Im Bob, Im 38 years old. Im having my surgery on March 3rd. I doubt this decision every minute of every day. I wonder why my life has come to such a drastic crossroad! My life revolves around food.(Im fairly healthy,high blood pressure/treated with medication, Sleep apnea/treated with c-pap). When Im eating breakfast Im thinking about lunch and so on. Im a self-employed plumber, I schedule my jobs(locations/times) around resuraunts in certain areas. I feel like this is my last resort, basically ive given up on the usual "diet". Im so nervous about the whole procedure because I have no idea what to expect. Every day I think of reasons not to go through with it. But I see what I believe are "signs" telling me I should do this. The first sign should have been when my mother had a heart attack in 1998. The second should have been when my mother died in 2004 (At a young age). In 2007 my dad had open heart surgery. I have a bad family history, as you can see. and I feel like Im finally catching onto signs(not saying god had my mother die to give me a sign). When I turned my EKG over to bariatric surgeon, her office called to inform me they required me to see cardiologist. What a scare, Im sitting in cardiologist waiting room with people in wheelchairs in their 70s-80s thinking how Im to young to be worrying about this. I scheduled a customer for yesterday(Feb 16), he told me on the phone that he cant do plumbing or anything physical because he had heart problems. I pictured in my head that he was probably in his 70s. When i got to his house he started talking about his heart problems. He is 52, had 6 heart surgeries and he said he was near the end!!! I told him of my plans to do surgery to prevent problems. He agreed it might be good idea. He started telling me how he probably wont live to see his grandkids let alone get to know them(Im tearing up reading this because I frequently think how this could be me, I feel like im looking at myself in a few years if I dont do this now). Possibly not being here for my wife and kids. It was like a clear message to me that I need to do this. Sorry for the long cheesy post. It wasnt meant to be this long. Im sure alot of people have similar thoughts. this just shows what overweight people go through, drastic measures(surgery), and where happy for the most part to have these procedures so we dont have feelings like this. Only an overweight person would understand. Thanks, and good luck.

It's only a week Bob and it will fly by.

I was supposed to be banded in January and an extra 6 or 7 weeks didn't hurt.

Bob I too had big time doubts, HOWEVER with all the problems that I have had( dont even want to get into it) BTW (nothingwith the band itself other than it being to small for me which is fine I prob will never need a fill, according to the sergeon) I dont regret it one bit I am down 50lbs since surgery on jan 7 2010 I would do it again in a heart beat I dont care if I never get to eat again!!!

Btrieger I might not be on here for a few days. I believe your date is the 2nd, and to anybody else having it done in the next few days, good luck. Keep us posted.

Change your screen name to "winnerbob"! We are all pulling for you buddy......Good Luck!

Any kind of surgery can be scary. Even something as minor as getting wisdom teeth pulled. It's okay to be scared.

We have all maybe choices we may have regreted in our past. But, we are the strong people who have decided we want to change and want to improve our lifestyle. There's no shame in this surgery. As a person, who only had surgery two days ago, I am feeling great with minimal pain. Remember, through your journey focus on your new life to come, not thinking about what you should have done, because we can't change the past. But, we can make wise decisions that improve our future.

I wish you the best on your surgery and a speedy recover. Don't push your body....take it easy and surround yourself with people who are supportive and are happy to help you.

I must admit the hardest part for me the 1st day was just the air coming up from going under. It felt like I was choking on air and was going to throw up but I didn't. Remember, to take a deep breathe, walk it out, and remember it's absolutely normal. Also, pay attention to your body. I know I need my pain relievers every 3-4 hours to comfortably sit and stand, and use the bathroom. Make sure you give yourself the opportunity to comfortably, controllable recover.

Please let me know if you have any questions that you think would make you feel better going into surgery. Most important, feel confident going in...that will make all the difference in your recovery.

Where are you having your surgery? I am from pittsburgh as well and Having mine March 19 at West Penn

Thanks for the support. Im feeling very positive, I just want to get this started already. Of course, Ive been having a little discomfort around my left kidney area for about the last three days,so Im worried it might be postponed again. I had to change my blood pressure meds. on Feb. 22, so Im wondering if that has anything to do with it. Liftingchic, Im having mine done at Magee hospital on March 10th.

btrieger - good luck this week as you join the banders.

My surgery was very smooth sailing. DH had hired 24 hr nursing for first 2 days. NOT NEEDED at all.

I was very lucky and hope you will be too. You have age on your side.

Bob - we are all here to support you and lots of information here. We seek a healthier, happier life and WE ALL deserve it.

Joyce in KC

Yeah I forgot that you told me that in another thread... Good luck :biggrin:

Hey Bob, I also am getting the lap band on the 3rd.I really think we are doing the right thing.I'm down to 265 with the pre op diet,my high was 305 and I'm only 5 foot 6.We think the same way when it comes to food.I've never been away from food as much as I have in the past few weeks.I also think of my next meal while I'm eating and what and where I'll eat when I go out of town etc.I have even been dreaming about food since my lack of.Just keep in mind quality of life and the ones who love us will not have the burden of pushing us in a wheel chair while we drool over ourselves.About 10yrs ago I had an operation for sleep apnea.I was in the doctors office as he sat there contaplating somthing when he ask me this "if you could show somebody somthing that may change that persons life,would you?I said yes I would.So he had me follow him to an other ward,where he presented me to a gentlemen in his 50's being kept alive by a life support system.He was a husband and father to a family who was put through the heart break and burden of having to visit a breathing corps all because of his weight.I've often thought of that man.I love my wife and kids to much to put them in that position.So here we go forward to the new husband,father,son,friend that we are.I'm not saying I 'm not nervous ,but I'm down right scared of going the direction,that I'm going.Be brave and keep the faith.Good luck,be happy:thumbup:

ps forgive my spelling I know it sucks:wink2:

:w00t:

Well Bob (I would never call you LoserBob and neither should you), I have much the same relationship with food that you do. I think of dinner all day long. I also remember standing in a hospital room and watching my mother pass away after we decided to take her off life support, she weighed over 400lbs. I swore that day I would never put the people I love through such an agonizing ordeal, but that was 6 years ago and I still did nothing about it until my daughter got pregnant with our first grandchild. I started to think of how blessed I was to have my grandparents around as I grew up. I know I am the person I am today in a large part due to them. So I made the decision and the phone call and jumped through all the hoops. My surgery date is March 17th 2010 which, ironically, is just 6 days before my daughters due date. So I've decided I am going to put all my past failures behind me and focus on my future and be damn proud of the decision I have made because I will see my grandchild be born and I will be a big part of her life, I will be a better husband because of this, I will be a better employee because of this and most importantly I will be able to look myself in the mirror and know that I am willing to do anything to save my family from having to stand in a cold hospital room and watch a 400lb man draw his last breath.

Oh, yesterdays over my shoulder

So I can't look back for too long

There's just too much to see waiting in front of me

And I know that I just can't go wrong

Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes

:w00t:

Well Bob (I would never call you LoserBob and neither should you)...

sakirby,

I may be mistaking but I think he means "loser" in the good sense. As in loser of excess weight. I.e, The Biggest Loser.

sakirby,

I may be mistaking but I think he means "loser" in the good sense. As in loser of excess weight. I.e, The Biggest Loser.

You are probably right but I just can't call someone "Loser" regardless of what you may think it may mean, thanks for correcting me.

My wife saw my username a while back, she felt so bad, she said "aw, is that how you feel about yourself, youre not a loser". I laughed and told her I picked that name because Im going to lose alot of weight. Btrieger you are right about that. Good luck tommorrow, I know everything is going to go well for you, I cant wait to hear back after surgery. Sakirby, I think that story hits home with alot of people. Thanks again for the responses.

My wife saw my username a while back, she felt so bad, she said "aw, is that how you feel about yourself, youre not a loser". I laughed and told her I picked that name because Im going to lose alot of weight. Btrieger you are right about that. Good luck tommorrow, I know everything is going to go well for you, I cant wait to hear back after surgery. Sakirby, I think that story hits home with alot of people. Thanks again for the responses.

:thumbup:

Thanks for the clarity, I am glad you have such a positive attitude I am sure there will be times it is tested, I know mine will be. That is why this website is so valuable, so we can get support from others going through this. Best of luck to you, you too Btrieger.