Sunwyse

Why do you have to tell them? Its none of their business. Go with the 'medical procedure' explanation. Its not a lie, but it still keeps your privacy. After you've lost some weight and they begin to notice - and if you feel confident enough - then you might want to tell them what procedure it was, but really, its nobody's business but your own.

I'm quite excited. I got my referral today from the GP and I've booked in to see Dr Bowden (Brisbane) on 13 Feb. Well, his nurse actually, but its a start and I'm on my way. Just have to wait til October for the waiting period for health insurance to be up.

Wow! I'm underwhelmed by the the number of people who think it would be nice to just simply say 'hello'. Thank you all so much for such a warm and friendly welcome to the forum

Hello, I'm Michelle from Australia. 40 y.o. and a BMI of around 45. I have PCOS which has added to my weight issue and SAD which doesn't help. Winter for me is the worst part of the year. I took out insurance last year, so can have the operation anytime after 18 October this year. I'm considering around November because I can then take 4 weeks off work. I work in child care and having to bend over and pick up kids all day doesn't appeal to me just after tummy surgery lol. I am going to my GP this Saturday to get a referral, I want to meet the surgeon and get everything underway now, so I can plan for it all, that way it'll go more smoothly later on. Michelle

PCOS is Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrom - its hormonally based and the 3 main symptoms are lack of periods (or none), tendency to put on excess weight and keep it on and excess body hair. I had all 3 symptoms when I was diagnosed at 22. I'm now 40. PCOS cannot be 'cured' and anyone who tells you that, I would question their qualifications. Its something you will have for life. However, by getting weight back into balance, you can put it into remission and its as though you never had it. Put all the weight back on, and the symptoms will all come back. I haven't been banded yet, can't do that til November this year, but I'm going to. I've come to the conclusion that some kind of bariatric surgery is the only way I'm going to lose weight.

OK, before you get disheartened by all the wonderful success stories, remember this - you are on this journey. Its your journey, your story. You are going to have a different experience to everyone else because you are unique. Some of your experiences will be similar to a few, some will be similar to many, but your experience will be the same as nobody elses. Its going to take time to get to know this new body. It will take time to see how things go. You need to give your body time to rest and recover from the trauma its been through. All surgery is trauma to the body. Just relax. I know how much you want it to all be perfect the next day, but this is the real world. No lasting change happens in one day, it takes time. How much time is up to you. Our mind is the biggest tool we have as to how long it takes to recover. The story doesn't end when you get the band. Oh, I can't not eat now, its a failure. No, you know there are stages. You need to get fills done. Maybe when you get the first fill that will be enough. Maybe it won't, maybe you will need 3 or 5 or 10. The point is it doesn't matter how many you need. Its about starting to work with your body to achieve the goal and not about competing with others, which at time is what it feels like when you read some people's replies. If you need to have 10 mouthfuls to be full when everyone else is having 3, great, have the 10. It just means you may take a little longer to adjust. So what? You have only just started your journey. You have the rest of your life to get there. And you know, the quicker it goes, the more likely you are to have saggy skin? The skin needs time to adjust as well, so slower is definitely better. Congrats on the op. You've done an amazing thing for yourself. Start to congratulate yourself and ease up a bit. You will get there.

Hi, I'm not in your shoes yet, but have you been back to see the surgeon for a fill? Some people need more fills than others and maybe you are just one of those.