[dani4a]

Forgive me if this shameless self-promotion is a faux pas. I haven't been here long, so I'm not fully verse in 3FC etiquette.

Anyway, I'm a student journalist, and I've written two opinion pieces about my experiences with gastric bypass. I only had my surgery last Monday, so I'm still new to all of this, but I'm trying to document the journey honestly and with a healthy journalistic curiosity. I thought that you folks might actually enjoy reading these articles.

This one was published today, and it talks about my surgery and ongoing recovery: http://cuindependent.com/2010/03/02/...upport-system/

This one was published about a week before my surgery, and it was also picked up by the Huffington Post. It just talks about the reasons for my decision: http://cuindependent.com/2010/02/16/the-fat-friend/

[AAAA]

Very good job. I sure couldn't have written that well 1 week after my surgery.

[dani4a]

You know what's interesting is that I've never been really sensitive about my weight, but I've never been open about it either. It's been the source of a lot of pain in my life, but I've always been more comfortable with just pretending the problem wasn't there. Now that I'm going through this and tackling it as a journalist, it's helping me be more honest with myself about why I'm overweight and how I deal with it.

Now that I've written these articles, I also feel accountable. All of my friends and family know what I'm going through, as well as hundreds of complete strangers. I've gotten comments and e-mails from people in my position, and people who have been thinking about the surgery. I've gotten support from so many people that I now feel like if I fail at this, I'm not just letting myself down. And while it's a lot of pressure, it's also an amazing incentive.

Although frankly, I really wish someone would puree a slice of pizza for me now.