So I went to my primary care doctor last week. I hadn't seen him in six months. It was the beginning of my journey into lapband and weight loss. At that time I was 295 or so. I told him I was going to lose all this weight and have lapband done. I am sure he has heard the pledges of many overweight patients to finally lose the excess weight. He probably put very little faith in my statements. My weight was 225 when I went last week. That was a 70 pound loss. I could see the disbelief and pride in his face. Toward the end of the visit, he asked, "What was the one deciding factor that finally made you decide to lose weight?". Well, in the past 6 months, I have been asked this question many times and already had a rehearsed response. It came out like a reflex. I said I was sick of hurting everywhere all the time. Although this is one of the reasons, it does not begin to scratch the surface as to why. I failed to mention the very important reasons why. Such as the fact that at 317 pounds, I was wishing death upon myself almost everyday all day. I became a prisoner in my own body. I was ashamed to be seen in public with my children, boyfriend, friends, and co-workers. I knew my children were embarrassed to be seen with me in public. Hell, I was embarrassed to be seen with me. I was unable to wash my private areas without becoming a contortionist. I was unable to use tampons because I couldn't reach. My ankles, knees, hips, legs, chest, hurt all the time. My self-esteem was in the gutter. I was short of breath with any physical exertion. I couldn't hardly fit in my larger model car. I could barely heave my large ass out of the car when I did get in it. The reasons go on and on and on....

I have so much to be thankful now. My energy level is through the roof. I am confident. I am much more active in my social life. I have dumped the abusive boyfriend I had been settling for. I have discovered bones that I didn't know I had. I enjoy foods that are healthy. I seek out new friendships and relationships. For the first time in 42 years, I can say I love myself and really feel it and mean it. Life is good. I feel truly blessed to have had this opportunity to reclaim my life and begin living.

I have been thinking about an answer as I read your story. I had several factors, maybe one was having to go to the "bigger" bone scanner as the one at this facility only goes to 250. Getting approved for SSI at 61 because I was unable to get up/down and do many other things required of my job. Then feeling like I didn't want to be known at my new church as"that fat lady in the choir" was a big push. Finally, when my daughter's friend had hers done and was smaller than she had ever been all her life, and my daughter was bigger than she had been all her life, we both took the plunge! I had my surgery approx 2 weeks before her, so I could car for her small children while she had hers done. I am, now, 63 and back to what I weighed at 28. I am happy and face each day with a smile into the mirror! Good luck to you and all who read this. Karen

Mine was never a decision to finally lose the weight. I had been trying to lose the weight most of my life. Sometimes I was successful, sometimes I wasn't but the problem was it always went back on. Also it was getting harder and harder to lose any at all. So mine was a realisation that I needed help to lose and keep the weight off, that it wasn't something I could do on my own.

It was surprisingly simple for me. After making all the excuses in the world to myself as to why I couldn't lose weight, I did a complete 180 degree turn when my husband said he didn't want me to die. I was heading for a heart attack, stroke or at the very least a wheelchair due to being grossly overweight. Now I have to slow down so that gorgeous man can catch me.

I want to enjoy doing things with my kids and family. My husband is a big outside guy and so is my daugter. I usually stay home while they go do things because all the walking just wears me out!! One day, I decided to ride the golf cart with my daughter and went to "jump"" on while she was going at a super slow speed, well, my fat butt could not jump on..... and I fell... needless to say, it was a realization that momma cant jump cause she is too fat!!! So now, I am preop and I am on no sugar diet.. lord I am glad that my sugeron lets us have more than just shakes!! I also have health issues. I had cancer 5 years ago and after my hysterctomy I blew up like a balloon.. now I have made it 5 years cancer free so it is time to get back to life.....

I realized I was getting immobile to the point of becoming an invalid. I got my doctor's to write letters to my employers so I no longer had to commute to work, I did not walk the new puppy that I wanted so bad, I rarely went out with my husband, and when I did I had to research if I could take a cab right up to the destination, if I could fit between the tables or into the chairs. Shopping which used to give me such pleasure was all done online. And I mean all. Clothes, groceries, drugstore... This doesn't even begin to touch on all the personal issues with myself and my new marriage.

It was time.

My only Brother died at the age of 60. Obese with Diabetes resulting in neuropathy to the point he had no feeling in his legs, little balance. Retinopathy where he could not drive at night, had to have laser eye treatments to cauterize the arteries in his retinas. Plus he had other medical ailments, not tomention a very poor "Quality of Life"

My only Sister died at the age of 64. Obese with Diabetes. She was a prime example of everything that can go wrong when you have uncontrollable diabetes. It was a slow agonizing death with numerous surgeries, amputations, kidney failure, and on and on. It was one thing after another, never improving.

For myself, I was obese, diabetic, cholesterol - triglycerides - all out of whack and uncontrolled. Stress test showed Coronary aterial blockage in which I needed to undergo Angioplasty with Stent placement. While they were in there they detected scarring meaning that at some point I had had a Heart Attack. But because I am Diabetic, it is not unusual for these to be silent.

All this at the age of 57! My PCP looked me in the eye and said that I am following in my Brother's and Sister's footsteps and unless I lost weight I would surely die at a early age.

So even though I was only 255 lbs and my BMI did not make me a candidate for the surgery, my comorbidities and family history certainly did.

I'll be 60 years old in Jan., My diabetes is completely reversed - no more injections and meds, diet controlled.

All my blood work is normal. I'm taking 1/2 the meds I did 6 months ago, and expect to lower that count next appointment with PCP.

I go to the gym every chance I get and aside from lifting weights, I do 60 minutes of level 3-4 cardio, and it gets better as time goes on.

I have another stress test scheduled for next May and I can't wait!

I don't think I ever really made the choice. It was after my 4th heart attack at 34 when my cardiologist looked at me and said, either you do this or you will not live long enough to see your daughter graduate high school. Pretty simple choice I think....lol.

Kelly

I made the decision after multiple diet attempts that while I tried I think k didn't put my full force into it. But I was very depressed about life (not seeing anyone as antidepressants never helped me in the past). I said I'm going to do something or I'm going to kill myself. Since I've been losing my depression has pretty much gone away. I still don't have many friends but I'm more active and trying to get better with socializing. I'm happy I'm finally done something. But realized I did not need this surgery to do so, but I do think it just gave me the motivation

I am 47 yrs old with a wonderful husband and 3 incredible kids but I was slowly starting to live the life of an elderly disabled person -- I couldn't walk without being short of breath and in agony due to my knees. I was too embarrassed of myself to socialize. I hated what I had let happen to me. And I was afraid of dying and leaving my kids without a mother. Any of those would be a very valid deciding factor huh? Oddly, all of them together were still not enough to push me to make this decision.

It wasn't until March of 2012 while I was at my 3rd orthopedist looking for relief from the debilitating pain I had in my knees that I found my deciding factor.

I have severe osteo arthritis that has both knees at what they call "bone on bone" which causes me to have chronic pain. My 300 lb+ body was more than my poor knees could take. When I tried to exercise they hurt too much so I had to stop and I would get depressed and eat...gaining more and more, causing more and more damage and pain.

The first 2 orthopedists I saw told me there was nothing they could do because I wasn't a good candidate for the surgery. They never actualy said why but of course it was the weight. But this 3rd orthopedist was a well known specialist in NYC who cares for big sports figures. As he looked at my xrays he shook his head and said "well those are some ugly knees" He proceeded to show me the damage, the bone spurs , etc. and the whole time I was thinking -- "he is going to agree to do the surgery on my knees! I am going to get relief of the pain" and I was promising myself that as soon as I recuperated I would lose the weight and get my life back. For the first time in years I was feeling excited. Then he turned to me and my husband and very matter of factly told me "you need bilateral knee replacements but I would not even consider doing the surgery on you because of your weight. People your size do not rehab well and even if you did and then lost all the weight you need to lose we would have to do the surgeries over because your body dynamics would change once you lost the weight and the prosthetics wouldn't fit right anymore. But if you lose the weight you may actually be able to lessen the pain enough to hold off on the surgeries until your mid-late 50s which is much better as you are too young for this type of surgery"

My eyes welled, my ears began ringing, I felt like I had been slapped in the face. I wasn't able to look at him or my husband. Then I heard him ask "have you considered bariatric surgery?" I had not, I knew nothing about it except for my own made up ideas -- that it was drastic, radical, dangerous and a crazy thing to do..of course I had not considered it. So my husband and I left. In the car on the long ride home I was numb. I felt like my life was never going to get better. This was my last chance.

Three days later I decided to google bariatric surgery and proceeded to spend hours that day researching it. Then every night after work I read more and educated myself and slowly.... my despair began to turn to hope. That was March 2010. I was banded on 12/5/2010 and I am sooo happy. The 24 lbs I have lost so far is already making improvements to my walking and my whole perspective has improved so dramatically. I feel so confident that I am going to make it work this time. I swear my knees actually hurt less already. Maybe it's in my head, but I am going to get this weight off, take care of my knees and live the life I should be living!!!

Wow....this has turned into a novel, so sorry fo the rambling. I guess it's just this is the first time I really put these pieces all together. Looks like we all had our own deciding factors which brought us here -- good luck to all of you on your journeys!!! K

For the last 20yrs i had piled on the weight, the death of my child left a big hole in my life which i tried to fill with food, I was miserable and immobile. At 400 lbs my Diabetes was getting worse and where previously i had controlled it with my diet, this just wasnt working anymore. I was lucky in that my cholesterol and my blood pressure were all normal, i had no sleep apnea, but my energy level was rock bottom, and all my joints hurt.

My first step was admitting that i actually needed help to do this, i had always liked healthy food but i just ate too much of it. I started to watch tv programmes like Biggest Loser, i had always avoided watching programmes about fat people before.

My decision about getting surgery was after i had my check up with my doctor who suggested that Surgery was an option to help me. I knew i could do this if i could just stop feeling so hungry all the time, never feeling satisfied after you have eaten was making me miserable all day long.

I was in the weight bracket for a gastric bypass or sleeve, but i really didnt want to go down that route, i researched all about the options including the band and knew that the band was right for me even tho i was outside the bmi they would normally do a band here.

My surgeon agreed to do the band surgery if i lost enough weight to get my bmi lower. I thought then , this is it, if i want a band i am going to have to do this, my mind was ready for a band and all i had to do was get my body ready. Nearly 3 months later and 40lbs lighter from a pre-surgery diet of just 600 calories i had the band fitted and have never looked back.

2 yrs after my husband died, I was ready to start dating again. I figure I really didn't want to be on the BBW website so I had to lose weeight. Also when I couldn't catch my breath while tying my shoes!

Marci

I had really given up. If I lost any weight it was an accident!! I was so embarrassed to be seen in public places. My paranoia was pretty bad. I quit going to parties with my husbands friends & hated to see the relatives at Christmas. My attitude was so bad, I was an angry woman; angry at myself for being so weak!

At 63, my doc told me I had a hiatal hernia and I needed surgery. I had heard many weight loss stories but didn't think I could do it. Don't ask me why, it was my "I give up" attitude I guess, plus I was so embarrassed to even talk about it. Even with my doc, who I feel very comfortable.

Well, when I started to talk to the surgeon about the surgery I had to have I jokingly said, "while you are in there, why don't you put a band on" then I laughed. I fully expected him to say no, we can't do both. Thankfully he said great idea, make it happen. I had to find a new surgeon ( he gave me a recommendation), started all the pre op work and am now 6 weeks post op.

I feel so much better. what a miracle, that I work hard to make happen every day!!! this is not a free ride, if we don't work - it won't happen....

I had really given up. If I lost any weight it was an accident!! I was so embarrassed to be seen in public places. My paranoia was pretty bad. I quit going to parties with my husbands friends & hated to see the relatives at Christmas. My attitude was so bad, I was an angry woman; angry at myself for being so weak!

At 63, my doc told me I had a hiatal hernia and I needed surgery. I had heard many weight loss stories but didn't think I could do it. Don't ask me why, it was my "I give up" attitude I guess, plus I was so embarrassed to even talk about it. Even with my doc, who I feel very comfortable.

Well, when I started to talk to the surgeon about the surgery I had to have I jokingly said, "while you are in there, why don't you put a band on" then I laughed. I fully expected him to say no, we can't do both. Thankfully he said great idea, make it happen. I had to find a new surgeon ( he gave me a recommendation), started all the pre op work and am now 6 weeks post op.

I feel so much better. what a miracle, that I work hard to make happen every day!!! this is not a free ride, if we don't work - it won't happen....

My brother planned his wedding in Mexico .. I sweated the seatbelt thing up till the day we boarded the plane .. thank god it fit with the extender. Was a great week and time for the flight home. Plane was packed, was seated in the emergency exit row where you are not allowed to use an extender .. struggled a bit and realized there was no way it was gonna buckle. Had to fake recovering from a broken shoulder and would be unable to operate the emergency exit door so they would move me. Not a total lie . it had been about 8 weeks from the break but I probebly could have handled the door if need be.

Mine decision to lose weight started after 2 events....FIRST my great grandad (who had dementia and I had not seen in a few yrs) said to me...Kanina I didnt even recognize you you've gotten so fat!! Second was when I got my wedding pictures back...I was MORTIFIED!!!!! I had the surgery the following January!!! BEST DECISION EVER!!! Now ppl say Kanina I didnt even recognize you you've gotten so skinny LOL