hey everyone! I'm a newbie here so bear with me I'm Morgan, 13 years old, and I am off to Atlanta (I'm from columbus, about 2 hours away) to meet with the doctors at Emery Hospital for a clinic. Hopefully to schedule my surgery also *crosses fingers*

I've been overweight all my life, been going to gyms and used every diet you can name scince I was very young.. even as a baby I wasn't given unhealthy Snacks. At age 10 I was diagnosed with PCOS, and was put on metformin, welbutrin, and effexor. i lost about 30 lbs, but soon gained it back, even with dieting and exercising. Soon I gained it all back. I went to a bariatric docotor and was on Pro-Cal ONLY for about 2 months and lost around 25 lbs. and when I went back to only eating one healthy meal a day I gained every pound back and am still gaining. About a 2 months ago at my check-up with my endo. he suggest bariatric surgery. We researched and read these posts and everything you can think of and decided this was the right thing. At first I was planned to have the gastric bypass, but the doctors said they would only do the lap-band on someone my age. Mymother was more than happy with the decreased chance of side effects. So we got in touch with Emery pedeatric surgery clinic and for weeks have been trying to schedule a clinic. And tomorrow's the day.

So all I wanted to know is if ya'll have any advice for me or helpful hints about the things you have to do after the surgery... would love to hear from you.

Thank you lots!

What is PCOS? Nice to meet you and we will always be here for support!

Welcome aboard Morgan. Best of luck to you with the surgery!!

What is PCOS?

PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, which I also have. Here's a link for information on the sydnrome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycystic_ovary_syndrome

FYI - one of the symptons is obesity. Unfortunately, some women with PCOS are unable to lose a significant amount of weight even with proper diet and exercise. Hence my reason for being banded.

welcome morgan

hope it all goes well for your appointment tomorrow

let us know how it all goes

Hi Jessica,

Welcome to LBT! I've been to Columbus many times visiting my sister and her hubby at Fort Benning.

Just to give you some honest feedback here, I'm a little shocked that a 13 year old is getting banded. Don't get me wrong - I'm happy and excited for you too. What I wouldn't have given to be thin during my teens and twenties... But, this is a HUGE decision. So, please please read everything you can on this site. It really does cover every topic you can imagine, and some you may not have thought of. And if you have specific questions, ask away! You won't find a more helpful group of people anywhere.

Good luck with everything!

Good Luck Morgan!!! You're so brave to have this done at such a young age. I will send positive thoughts your way!!! I wish they had this surgery when I was younger, I was an overweight child myself so I know the pain you are going through. I wish you the best of luck, and may God bless the hands of your surgeons so you have a speedy recovery!

I'm glad your doctor's have opted to band you at an early age, because PCOS doesn't get any better the older you get. It will continue to get worse and leave you with more to lose. It toys with your weight and your ability to conceive, but you are a very brave young lady to be getting a head start on heading off any major health problems. Keep us posted and the best of luck to you. You will probably just fly right through this surgery.

Wow, 13 is young indeed. And I agree that you are very brave to be doing this. Please come back and ask ANY and EVERY question that pops to mind--this is a huge step and it's impossible to be too prepared.

Jessica, Although you are young I believe you will benefit form this surgery if you follow the band rules. Just remember the band is a tool not a miracle surgery. You have to still watch what and how much you eat and exercise is a must. If you "listen" to your band and follow the rules then you too will be a success. Good luck to you and if you ever have any questions just ask.

Great to meet you.

Hi Jessica, welcome to LBT! I wish you all the best!

Welcome! Like others have said, ask any question that pops into your head! There's nothing that can't be asked!

Welcome Jessica. Good luck with your appointment.

Welcome!!!

We are here for you. Best of luck to ya!

Jessica,

I am so glad that you and your mom have found the lapband. I wish something like the band was available when I was younger. I would like to offer you helpful hints regarding the post op diet plan for folks with PCOS. What works the best for people with this disorder is a low carbohydrate diet. I was diagnosed with PCOS/hyperinsulinemia in 1995 and was put on a seried of different medications to control my insulin resistance since my main problem was not fertility but weight gain and hirutism. None of the medications worked for me and I gained instead of losing. I was always a volume eater, but most people that know me did not think I ate all that much but continued to gain.

When I was banded, from day one I stuck to a low carb diet plan that worked really well with the band since most of us eat Protein first, then veggies and starches and carbs only if we have room in our pouches. I lost 120 pounds in a year this way. But I preface that by saying that I did exercise 4 times a week at least 40 minutes per day. SO if you can stick to an exercise regimed and stay away from the carbs you will lose your weight in no time at all. I am really excited for you and wish you lots of luck!!!

Babs in TX

334/180/170

-154 pounds

I'm curious why your Dr. suggested bariatric surgery - and that's not me being cycnical, that's me having a friend who went through something similar. Here's what makes me wonder:

"when I went back to only eating one healthy meal a day I gained every pound back and am still gaining."

This tells me that food intake isn't the cause of your weight problem, but something medical is. I had a friend who was in the exact same spot, who chose RNY at her doctor's recommendation. The kicker being - without GB, she was aready eating about the same as what she would with GB. "One healthy meal," especially since you're exercising, is not going to cause weight gain. There is something other than food causing your weight gain and the lap-band isn't going to address those issues.

My friend, now about 2 years post-surgery, is still morbidly obese only now she's also suffering from LT side effects of her procedure, and has all the other negatives of having her operation.

I'd hate to see you in the same spot.

Just seems like they're treating the symptoms not the cause...

I thank you all for your well-wishes and your support. It is much appreciated! Well first off I'll fill you in on what happened in Atlanta today.

We met with one of the surgeons, Dr. Walkum and a endo. Dr. Ferner.. i think it was? and they both agreed I was a good candidate but scince I am under 18, something has to be slightly off with blood sugar, cholestral, or anything like that to be able to have the surgery because supposedly having PCOS and not being able to lose weight is just not enough.

So yes, as you can guess I'm not feeling to great right now, just hoping and praying something will show up wrong.. I know that sounds bad but it's true!

7 large vials of blood were extracted so I'm guessing they're going to look awfully hard, they better! So I should be hearing from them early this coming week.

If nothing is wrong I have to wait until im 18 or wait until I'm 350 lbs. I am not going to wait that long, I'm just not.

Quite a fre of you had concerns about me being 13 and having such a life-changing surgery. I have always carried myself as much older than I really am. When people meet me they guess I'm around 18.. from looks and from personality. I know the work I'm going to have to do after this surgery if I get it. I know I'll be giving up the Snacks and sweets..except from what I've read on here ya'll seem to splurge every so often! But i know that is VERY often. I've been on all-liquid diets, on nasty Protein or low-carb bars, on the atkins diet, weight watchers, been to 3 gyms, and many more things. I am willing to do the work after the surgery, I know its not just a quick fix.

Wheestin.. my mother has had the same concerns and has had every blood test out there done on me to see if something else was wrong.. and everything is normal. I don't know, knowing my luck I have some weird disease that no one knows about yet. But I will do research and see if anything we haven't done comes up.

I know i will have many questions if I get the surgery.. but right now I need to focus on convinving the doctors I do need it

Thank you all!