My daughter, Hilary, got her surgery date. On Monday, June 28, she will have her Fobi Pouch surgery. In addition, she will have the Pan and Tummy Tuck. Because she has Kaiser insurance, her insurance coverage will not cover the procedure. However, I have jokingly told her that I would help with the cash payment, but if she gets skinny and meets Mr. Right, I can't pay for the wedding. So, we call this her wedding. That's fine, because she said she'll go to Vegas.

Here is a before picture of Hilary. This was taken the same day as my before pictures. We were on our way to the 1998 Primetime Emmy Awards. Now, we'll have to wait to post progress and after pictures of Hilary.

I have watched Hilary struggle with her weight since she turned 13 years old. As she puts it, once she hit 13 she discovered soap operas and chocolate donut sticks. As a child, she NEVER had a weight problem. I had hoped that she wouldn't have the battle I had. However, I was wrong. When I look at myself and my family, I had to know that she was destined to have a weight problem.

Now, at 31 years old, we can talk as adults about my (and hers) weight problem. When I said I wanted this surgery, she never had any doubts. She watched me struggle for my entire life with my weight.

A few days ago, she replied to an e-mail message from someone on the OneList Support listing. It was in response to being around for an 11-year old child. Hilary responded by saying, she looks back at pictures from her childhood and I am missing from those photos. I was missing because of my weight. I didn't want to be photographed as a fat person. Those memories are very one-sided because she barely remembers them. In a way it was like I was never there. She also responded by saying, as a parent we wish we had magic wands to remove the pain from our child's life. Now, with my help (and Dr. Fobi's) I am able to use a magic wand to help remove pain from my child's life.