Woman Loses 130 Pounds Months After Radical Stomach Surgery

Most Significant Milestone a Hug From Her Son

"If I want a bite of something, I'll let myself have that taste of it, but it's not like before, where, like, oh my God, I'd keep having to go back and I'd get more and more and just eat until I can't, you know, fit any more," she said. "Now it's just, I'm content. I don't let it control me. It doesn't consume my thoughts like it used to."

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Matherne has lost 130 pounds since the surgery. She has also shed many of the inhibitions she said held held her back her whole life.

"I find I'm a lot more outgoing," she said. "I always thought I was outgoing, that I had a good personality, but I find I'm less hesitant in social situations."

An even more important milestone came from her son.

"My youngest came up to me the other day, and he had told me before surgery, 'I can't wait until I can hug you and my fingers touch,'" Matherne said. "The other day he came up to me and hugged me and was like, 'Mom, my fingers are touching! Isn't that great?'" Return to the "Nightline" homepage