Hi my name is Shannon, I am 32 years old and have been overweight my whole life. I have contemplated lap band surgery several times, the only thing that makes me hesitant about it is what I have heard about ending up with a lot of loose skin. I am planning on calling my Dr tomorrow to schedule an appointment to talk to her about the surgery and hopefully after that, I will be able to begin my journey to weight loss once and for all. I guess what I want to know is, what does this entail? I have found several sites telling me what the surgery is, but nothing about what you need to do to get there. I have heard several different things, some people say that you need to lose a certain amount before you can have the sugery, some say you dont. I just wanna know what you went through from that first appointment, until you had the surgery and how long do you have to wait to have the surgery? How many of you had to deal with the loose skin and if you didnt end up with it, how did you prevent it? I am just scared that I will end up with loose skin and be more ashamed of how I look than I am now, being overweight. I would love for someone to talk to, that has been through this. Thanks so much.

What are plications? I am just starting my journey at 30, weighing 322lbs, and am 5'3" tall and have vaginally birthed 3 children, which includes a set of twins. My childrens father, whom I have been with for nearly 7year now, is supportive of my decesion BUT I have come to believe he is a chubby chaser. The past few days I have been excited about my decesion for the lap band surgery and as a result of my excitment I've opened up to him about what my ultimate goals are with the surgery. He told me if I got below 140lbs he would leave me. I have to laugh because he himself is lucky to weigh that on a heavy day :-P

my husband exes including myself are on the heavy side. When I first got the surgery and told him I wanted to weigh 150 he said the same thing "you are gonna look sick, you wasnt that small when I met you, why you wanna be so little blah blah blah.....2sizes down later he is working out and watching what he eats. He has lost 9lbs on his own. He said he is not going to let me look good for the next man......TOTALLY SHOCKED ME!

Thanks everyone for your answers!!! I am 32' date=' 5'5", weigh 265. I would like to get down to 145-150. I have 3 children, had 2 vaginally and 1 by c section. I made an appointment for Monday, to talk to my doctor about the surgery.. Hoping she is for it, I am sure it will make things easier!! I think one reason I am so worried about the loose skin is because my husband mentioned it and I am afraid of looking "gross" to him. [/quote']

Hi Shannon,

I will add here as my experience has been different than other posters. I, too, have been overweight most of my life. I started my weight loss journey this last time in 2009 at 265 lbs and I'm 5'6z. Between 2009 and jan of 2012 I Lost 85 lbs. the last 25 lbs of that was a yo yo for 13 months I'd regain, catch myself, and lose it. In January I decided I was done. I can lose, but I always regain. Because my bmi was low at that point, insurance wouldnt pay. I did my research on self pay and decided to have my surgery in Mexico with Dr Ortiz. I scheduled for march 22nd. They put me on a pre op diet that consisted of either 30 days of Atkins, 14 days of Protein shakes and one light meal, or 9 days of Atkins shakes a day. They required that i lose 5% of my body weight prior to surgery. I did 14 days of 3 Atkins shakes and lost 21 lbs prior to surgery. They do this so your liver will shrink and make surgery easier and more safe. A fatty liver can tear. Every doctor is different though. Because I was self pay (cost was 4995 plus airfare. Hotel and transport was provided) I didn't have any hoops to jump through. I did phone consultations prior to arriving and on the day of surgery I met with a cardiologist, pulmonologist, and nutritionist as well as my surgeons to ensure I was healthy enough and to create a plan for after care. All went very smoothly. No complications. I'm now 3 months post op. My weight is 175, this is down about 18 lbs since the day of surgery. I haven't had any fills yet by my own choice. 18 lbs in 12 weeks is fast enough loss for me. I don't have what I would describe as restriction that many here speak about, but I am so much less hungry with the unfilled band in place and it takes less to satisfy me. Having no restriction, I'm not wonderful about following the chewing and no Water rule while eating but I haven't found anything that doesn't go down since my band is loosey goosey. I am content where I am, but will go for a fill if the slow steady loss halts. As always, I have to watch for head hunger.

About loose skin.... It depends on a lot of things. Genetics mostly, and then lifestyle. I have quite a bit, despite the fact that my loss has been slow over 3 years. Problem areas for me are belly, upper arms and inner thighs. It's not attractive, but I feel better. I had body image issues and was ashamed to be naked or even wear a swimsuit in front of my ex husband when I was 265lbs. At 175 I'm not comfortable being naked because of loose skin... But at least it's a good trade because I can move and don't hurt. I have very poor genetics for skin elasticity, I can tell this by looking at my mother, sister, grandmother, etc. my mother was never overweight by more than 15 or 20lbs , but I remember she wrinkled and had waggly skin starting in her 30s. When my weight is stable for a year, I'm going back to Mexico for a lower body lift that will take care of excess skin on my belly, buttocks and thighs, and to have my arms done. Im ok with having to have this done, it will be a gift to myself. I'll go to Mexico because it was a good experience for me the first time, and the cost is about 1/4 to 1/3 of what it is here.

As for your husband... I'll be honest, some men are threatened by their wives weightloss. It's a security issue. Hes thinking Will you leave him if you get skinny? ( I don't say skinny and beautiful, because you are clearly already beautiful even at your current weight) Being obese is not healthy. It causes pain and degeneration. Loose skin does not do that. My hope is that your husband is more concerned for your health than your appearance. Dear, someday you're going to be 70 years old and skin will hang from your bones if you weigh 80lbs or 280lbs. It's a fact of life.... But age is the great equalizer... Because when he is 70 so will his. If you eat right and exercise and do weight training, you may build enough muscle to fill in some of that loose skin, but every person is different. .. And there are a great many skilled surgeons who specialize in post weight loss reconstructive surgery if you desire it when the time comes.