I've been going to classes and everything since August of '09.

2 weeks ago I got the call to schedule the surgery and here I am... debating whether I should just cancel everything. Whether I can lose the weight on my own. Whether something bad is going to happen.I'm fighting with myself. I'm scared.

I think in a way I feel it's too good to be truethat I'll finally be able to lose a significant amount of weight and hopefully look and FEEL SO MUCH BETTER. Have you had feelings and thoughts like this?

I am just the opposite. I am going Tuesday and am not nervous or excited. I just want to finally get it over with.

I wasn't scared about having the surgery as much as I was nervous that Lap Band "wouldn't work" for me. The deciding factor was that I was never sucessful trying to lose weight on my own...so I decided to go for it.

I am almost five weeks post-op and down 29 pounds since my surgery date. I am happy that I took the plunge...but the best person to make the decision on your surgery is you. :smile2:

I so know where you are coming from. I am having the same thoughts and am frustrated with myself, questioning "why can't I just do this on my own?" Well I think all of us if we are honest have been through diet after diet only to loose and regain the weight. The band is a tool to help keep that from happening, yet again.

One of my old Weight Watcher friends was trying to be helpful tonight, telling me that all I have to do is go back to the meetings...well been there done that! Again, and again. Problem is not being able to loose the weight but to keep it off permanently. I bet you are like me in that you are scared of failing once again. And yep, it could happen. If we don't eat right, exercise and really keep on top of this we could be back to where we are right now. But the nice thing is that the band is going to help us both overcome this monkey (mine is 100 lb) on our backs.

I know in my heart if I don't do something drastic to loose this weight I am looking forward to diabetes, continued hypertension, arthritic knees and back, as well as heart disease and stroke (both of my overweight parents are diabetic and both have had strokes) So, the alternative for us is to be more of the same. And I for one am not willing to do that. I will not give up...

Good luck and God bless.:smile2:

Thank you for your replies.

Good luck to you all... and me! =)

Do what is in your heart. If you are not ready, wait. If you are ready but just scared, look closely at what you are scared of. Are you scared of the actual surgery or are you scared of losing weight (or scared that you might not lose weight)?

Have you lost weight since going to classes?

Could you postpone without having to start classes (the process) over?

Is there someone you could discuss this with very thoroughly, ie a therapist, person who has been banded, your surgeon, etc?

if you think you can do it on your and lose weight, then don't go with it.....but if it's been really really difficult and you want a lifechanging experience and want to lose weigh for sure, then go ahead. you'll definitely won't regret it.....it has been the best thing i've done that's for sure.:smile2:

Don't worry.....it'll be okay. I had my surgery last Friday, 02/19/10, and I was really excited until a few days before. Then I was scared. Even in the O/R on the morning of my surgery, I remember watching the nurse put my shot of heprin in my leg to help prevent blood clots during surgergy, and I was thinking, I could just jump right of this table and take off......but I didn't. Even going into the O/R itself, I kept thinking, this is scary. But it's okay, and the post op pain really isn't all that bad--at least I didn't think that it was. Just take a deep breathe, close your eyes, and think of how awesome you'll look some time down the road, and how much better you'll feel physcially. You'll be fine!!!!:cursing:

I completely understand how you feel. I have my surgery on March 11, 2010. I have only told three or four people and none of them are my family members. I don't want to get the look or lack of support.

Part of me is second guessing my decision because I wonder if this is something, I didn't give my all. On the other hand, I strongly believe that the band will help me to stay focused, so I am going for it.

Lorraine

I am sure everyone feels some type of nerves pre surgery.

I am getting banded on Tuesday and have been going through the process for about a year. I had an odd realization yesterday...every step in the process, every hoop I had to jump through for insurance approval never really felt connected. I was just going through the motions and knowing that at the end there would be surgery but never really thinking about how I would handle the changes emotionally as well as physically and mentally. It is finally time to think of the process and see its culmination - my lapband and it is just plain weird to me. I can't believe I am already at this point.

I am excited and scared but I know I need to do this. I know that I cannot lose the weight on my own and I know that I have a great potential to succeed with this tool. I am nervous and sure I have had some second thoughts but none that I would follow through on.

We all began our journey because we knew we could benefit from the procedure. Don't lose track of why you began in the first place and you'll have courage to see it through. It will all be worth it, I'm sure! :cursing:

do it! I know you're scared and I am to. I have my surgery March 12th but ain't no way I will back up. we know we need this surgery....otherwise we would've never started to even think about it....right?

i started the whole process almost a year ago and i am getting banded tuesday, 3/2. my feelings are exactly the same. i think it's only natural. every time i read the posts and see how successful everyone else has been and i'm hoping that it will be the same for me.

if you think you can do it on your and lose weight, then don't go with it...

I don't agree with this at all.

Most of us can and have lost weight on our own but fail to keep it off.

I also think that if you don't have the willpower to lose some weight on your own, you may lack the discipline required to make the lapband work successfully.

Yep.....I was just in my Bariatric Nurses's office this week crying my eyes out. But she told me if I wasn't sitting there crying and asking myself the hard questions then she'd be worried about me. Two days later I got my insurance approval! I think it's all part of the process.

Hi, guys! It is so great to hear all the stories and that I am not the only one with anxiety. I started my journey in October 2008 and have still not been banded. I am now working with my 4th surgeon to get approved (two who my insurance would not approve and one who would not do the work to get me approved). This doc is working with me and my insurance packet is going to utilization review this week and my case manager said I will have have my approval in hand by next Friday. It is only weeks away, an I am getting very nervous.

I am not afraid of the surgery. I have had several, it is uncomfortable but if you do what you are told, the discomfort passes.

My anxiety is about failing. I know I can do anything for a while. I have lost 50 pounds five times in my life - three times by dieting, once by running, and once by joining a gym. But it always comes back. I just cannot sustain it.

Now I have far more than 50 pounds to lose - 100 to 120 total. My big issue is I am now 57 years old, have all the comorbidities and this is my last ditch effort to turn this around before my obesity kills me!

My hope is that the lap band will help me be more satisfied with smaller amounts of food so I do not think about food every waking minute.

Does anyone else experience this - I plan lunch during Breakfast and dinner during lunch. Food calls my name all the time. Does the band really help that?

I know that I do much better when I eat more Protein and far less carbs. The Atkins Diet was my best one and you do lose appetite with it. I love protein so that will not be a problem for me.

However, once I start eating carbs, I want more and more. I obsess about them.

My program has a psychologist to work with and I think that will help a lot. I hope I can start that as soon as I get approved and start getting ready for the surgery.

Is anyone else in thery during banding? Has it helped?

Good luck to you on Monday. I am sure it will be a good decision for you, if you go through with it. Post again as soon as you feel up to it and we will all be routing for you!

Froggie D:thumbup: