“On my best day, I never dreamed my life would improve this much.”

For years, Marie-Anntoinette tried every plan, diet, exercise regimen, and fad to lose weight. The pounds would come off at first, then come back with some extra in tow.

Continually losing her battle with weight profoundly changed Marie-Anntoinette. Once an upbeat person who’d never met a stranger, she began to withdraw, hid inside her house, and became plagued by feelings of hopelessness and defeat. “The joy was gone from my life,” she says. “I wasn’t me anymore.”

Post-surgery, the former size 22 is now a size four after losing 110 pounds. She also no longer battles esophageal reflux disease or fatty liver disease.

“People have been shocked by my physical transformation, but I’ve been more shocked by my internal transformation. I didn’t realize how much the extra weight had stolen from me until I got it back.”