I became a member of FA right after my gastric sleeve surgery. It had finally dawned on me that if I was letting someone put a knife to my gut, that maybe I had an issue with food.

By my six-month post-operative appointment, I was well beyond the goals my surgeon expected after a full year. I had reached the weight the doctor had as my long-term goal. I had healthy blood-work results and had achieved the ability, unusual for such a recent patient, to eat only three times a day in the ample amounts suggested by my FA sponsor.

My surgeon was floored. “Well, we can’t have you show up to the post-op support group meetings. You’ll give my other patients unrealistic expectations!” (I passed him an FA brochure and told him about Program.)

My doctor then asked if I was done losing weight. I said that even by his charts, I could lose another 35 pounds without being considered underweight.

My delightful and still delighted surgeon prompted, “Stand up, turn around, show off a little! Take a little twirl.” I complied.

“You are a 10!” he said.

I quite seriously responded, “No, actually, I’m a 4/6.”

He stopped and looked at his resident assistant as if I was a most naive dolt. That’s when it dawned on me that he was not talking about my size, but was rating me on a scale of one to ten, as a “Bo Derek 10”!

I had never had such a compliment before.