Hello Every1

My name is Andrea, but every1 calls me Gia. I am new to this site and I am very happy to become part of it. Well about me... I am a single and independent mom of 3 beautiful kids (2g, 7,11 & 1b, 6). I live near Chicago, IL. I attend college studying a double major in the medical field, but my passion is makeup! I haven't been employed for a yr now, for the past yr, I have become a home aid for a family member who has many health care conditions. I have been blessed with wonderful parents who have helped me and supported me in many ways. I have only 1 older brother. I find it really hard to trust just anyone therefore, I only have a few close friends. I also have an amazing bff, who has been there for me and w/ me for the past 6 yrs.

All my life, I have always been over-weight. At birth, I weighed 10.8 Lbs. Growing up, wasn't so bad. I can't remember a time where I was teased or bullied because of my size. I am also the heaviest of both sides of my family, and it sucks!! I really don't go out much because I am not comfortable with my size. I wasn't what I thought was that heavy until I had my kids, then I blew up :/ I gained near 100 Lbs after all 3. My heaviest has been 322. I have tried several ways to lose weight (Ali, Herbalife, etc..) and none have worked. I didn't know much about the Lap-band until a friend of a friend mentioned it she had gotten it done (but she didn't put much effort in it...). I looked into it, by looking though YouTube videos and other sites. I decided to go for it and I called Mercy Hospital Lap-band Program. This all started out in Aug. 2011. I am very happy that I was introduced to the LB program, I hope that fianlly after so many yrs of trying, I will be able to lose weight successfully.

Hi ! Welcome Aboard.... You made a wise choice to come on to this site. Were all pretty good about helping each other out, and listening also.

Check out the pre op, and post op sites. This way you can read up on stuff that will be all new to you, and learn from different peoples experiences. Also everyone that is Banded, things work differently for everyone! What works for 1 person might not work for someone else. I think that is the most important thing to learn, that everyone's situation is different. So you have to understand the difference in opinions.

I'll see you around. Don't be a stranger... Just venture out !

I'll catch you around, Shirley.