xlstan

God I love it!!! I'll have to remember that..."I'm not sick.... it's the meth!" awesome!
Actually, I've heard some of the comments made about me, never to my face,.. and I'm beginning to think that some folks don't want me to change simply because in my present state they can feel good about themselves by pointing at me... make sense? What's gonna happen when that goes away? guess it makes them nervous. And thank you all for the pointers about everything being different, and to watch out for depression. That certainly makes sense to me... so I can't stuff myself silly anymore... now what?? food has certainly been a drug of choice for me.
In the meantime, I wait for my appt on the 17th, then wait for my date in July. Gives me plenty of opportunity now to learn to chew, chew, chew.... which is definitely taking some work because I'm pretty much a shoveler.
anyway, thanks again for all the input... damn I"m glad to know I'm not alone on this rollercoaster ride!!
Stan

Let's see.... my fat (obese) friends and family all have bad things to say about surgery while they down their third burger. My skinny friends and family all say try harder... they just don't get it. Luckily, my dr has been very supportive; in fact, he got me started on this path with this comment..."I was looking at your record. You've been seeing me now for 10 years, threatening to lose weight and you've gained back whatever you lost plus 30 pounds. Stop kidding yourself." A load came off my shoulders and we talked.. now I'm two months out from surgery and can't wait.
This is definitely something done for myself. I can't stand myself anymore. If other people just don't get it, that's their problem. I know what it's like to live in fear of chairs and mirrors, and what's it like to shop strictly by catalog because jumbo isn't a popular size in the stores. and the list goes on...
This is one crazy adventure, for sure.... all I can say is I now know a number of people personally who have been banded, and in each and every case their lives have improved so much for the better. Let's get on with it!!