bwohlgemuth

Greetings all. Newbie here, so here we go. 5'11"/460 and trying to get this damn thing done. I am trying to get the band implanted sometime during mid April. My doctor (who I just met today) tells me I have to lose 40 pounds before surgery. This won't be a big deal, but I have a timing constraint. This summer, my family and I are taking a cruise in early July. I want to be healed up and ready to go before we leave on the cruise. Looking at my book and from others, it looks like the "life back to normal" timeframe is about four to six weeks (when I say normal, I mean being able to lift kids/bags and run around after my kids like a normal dad and swim in the ocean). This means I have to have the surgery completed by mid-May. I can't wait until after the cruise because of a work blackout for timeoff. That lifts sometime in Sept/Oct depends on negotiations. This is also my first time under the knife and I have no idea how I'll heal (normally fast for small stuff...) I'm self-paying for the Op (insurance excludes coverage) and I don't want to spend six weeks of shakes/etc if there's no way I'm going to make the "forty pounds in six weeks" timeline. The doc also wants to now keep me overnight which almost doubles the price. I don't want to put this off, but I also don't want to throw cash at a pipe dream (especially since I know can live at 1200-1500 cal/day and have lost 17 pounds without really trying since my initial visit in January). I want to get this done (tomorrow if possible) but I also want to take a practical approach to it. Sorry if this question has been asked before. Also, do all doctors take the magic BMI spinning wheel as "word from God"? I had the head of our fitness department at the local university do a BMI check on my and it was around 42. According to the "magic wheel", it's around 65. Up until last year I was doing twice-weekly Tang Soo Do lessons and can run around like any normal dad. Thanks, Brian