Hi All,

So I've always been a bit curious about the LapBand surgery but didn't think to do more research on it until seeing a recent coworker who had the procedure done..and needless to say..SHE LOOKS GREAT!! Currently, I am 5'4, roughly 250lbs. I think I wear about a size 16-18. I have been heavy a majority of my life and can vividly remember wanting to go on a diet the summer before my 6th grade year so I could look fab. I've tried Weight Watchers 4 times, did a low carb diet in high school then gained the weight back..HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING. My weight has been the biggest factor that has affected my 27 years of life, essentially I am waiting to live my life until I lose weight. Sounds pathetic, I know. But I've always felt unworthy of love (hence my lack of relationships with men, and virginity) and have never really dated. I've also come to terms with the fact that I'm a food addict. I'm no stranger to surgical procedures. My last surgery was for sciatica that went down my left leg and I had to have a Laminectomy, now I'm starting to feel it in my right leg. This Saturday, I am planning on going to Seminar to learn a little bit more about the Lap Band procedure. Then I have my first consultation with the doctor. I'm feeling like this procedure can help control my food issues, help me get the weight off and flip over a brand new leaf in my life. Has it done this for you guys? Are there any things I should know about the procedure. I'm also scared I won't get approved by my insurance because I'm not what you call morbidly obese but think I can qualify for the surgery given my medical and mental issues the weight has given me. Or am I insane, is LapBand not the answer, should I just get my ass to the gym and workout and eat celary sticks my whole life? I wish it were that easy. Please respond!! I need guidance, suggestions from just everyday real people like me. Thanks and I wish mush success to those who have done the procedure and to those who are on their way to completing it.

Hi, can somebody please respond. I know my story is lame but I could use some advice, LOL

hi,

Im 5'2 and was 292 and got approved from my insurance for the band. My insurance (Tri Care) said that I had to have a BMI of 40 or higher with 2 comorbidities (which your leg might count as one) or be 200% (100lbs) over what was suggested for my body type (which was 145lbs). I would call up your insurance and ask they what is required for the surgery approval. It cant hurt to call. If you dont want to call, then go online and look at your manual.

Hi! I am so much like you except a little older. I am 34 years old and struggled with my weight since early on as well. I have binged starved and have done every diet inbetween. I am also around your weight I am now 230 and I have been 245 at my highest. I also feel like I put my happiness off. I have two kids and a husband who is not so supportive since he feels fat is okay and he is thin and has never been overweight. I am also tired of the daily struggle and I am getting the lap band nexy month and I have almost finished all of my pre op stuff. It was and is not an easy decision foe me b/c it brings up feelings of failure that I could not do it myself via diet and exercise. My dr. desrcribed it in a way that was helpful..our overeating actually can become a physical problem which sometimes needs a very physical answer. I truly beleieve that I can diet and diet and lose and then gain back......with the band I am hoping to stop that cycle. It will be a journey but I am ready to try something different......Hope you fond the answers that you are looking for and I can really relate to your post

Thanks ladies for your responses. I'll call my insurance company before the seminar and see what situation I am looking at..best of luck to both of you.

Hi, I must say that after reading your post I almost thought we had been friends before! lol First I will tell you that I don't believe you are insane. I believe you are stuck in a cycle much like the rest of us. We have all at some point done all the diets and exercise, just to watch some of the weight come off, and only to have it go right back on. For some of use even more then what we lost. I am 34 and I am 5'3 and am currently at my highest weight of 250. I have looked into this now for almost two years. I have thought to myself(and often) it is all in my head; i can do this I just have to stick with it. I may not always stick to the exercise for thirty minutes a day, but I do continue to eat the healthy way and exercise. AND it is still there. I am a mom with three active girls. They go from 16-8. I have a husband who I won't say is not supportive but is scared that I "won't look right" skinny. I am not doing this to be skinny. I am doing this to get my life back. And like Purple said, at some point we have to stop the cycle. It is up to you to decide when that is. I hope you find what you need to stop your's. I know this can be scary, but just look at what you will gain!

I am thinking about the things that I can gain and out of it all the most important thing is being HAPPY and pleased with myself. This rarely ever happens. Sure I dress up and appear confident, but it's all just for show. I called my insurance company and I am completely covered if I am eligible.

Thanks so much for your kind words. ARe you schedule to have the surgury?

I don't think you will have any problem getting your insurance to cover the surgery. Based on the numbers you provided, you are morbidly obese - at least on paper & that is all the insurance company will look at.

I wish you the best of luck on this crazy, exciting journey. I have just started mine & am looking to be banded in January 2011.

Yes I am going to be having mine done on 11-16. I am excited! I do the same thing you have done with the dressing up. I may look comfortable on the outside but on the inside I cringe! I have been told by many that I never look as heavy as what I say I am. People tell me "you carry your weight well", I have yet to figure out what they mean by that! lol

I don't think you will have any problem getting your insurance to cover the surgery. Based on the numbers you provided, you are morbidly obese - at least on paper & that is all the insurance company will look at.

I wish you the best of luck on this crazy, exciting journey. I have just started mine & am looking to be banded in January 2011.

I was coming in to say this ^^^.

At 5'4" and 250 lbs you may not feel morbidly obese but you are.

I am 5'2" and 250lbs and I didn't feel or look like a morbidly obese person meaning I was not round I was shapely and had a waist but just big hips and thighs and a gut and spent a fortune on clothes to hide my fat. However, I was morbidly obese and still am.

Check with your insurance right away and proceed.

Dee

krasc001 I am in the same boat with you for the most part. I am currently 27 years old, (well 28 on Monday), I have NEVER had a boyfriend, I live my life alone, have a couple people that could be somewhat friends but we only do stuff very rarely. I am 5'2" and 250 lbs, My highest recorded weight was 308 lb. I too feel like my life is on hold until I lose weight. I suffer from depression, but don't take anything, I did when I was younger, but still always felt depressed, so I just gave up on it. I have tried Jenny Craig, lost 70 lbs and got bored and gained most of it back. Tried WW, and lost a little, but was getting frusterated. I had seen a coworker get gastric bypass many years ago and thought about it, but did not like the actual surgery and changing of the anatomy. last year another coworker had Lap Band and he looked pretty good, so I decided, I NEED to do this. I need to turn my life aroud, and hopefully this will make me feel better about myself. I still may need to go see a psychiatrist to get over some other issues, but this is going to help. A lot of my depression and overeating probably stems from family issues (a bipolar father and a sister with psychiatric problems as well), but I got picked on a lot in middle and high school.

Sorry for telling you my life story, but all in all, I say go for it. I am going to have the surgery in December and I do not think I will regret it.

I was coming in to say this ^^^.

At 5'4" and 250 lbs you may not feel morbidly obese but you are.

I am 5'2" and 250lbs and I didn't feel or look like a morbidly obese person meaning I was not round I was shapely and had a waist but just big hips and thighs and a gut and spent a fortune on clothes to hide my fat. However, I was morbidly obese and still am.

Check with your insurance right away and proceed.

Dee

This makes me feel better about my LAP-BAND®. I thought that because I wasnt the 300 pound person that everyone stares at I was wrong for wanting the surgery(no offense to anyone). I'm 5'2 and 220 pounds and in my world thats called being "thick", but reality is Im obese. I have a lot of joint pain and my PCM thinks I have some form of arthritis. I just want to be healthy and free of joint pain. I also have PCOS which doesn't help anything either. Thank you and now I feel better to go to my first appointment on Friday feeling comfortable.

This makes me feel better about my LAP-BAND®®®. I thought that because I wasnt the 300 pound person that everyone stares at I was wrong for wanting the surgery(no offense to anyone). I'm 5'2 and 220 pounds and in my world thats called being "thick", but reality is Im obese. I have a lot of joint pain and my PCM thinks I have some form of arthritis. I just want to be healthy and free of joint pain. I also have PCOS which doesn't help anything either. Thank you and now I feel better to go to my first appointment on Friday feeling comfortable.

I'm 5'5" with an all time high of 217. Obesity is obesity. If you qualify for the surgery, you do. Many people said I didn't "look" like I needed WLS, or that WLS is only for "really fat people not you." While I appreciate their comments, it was my decision, and I am much healthier now. I was obese with a BMI over 35 and co-morbidities. I was heading for diabetes and have arthritis in my lower extremities. I also had high blood pressure which has now resolved. My high cholesterol is now normal.

While the arthritis still bothers me, I am sure it is progressing at a slower rate now that 70 lbs are gone.

Don't think you don't deserve this surgery. If you broke your leg and needed surgery to fix it, would you deserve that? If you needed heart surgery, would you deserve that? I think so!

I don't normally post on this site anymore but for some reason came over today and saw your post. I had a lap band for 3 years and did great with my weight loss but not without struggle. I constantly got food stuck and ended up sliming or vomiting. It was difficult to eat lean Proteins but all the bad "slider" foods were easy to get down. I also found I could eat around the band - if I ate slowly and chewed well I could eat more if I really wanted to. All that being said I was doing well and was down 80 pounds, not too far from goal when my band slipped. I tried for months to get it working again and then learned about the sleeve. In the time it took me to fight my insurance company to remove the band, I started gaining weight. But last June I was finally sleeved. I've been losing about 10 pounds a month and the sleeve is everything I thought the band would be and much more. I have no complications at all. I can eat anything in small amounts and when I'm full I'm full - no eating for 3 or more hours. I also don't get hungry any more because when you're sleeve the hormon grehlin isn't produced any more. I also lost my taste for sweets.

Tonight I ate 5 bites of steak, some steamed veggies, 3 bites of mashed potato and I was done. It all went down easily but I completely lost interest in eating as soon as I was full. With the band, I could just has easily ended up in the bathroom leaning over the toilet bowl spitting up mucuus and bits of beef. I'm not trying to gross you out, I just wish I'd known about the sleeve before I was banded.

All in all I feel like my thin friends do. I'm mostly interested in healthy foods, eat until I'm satisfied, and set the rest aside. Once I went with my boys to get an ice cream cone and halfway through realized it didn't taste good any more. I just threw it away. Never in my life have I thrown away dessert.

At any rate, I know the band works well for many people but it didn't for me and the statistics show that up to 60% of people with the band suffer complications in the first 5 years. If you can, it might be worth also considering the sleeve.

Go to the meeting and then make up your mind. I tried everything also to lose weight. I could not control my food intake. I felt at one time that I was a failure by getting the band, I call it the easy way out. Well I sit here 15 months later, I have walk a 5k, a 15k and I am training for a 1/2 marathon walk. I am off blood pressure meds and I feel great. I am 101 pounds lighter and I am loving life. My turning point was when my sister said" do it because you are 55 and you do not have too many do overs".