A severely obese American woman cut nearly one-third of her weight a year after undergoing an operation that removed 85 percent of her stomach.

Holly Matherne, 39, a nurse from Hahnville, Louisiana, weighed 168 kilos in October 2010 and wore a U.S. dress size of 32. But in her interview with ABC News Thursday, she was down 59 kilos and wore a size 18 dress.

Matherne had been struggling with obesity since childhood and had tried all sorts of weight-loss program and dieting without success.

"I've been fighting with weight since I was 6 years old. I've been on every diet, I've been to a nutritionist, Weight Watchers, reduce fat, reduce calorie, you name it, I've done it," Matherne said, according to Daily Mail. "I may lose weight here and there, but then it winds up creeping back on. It's all tied to emotion. I'm obviously an emotional eater."

In October 2010, Matherne decided to undergo sleeve gastrectomy, a new weight-loss surgery that has been found to help patients lose weight twice as fast as other bariatric surgeries.

Sleeve gastrectomy removed that part of her stomach that produces a hormone called ghrelin, that makes us feel hungry. The $30,000 procedure's side-effect is that the patient will no longer feel hungry.

"Ghrelin is a powerful appetite stimulant, and when you remove this part of the stomach, most of our patients tell us after surgery, they're not hungry. Ever," said Matherne's surgeon, Dr. David Treen, according to Daily Mail.

It was her children who inspired Matherne to undergo the surgery. She said she wanted to be around when her children marry and see her grandchildren.