and arduous journey.

As some of you know, the past few years have not been my best. Painful knee problems, became excruciating to the point where it was difficult to walk from room to room in my own home. Shots and scopes no longer worked. I was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, which at least accounted for some of the horrible pain, a need for knee replacements made up for the rest. Surgery was called off at the 11th hour...No serious, I was on the table...but due to an infection in that leg the surgery was cancelled and I was sent home on anti-biotics...Which didn't work. That was Dec 10th 2007.

By February I had had enough of the three P's (poking, proding and pain)

I switched doctors (Orthopedic Surgeons) and what a difference. The first thing I was told that knee replacements in Obese (ouch! That hurt) people was much riskier. He went on to explain why, then given the fact that I also had diabetes and High blood pressure, the risk increased. He ask me if I had ever researched Bariatric surgery. My answer to that was yes, but it didn't sound like it was for me. I was also told about shots called Simvisc for my knee, but I had heard they didn't work. Turns out they don't always work, but the usual reason they don't, is because doctors don't tell patients to go home and stay off the leg for a day or so.I was willing to try anything at that point.

The shots were given once a week for 3 weeks. No they were not painful, just a great deal of pressure that felt very weird. They took almost a month to kick in, but when they did, I was a new woman.

Meanwhile, I once again contacted the bariatric group in Cooperstown just to see what it was all about.I was sent a packet and invited to an orientation meeting...A meeting that would begin a whole new chapter in my life. A meeting that would send me into unchartered waters without a map or compass. A meeting that would shed a whole new light on a very old problem and I would gain a new respect for the medical profession as a whole. (Never been fond of doctors)

Are you still with me?