Dibley Dawn

In my psych eval, i was really honest, I cried about things that I haven't thought about in years and told him that i am still struggling with this decision. He cleared me anyway. the nutritionist just gave me a list of things i will have to eat 2 weeks before, and 20 days afterward. in both of these cases, i think they cleared me as soon as my check cleared the bank. it actually seemed like more of a formality than anything. she did ask me some questions about what i was currently eating, but made no attempt to say 'that's not what you should be eating" or "you'll have to make better choices". she simply gave me the list, wished me luck and signed off on everything. i think they all just want their $$$

My surgery is 2 days after yours, on May 4th and I am scared out of my mind. the closer it gets to the day, the more uncertain I become. I have had a headache for most of the day today, probably from worry (i am a HUGE worrier, no pun intended). My mind just always goes to the worst case scenario, and I am trying with all of my mind to push those doubts and fears aside, but it is so hard. I can't even be excited about it because I am so scared. at any rate, i start my pre-op diet next wednesday..OH Goodness...1 week from today YIKES.

Larry, you have no idea how helpful it is for me to read your last post. Knowing that today might not be the last day i have steak, or that i might be able to have bread again one day is immensely nerve-calming. i have been having bouts of crying, uncertainty, certainty, etc, etc, etc...just an emotional roller coaster that is very draining, both physically and mentally. everytime i think i have my mind made up to go ahead, something makes me question my decision....today, it's all the paperwork i'm having to fill out for the hospital that says stuff like "you know there is a chance you will die" ....well, yeah, i know that, but it's so matter of fact that putting in front of my face is making it real. do i really want to risk death on may 4th.. do i want to take the chance that i will live and be thinner, and therefore happier? or do i not want that risk, do i just want to live out my days in chubby misery, but still alive. i hope this is a common fear/ worry that most people have and i hope that the answer will clearly ring in my head like a bell so i will know that i am 100%, beyond a shadow of a doubt doing the right thing.

That's weird that I have started the first topic under this heading, but here goes....my surgery date has been set for May 4th. I am both excited and scared out of my wits. I have a ton of weight to lose and right now it just seems impossible. I am still going back and forth in my head, wrestling with questions of am i really going to do this? With the exception of being fat, I have zero co-morbidities, so i'm worried that I am having myself kinda sliced and diced for no real reason, OTHER than the fact that I cannot lose this weight on my own. I will have to wrap my head around it soon as my liquid diet begins 1 week from today, April 20th. anyway, enough about MY fears and worries...... Are there any other May 2011 bandsters here? who's with me?

Ashercrashers, I TOTALLY know how you feel . perhaps we can be buddies and help each other since we'll be going through things at a similar time. Larry, my doctor said that I was a perfect candidate for it, even though my BMI is around 61. He does other kinds of surgery, but he is a real believer in the band, so he said that he thinks I will do very well on it, even with my weight. As for the appointment, it went great today. My surgical date was also set and will be on May 4th. I will begin the liquid diet on April 20th. I am kinda in panic mode right now since the surgery is so close. I feel like i want to eat everything in sight. "ooh, pizza, i won't get to have that for a while, i might as well eat the WHOLE pie"...."ooh, pork chops, yep won't see those for months, let's fry those suckers up!" I *might* be exaggerating a bit, but only a teensy bit.

I think my biggest fear is that I am gonna forget the thing is in me. I tend to kinda zone out while I eat, sometimes, I don't even notice that I have eaten anything. I suppose that behaviour is gonna have to come to an end. I also must confess that I am doing this surgery for pure vanity reasons. I don't have any co-morbidities at all, my BP is perfect, I don't have diabetes or sleep apnea or any of that stuff. People have been telling me for decades that I'm gonna die because i'm fat, and well,,,,i'm still here, and medically I must be a miracle. My only issue is my fat and the life that I allow it to keep me from living.....so, that is the only reason I'm doing this. I have no doubt that if i didn't have the surgery, I would still live a long and healthy life, I would just be huge. I would like to not be this huge for the time I have left though. anyway, my consult is tomorrow am, so I am really nervous. I will update and let you all know how it went.

I think everyone's situation is probably different. I really don't have anyone to tell because several of my friends are staunchly anti-WLS. I know they would try to talk me out of it, so I just won't tell them until it's after the fact, or I've lost enough weight that they notice something is going on. You just have to make the decision that is right for you. If your friends/family etc would be understanding, then tell them. I am (with the exception of my husband and one friend) all alone in this. I guess that is why I am going to have to rely on strangers from this site and support groups to get through it. I envy people who have a support system because i know it's going to be a difficult journey....but I am mentally preparing to go it on my own if I have to. best of luck in whatever decision you make.

I also have UHC and they are paying 100% for everything as long as I have the procedure done in a "Center of Excellence"...my CoE is NYU. The only thing they didn't pay for is the $250 for the psych eval, but I submitted the bill and they are paying 75% of it. I am so glad they are easy to deal with. also, I didn't have to have a set number of months on a diet before the operation...The only criteria I had was I had to have a BMI over 40, which I do, and have it done at a COE. That was it! sooooo easy.

I haven't had the surgery yet. I am meeting with the surgeon, nutritionist, nurse, and my PCP next Tuesday. It's gonna be a loooong day at the Dr.'s offices As far as telling people, I have told my husband and one other person. I haven't told any of my co-workers and I haven't told anyone in my family or other friends. I don't know if or when I will tell them, but it will definitely be AFTER the procedure. I know that many of them will try to talk me out of it and my mind is made up, end of conversation KWIM? So, I might hijack that gallbladder explanation from the post above and just see what happens. I have over 200lbs to lose, so i know people will start to notice. I will cross that bridge if/when I get there I suppose.

thanks again to everyone for making me feel better about this decision. I still have to have my consult with my dr., which is april 12th, but I've had the psych eval which was....eh...more uncomfortable than i was prepared for, but I guess it had to be done, and i met with my PCP and she has pretty much given me the ok. I have a couple more tests to run on her end before she will sign off, but she said that she's ok with it as long as my tests are ok....so that's where i am at this moment.

I have a wonderful husband who is supportive of any decision that I make. He has never ever pressured me to lose weight, always saying that i am beautiful just the way that I am, so in that regard, i am extremely lucky and blessed. This is totally my decision and I am doing it on my own without feeling that i have to do it to be loved or accepted by anyone but myself....and also to perhaps have more energy to do things that i really want to do, and to travel more with my wonderful husband. i obviously have issues with travelling. they are more mental than physical i suppose, but i am looking forward to our lives together after i can sit in a roller coaster, parasail, zip line, or any of the 100 things that i want to be able to do but am too heavy to do at this time...including having children. i can't wait to really get started.

i can only hope that i will be half as successful as you have been. i have hope that i can do this, even at my size. i don't know exactly how much i weigh yet. the scale at my gym only goes to 350....and...well, i guess i weigh more than that

hey bigdaddy, i would agree that that weight loss is very successful. thank you for sharing. did they make you lose any weight before they banded you? i think that is another concern that i have. if i could lose weight on my own, i wouldn't need the band. anyway, just as an update, my psych eval is this friday...fingers crossed that all goes well there and i can continue with this process.

thanks again for all of your replies. i am getting more and more confident that this is the right decision and that i can do it and be successful.

thanks for the reply Rebecca. I will let you know how it goes after my consult. April 12th seems so far away, but it's a busy practice (which is good. if no one was going there, then I would really think twice about doing this). Congrats on losing so much weight. i hope to join in those weight loss numbers within a couple of years.

i just read through most of the thread on 'what BMI is too large to be banded" and I have to say, while there were some encouraging posts in there, I only saw posts from people who had like a BMI of 55 or so. I have a BMI of more than 60. My handy BMI wheel they gave me doesn't go past 60.....anyway, RNY and the sleeve are NOT an option for me. I mentally just can't cut something up. The band seems more my style. I like the idea of it being reversible if weight loss doesn't happen...but I am afraid that I am too large and it's not going to work for me at all. I haven't yet had my consult, that isn't happening until mid-April, but I was hoping that there were other people out there who not only had more than just 200 pounds to lose but were successful at keeping some of it off. I am not looking to get skinny. i would be the happiest person on the earth if i weighted 250-275 pounds. right now, that seems like a far off dream.... also, i am not interested in losing weight really super fast, i know this is a slow and steady wins the race kinda thing, so i am mentally prepared. I am more curious if i could feel restriction at my size at all. anyway, just thought i would ask. thanks in advance for your calming words of wisdom

I am still in the pre-op phase...as I haven't yet had my consult or psych eval, but all it took for me to finally decide which surgery I wanted to was go to that seminar and hear the mortality rates of people who get the sleeve vs. people who get banded or RNY. At the seminar, they emphasized that the sleeve was still very new, but out of all the surgeries they had performed, all but 1 had some kind of complication with leakage or infection. for me personally, the risks just aren't worth it. with the band i know that the weight loss will be slow, but i'm not in a race. this is how it is going to be for the rest of my life. and, if something goes wrong, i can have it reversed. Good luck with which ever you choose, but just make sure that it is YOU who chooses and not someone who chooses for you. They don't have to live with your body and the complications that come along with it, you do.

Thank you

Well, I will be totally truthful, and the truth is that I eat all the time and I never get full. I sometimes discover myself eating and I don't even remember grabbing the food in the first place. At work, I try to stick to eating breakfast, then eating lunch and not snacking in between...but when i get home, some kind of devil mind gnome takes over my body and I just eat and eat and eat. If I am not paying attention, I can completely consume a bag of chips, or box of cookies, or whatever. That's the truth.

My surgeon is the one who is requring me to have the psych eval, the nutritionist and seminar. My insurance only requires that I have over 40 BMI. I don't have to have 6 months diet history or anything like that (unless the doctor requires it...soooo i'm hoping he doesn't require it because i don't have it on paper...and i am without a general doctor at the moment due to an insurance company change that my old doctor does not accept. ) I am hoping that i can do the 1 visit to each of them and get something scheduled. my consult with the doctor is April 12th and it is taking forever to get here.

Thanks, this info is certainly helping to calm me down.

Hi all, I found this site a few months ago when I really started taking getting this procedure done seriously. I have been flirting with the idea of it for over a year, but in December I decided that it is time to move forward. I can't do it on my own anymore. the more weight i lose, the more i gain back when i fall off the wagon, so I am hoping this will be a great tool for me to stay the course this time. As far as taking this particular journey, I am both excited and scared to death. I have probably more than 200 pounds to lose and I know it's not going to be easy. I am glad that I have found a place that seems encouraging and is loaded with information and support. At this time, I have chosen not to tell anyone that I am doing this. Not my family, not my co-workers and not even my closest friends.....so I am going to be counting on you guys (yeah, no pressure) to get me through this until I feel that I am ready to share it with the world. I know they would all just try to talk me out of it and I don't feel like fighting with anyone.....soo.....i'm keeping it hush hush for as long as I can.

Thanks so much for you response. Did you have to see the psychologist more than one time? Or just once? I thought that perhaps because the eval was so far ahead of the consult that he may want to see me more than once. I have never been to a psychiatrist before for any reason, so i am nervous on top of being nervous if you know what i mean

Hi all, I am new here. I have been kind of wresting with the decision to do this for over a year and I have finally started the process of making appointments and attending seminars. My consult with the doctor is next month, but my psych eval is next week. I was kind of wondering a. if it is normal for a psych eval to come almost a month before the initial surgical consult and b. is there anything that i could say to the psychiatrist that would make him NOT approve me for this surgery. Your answers are greatly appreciated.