As of now, I have only discussed my upcoming surgery with my husband and two bo@workers who see also banded. As we get closer yo the date I will talk with my mom to tell her, but after that, I don't think I will be telling too many more people.

I have shared with my parents, my fiance, my aunt (who is also banded), and maybe will share with my brothers. Other than that, I don't feel the need.

Of course husband & sons but no one else. Don't need the hassle of comments. Went to dinner with friends had alittle wine and 2oz of salmon. Much different than before but its all good. My friends had no idea they just thought I'm on another one of my "diets". Maybe down the road but right now I don't want to tell anyone.

I told anyone who asked. I was at my daughter's school yesturday and ran into her first grade teacher( she is in 2nd now). She said to me "you look great did you do something different with your hair? " I replied, "I may have, I don't think it too different then normal, may have got it cut, but I DID lose about 40 pounds." She was amazed and asked how I did it, so I pulled up mt sweater and showed her my little month old scars, and said "determination, will power, protein shakes and WLS. I had lapband surgery last month." She wow, "Thoses are tiny incsions, thats all! sign me up!, But really, I think you hair looks great!" hahaha Of course I did lose half the weight on my preop diet.

I'm open about it to anyone. I don't see it as anything to be ashamed or, nor do I feel the need to explain my choices. I'm proud of myself for taking this step to better my health and my life. If they don't like it, that's their problem, not mine.

Plus, I see it as an educational opportunity. If someone hints at this being the "easy way", I'm quick to educate them on the truth and how much work it actually is.

Mind you, I also have MS, and I handle it the same way. Very open about and use it as an educational opportunity.

I guess it's just my nature

I've told my DH (obviously, lol), my BFF, and a friend who is having a band installed 2 weeks after my surgery.

to ms73, i couldnt of said it better myself. my family and my hubbys family knew, because my 2 in laws had it june 2011. i watched their progress over the summer and was impressed enough with their changes that i researched as much as possible and was finally banded dec 2011. im doing fine 5 weeks post op, down 14 lbs. i think if you treat wls as a well researched decision that you and your dr made to get you healthy , nobody can really fault you for it. if they do thats their problem, not yours ! good for you that youre doing something special for your body and your future ! you go girl !!

I was banded on Thursday and so far so good. I was insistebt that I was not going to tell anyone but my best friend. I have 3 teenagers and didnt even want to tell them, wasn't sure what they would think and more over if my ex husband found out. He can be not so nice. I work where my kids go to school and our principal had it done in July and has lost 68 pounds. He was very open about it. At the last minute and i mean 2 days before surgery i decided to tell my kids. I felt that if I started eating in the way i was going to have to they would be suspisous and worry. We have sit down meals and it would have been very noticeable. I didnt want to set a bad example of eating so little for my teenage daughter, so I decided to tell them. It went very well! I also did not want to feel like I was being watched to see how much I had lost from surgery, but figured in the end people would probably ask me if I was ok becasue I was losing so much weight. So I told. I have not told friends from work yet ,but i am assuming they will hear in a round about way. i did not tell my kids to keep it a secret because i didnt want to have to tell them to lie. So in the end I think it was better. There is a lot of pressure to keeping a secret at least for me. I dont need the stress of worrying who has found out. So thats why I chose my mind to tell. It will get around soon enough. I'm not going to run an Ad or anything I'll just wait for it to play out. Good luck!

I was banded on Thursday and so far so good. I was insistebt that I was not going to tell anyone but my best friend. I have 3 teenagers and didnt even want to tell them, wasn't sure what they would think and more over if my ex husband found out. He can be not so nice. I work where my kids go to school and our principal had it done in July and has lost 68 pounds. He was very open about it. At the last minute and i mean 2 days before surgery i decided to tell my kids. I felt that if I started eating in the way i was going to have to they would be suspisous and worry. We have sit down meals and it would have been very noticeable. I didnt want to set a bad example of eating so little for my teenage daughter, so I decided to tell them. It went very well! I also did not want to feel like I was being watched to see how much I had lost from surgery, but figured in the end people would probably ask me if I was ok becasue I was losing so much weight. So I told. I have not told friends from work yet ,but i am assuming they will hear in a round about way. i did not tell my kids to keep it a secret because i didnt want to have to tell them to lie. So in the end I think it was better. There is a lot of pressure to keeping a secret at least for me. I dont need the stress of worrying who has found out. So thats why I chose my mind to tell. It will get around soon enough. I'm not going to run an Ad or anything I'll just wait for it to play out. Good luck!

I was so excited to get the surgery, I told everyone! Well, except for my husband's family! Come this past Christmas and down 75 pounds, it took my mother in law 2 hours to even mention my weightloss...my sister in law and her hubby were right there when she asked and didn't mention a thing. His other sister and family didn't notice either or atleast didn't say a word. I think the reason I didn't want to tell them was that I thought they would think I was just taking the easy way out. By no means has this been easy! Only 12 pounds to go til I am at a normal BMI, I couldn't be happier! Anyways, I think that by telling your close friends and family that you are having the surgery , it can a be a huge support system for you. Take advantage of those that you know can help support you on your weightloss journey.

I was banded in September 2009 and I only told my family and very close friends. The only reason I didn't tell anyone else was it was none of their business and I was afraid that I would fail like I had at every diet I had tried before.Not to mention that people who have never ahd a weight problem can be so judgemental and think that WLS is the easy way out. When people started noticing my weight loss and asked me how I was doing it I would tell them that I cut out all the bad stuff that I was over indulging in before (bread, sweets, soda and fast food etc). I wasn't lying I just didn't tell the entire story.

After losing 114 pounds (even though I have gained some back), I have proven to myself that I am not a failure and I am no longer ashamed of failure and am proud to tell people about my band! In fact I was asked to give my testimony at the WLS seminar where I had my surgery done. I was so glad to share my story with others who were considering having surgery.

Good luck to you on your journey and do what makes you comfortable!!

So my husband knows and a few of my close friends. Others in my family know varying degrees of the situation, I tend to leave out the part that I am traveling to mexico to have this done!!! i will tell them and explain the reasons why if need be. It have just felt like it is to stressful to share with everyone. Afterall, I am doing this for me:)

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I really dont want everyone in my business. Im waiting to tell my mom, because I know she will worry. She is a nurse and works with wls patients, so she has seen the good and the bad sides. Im ready to be a new heathly me.

Ive already gotten the "are you crazy" from my two best friends for considering it. Ill have to ask my mother questions since she had a gastric bypass and worked in the medical field. Im sure she will tell the whole entire family if I choose to do it, but I wouldnt want anyone in my business either!

I told 3 co workers I think they told 5 each. Make sure the people you tell really won't tell anyone else. My mother told everyone she talked to. Lol she didn't see any reason not to. Her words. I'm not to worried about it just don't want to deal with everyone else's expectations/ questions

What TWI said, tell one person and you've told a bunch. I chose to be open about my surgery. I didn't announce I was having it done, but as I lost people asked how I was doing it (as they always will). So, after I'd told one or two people at work, others would approach saying, "I heard you had lap band surgery!" Granted, those I told were not asked to keep it quiet.

Also, when eating in a group and I experience trouble, I prefer to just tell people rather than prevaricating. But that is me. It would be just as easy to say I am not feeling well, or I am not very hungry.

Each of us will figure out what works.

The only person I did NOT want to know was my MIL. She was a worrier and would never let the topic rest. If I had a cold, she'd ask me about it each time I saw her for the next 3 months. I get migraines, I take meds daily to prevent them, but still have them sometimes. Each visit I got the 3rd degree about my migraines and why couldn't they stop them, why did I need to take so much medication for them? What causes them? Why can't they cure them?

Yeah, ain't going there with the band. I think she had a suspicion though. She'd seen me go through multiple diets and failures. Then saw me be successful without my talking about it. All she ever said was you look great! The woman who used to try to drag me onto a scale to see how much I weighed when I was at my peak. She never once asked how I was doing it. So, perhaps a SIL told her and explained I wanted it keep it private...dunno. She passed last April without it ever becoming an issue. Bless her heart.