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Hi,

I am 31, a married mother of 3.

I am seriously considering lap band. I have been fat since I was about 13. I need to lose 120 pounds. I have lost and gained for the past decade. My insurance will not pay (BCBS Arkansas/wal-mart) It will cost me 11,500 to get this done in Utah. I am scared to go into that much debt and then fail again.

I know two women who have had it done. One looks great and is happier then ever. The other has only lost about 40 pounds in 9 months. I am just trying to make the right choice for me and my family. Anyone have any advice, regrets?

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Hi! You are almost my twin. I'm 31, mother of 3, and live in Utah. I was just banded on Tuesday and I didn't know ANYONE who had gotten this done. It is a hard decision. I had about 100 lbs to lose and have lost 13 with the pre-op diet and since being banded. My insurance didn't cover it because my BMI was 39 with no co-morbidities, but I was just sick of constantly yo-yo dieting and hating my body.

I chose to go with Dr. Ortiz in Mexico and it cost me $6000. I'll have to pay for fills which will probably be another $1000 over the next few years. It is a big investment, but it was worth it to me.

If you have any questions feel free to message me. Good luck!

Hi,

I am 31, a married mother of 3.

I am seriously considering lap band. I have been fat since I was about 13. I need to lose 120 pounds. I have lost and gained for the past decade. My insurance will not pay (BCBS Arkansas/wal-mart) It will cost me 11,500 to get this done in Utah. I am scared to go into that much debt and then fail again.

I know two women who have had it done. One looks great and is happier then ever. The other has only lost about 40 pounds in 9 months. I am just trying to make the right choice for me and my family. Anyone have any advice, regrets?

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Hi! You are almost my twin. I'm 31, mother of 3, and live in Utah. I was just banded on Tuesday and I didn't know ANYONE who had gotten this done. It is a hard decision. I had about 100 lbs to lose and have lost 13 with the pre-op diet and since being banded. My insurance didn't cover it because my BMI was 39 with no co-morbidities, but I was just sick of constantly yo-yo dieting and hating my body.

I chose to go with Dr. Ortiz in Mexico and it cost me $6000. I'll have to pay for fills which will probably be another $1000 over the next few years. It is a big investment, but it was worth it to me.

If you have any questions feel free to message me. Good luck!

I sent you an email. Thank you for responding. I would love to get to know you and hear about your experience.

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It is a decision that only you can make, really. All I can do is tell you that I am VERY happy with my decision to have the Lapband put in. I was also considering it for the very same reasons that you list, and eventually I came to the decision that my health was more important than anything else, and that I needed to be here in 20 years for my children rather than drop dead of a heart attack or have a stroke because of my selfish decisions which I could have done something about but never did.

Like I said, it is a decision that only you can make. I suggest sitting down and making a list of the Pros and Cons for both decisions (Having the Surgery vs not having the surgery), and then evaluate everything and decide what is the best thing for you to do.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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