Hi, I'm Trinity and I had my first consult with the surgeon yesterday (4/7). After being overweight my entire life, I've finally decided to make the call and take action. I have two beautiful daughters and I'm doing this for them, only slightly less than for myself. I have an amazing DH who is very supportive of my goals.

I'm 34yo and my BMI is 48.2. I know if I carry on like this, I might not make it to 40. I'm fortunate that my insurance will probably cover most of my surgery, but right now I'm already scheduled for the dietician visit and my pysch eval (to find out how crazy I really am! haha). I'm probably looking at a May-June surgery date. I need to do the sleep study and then get my letter from my PCP, but that's the easy part.

Funny, last May, along with my birthday, I was celebrating the birth of my second daughter and recovering from a C-Section and Gall-Bladder removal surgery! This year, I'm celebrating my daughter's 1st birthday and hopefully recovering from LBS! I hope May 2011 will be surgery-free!!

I'm struggling right now with several things and I hope I'm not alone.

Whom do I tell and when? Scream it from the rooftops, or tell friends and family AFTER it's already done??

When should I tell my employer? Is it any of their business?

How am I going to go two weeks on Optifast alone?? I couldn't even do slimfast shakes for a few days!!

Will I ever be able to eat spicy (Mexican) food again? I love my spicy food.

Do I want to deal with food being 'stuck' and 'PB'<--- what does that mean anyway?!?!

Thanks everyone, I hope to meet some great people whom I can travel with on this road to a healthy us! I will be starting a blog soon to chronicle this major event!

Good news! I eat spicy food, just not very much at a time! You will be so glad that you did this. Good luck!

Hi, I'm Trinity and I had my first consult with the surgeon yesterday (4/7). After being overweight my entire life, I've finally decided to make the call and take action. I have two beautiful daughters and I'm doing this for them, only slightly less than for myself. I have an amazing DH who is very supportive of my goals.

I'm 34yo and my BMI is 48.2. I know if I carry on like this, I might not make it to 40. I'm fortunate that my insurance will probably cover most of my surgery, but right now I'm already scheduled for the dietician visit and my pysch eval (to find out how crazy I really am! haha). I'm probably looking at a May-June surgery date. I need to do the sleep study and then get my letter from my PCP, but that's the easy part.

Funny, last May, along with my birthday, I was celebrating the birth of my second daughter and recovering from a C-Section and Gall-Bladder removal surgery! This year, I'm celebrating my daughter's 1st birthday and hopefully recovering from LBS! I hope May 2011 will be surgery-free!!

I'm struggling right now with several things and I hope I'm not alone.

Whom do I tell and when? Scream it from the rooftops, or tell friends and family AFTER it's already done??

When should I tell my employer? Is it any of their business?

How am I going to go two weeks on Optifast alone?? I couldn't even do slimfast shakes for a few days!!

Will I ever be able to eat spicy (Mexican) food again? I love my spicy food.

Do I want to deal with food being 'stuck' and 'PB'<--- what does that mean anyway?!?!

Thanks everyone, I hope to meet some great people whom I can travel with on this road to a healthy us! I will be starting a blog soon to chronicle this major event!

Hi Trinity, welcome.

Your story sounds like the story of so many of us. If it helps, I'm here to tell you that I'm on my 4th year, I've been maintaining a normal healthy weight for more than 2 years, it's hard work and I love banded living!!!

Now to your questions:

who to tell and not to tell. This is a really personal decision, one that only you can make. The only thing Iknow for sure is that once you tell, you can't take it back. Your husband may have a point of view on this also. I chose to stay "in the closet" for years - if you're interested you can read all about that on my blog, and watch my video (address is in my signature), and only told my husband and a few close friends. In retrospect I just wasn't ready to be watch, and judged, and I'm sure there was a part of me that was afraid of publicly failing at long-term weight loss one more time. I'm NOT a private person, so it was hard for me to keep it a secret, but it was the right thing for me at the time. I am nw very public about my journey.

when should you tell your employer . You do not have an obligation to tell you employer. For example you can say you are taking time off to deal with a medical issue. You can tell them you are having surgery if you choose. You do not have to say what kind. That is up to you.

Pre-op Diet. My doctor did not require me to go on the 2 week preop diet; I know it can be difficult, but people do it.

Spicy Foods. spicy foods are NOT a problem for me, but we are all different. Most people I know tolerate spicy foods just fine.

PBing, stuck etc. consider this a form of behavior modification, and you don't want it to happen too often. PBing is a "prodcutive burp" - it means you've eaten too much and as you burp, some food comes up. You get stuck by eating too much too quickly and not chewing thoroughly enough or by eating foods that don't work well for you. By learning to use your tool by eating small portions, chewing really well, eating the right (tasty) foods, you should be able to learn the signals to avoid this from happeinging too frequently. When it happens, it is your band's way of telling you, that you are doing somethig wron.

Let me know if this helps. I love paying it forward.

Thank you so much, Gloria and lmd. YES, we are back in business with the spicy food!! I don't care if I can only choke down one jalapeno, I NEED to have spicy! Ya, I'm obsessed.

Thanks also Gloria for the helpful info. Since I'm just starting out, and just joined this board, I have a ton of questions while I'm learning the lap-band lingo. There is so much to take in. Hearing the worst of it and knowing the obstacles we must face to achieve our goals is one thing, but when I see the smiles on the faces of the gals that have lost the weight, it reminds me of how I want to feel when the weight is off.

I haven't had a chance to, but I will certainly be checking out your blog. Thanks for posting some inspiration for the rest of us just starting our journey. Congrats on your loss and maintenance!! That's awesome!!