I was thinking.... I know there are a lot of teenagers being banded now and they deal with a lot of issues with support and advice that we (adults) don't deal with. I thought it would be nice if I created a thread that they can all identify themselves on and share amongst themselves. Hopefully this will allow them to maybe come in contact and exchange their info in private. I absolutely do not mind giving advice or chatting or whatever, I am just thinking that it might be nice to know of other teens on the site for them. Since we are a big group, sometimes they get lost in the crowd.

So if your a teenager and maybe looking for other teens to ask and advise and support, you can post here too!!!

My abs were sore, they felt like I had done about 1,000 crunches. I wouldn't say really much pain, just very sore.

Kristin

I was really sore also. My incisions hurt a lot because I am really sensitive to pain meds and I didn't want to have a lot. I think that most of my pain was just emotional. It was scary to have something foreign inside of me, but I knew that there was no turning back. I don't regret it at all though. It was the best thing I ever did for myself.

have another question, anybody who has stairs in there home, does it hurt to walk upstairs???

No, stairs were the best thing for gas pain! I was up and down all day when I got home.

I'm 11. Does anyone know about anyone else that young?

Lesley

Dr George Fielding of NYU Hospital operates on adolescents, heres an article from the New York Post about his work.

June 5, 2006 -- Some severely obese teenagers are shrinking. Eighty-one supersize 14- to 17-year-olds who enrolled in an NYU Medical Center fat-busting program have collectively shed 7,300 pounds after undergoing gastric-band surgery that reduced the size of their stomachs and curbed their appetites.

On average, they weighed 300 pounds before the surgery. One tipped the scales at 530, three others at 400. The average loss equaled 90 pounds of body fat.

And the total loss - 3.65 tons - was equivalent to the weight of an SUV.

The procedure "controls the patient's hunger," said Dr. George Fielding, NYU's chief pediatric gastric-band surgeon, who first performed the surgery in his native Australia. "Not being hungry is the key to the whole thing. The size of the stomach goes from a football to a golf ball."

An adjustable white silicon ring, attached to a wiry, inflatable prosthetic belt, is fastened to the top of the stomach after small incisions are made and tubes inserted during a laparoscopy.

The "LAP-Band" creates a smaller pouch, or stomach. A balloon inside the band helps control the size, which can be adjusted by injecting a saline solution in the stomach wall.

Retiree Ira Harris, who was a patient of Fielding's, donated $2 million to pay for the surgery and follow-up treatment for the 81 kids, 35 of whom are part of an FDA-approved clinical trial and all of whom had been diagnosed as morbidly obese.

A significant majority in an NYU survey said that they were no longer short of breath, fit in better at school and now play sports they never had.

Plus, once-large girls can now shop in regular stores.

"It's very hard being a fat teen-ager," Fielding said. "Being a morbidly obese teenage girl is as close to being in hell as you can imagine. This surgery gives them a shot at a normal life."

Three-quarters of his patients are female; most are white. Many come in with ailments more often associated with the elderly: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint pains.

Dieting has failed these kids. And the alternative, gastric bypass, or intestinal rerouting, is more invasive and more dangerous.

"We want to show LAP-Band surgery is a valid treatment for kids. It is much safer," said Fielding, who himself went from 330 to 215 pounds after undergoing the surgery.

There is a risk of infection from excess skin, and some doctors fear the bands may dissolve or break over time.

But there's been no evidence of that, Fielding said.

And, in any event, the bands are easy to retrieve and replace - unlike one's teenage years.

carl.campanile@nypost.com

Here, I started a thread for us. I think our experience is going to be different from teens, but probably more different than 30+ year olds too. So let's just have our own little party here:

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?p=236907#post236907

I know that while there might not be an age to get the band done... most insurance companies will not pay unless the patient is 18+...

That's how all the insurance companies policies were stated when we looked into it for me. I'm now 21 and about to get banded on July 5th. But I do remember how it felt to be fat in my teens, and it wasn't fun.

hey everyone!

I'm 17 years old, a senior in high school and i'm so blessed to be able to be banded!! I was banded september 1, 2006. I'm glad there are other teens on this site that I can relate too! I havne't had any problems yet other than one meal i ate to fast and developed a sharp, bad pain in my lower chest upper stomach.

22 bandster here

I think it is awesome that teenagers like me have the ability to do something about our wieght. I know from personal experience that there is a lot of cruel people out there that make fun of someone because their different. Thats why I looking into getting the band by my senior graduation so I can leave feeling good. Lastly I wanted to say good luck to any teenager who decides to get the bad. Hope you all get the results yo u want.

Samantha

Hey everyone! I'm 19 and in college. i don't have the band yet but i hope to have it done over christmas break.

Jenna-

Thank you for this! Like we were talking about, it is different for teens! Hopefully theses teenbandsters will all come forward and we can get to know each other!

hi im getting it to im 15 and my mom had it and she was very sucessful so please get back to me its good to see people my age that are getting itor that had it

Hey everyone!! I'm new on this site and I love it! I am so excited to know that there are more teens like me out there getting banded! I am 15 years old and I was banded on January 17th. What a blessing! I am so glad that I had the opportunity to do this and I hope that joining this little group will help me through every step. Please write back!

Michelle

hi michelle im 15 and getting banded on thursday so ill let u know how it went

I'm 18, recently graduated HS in May, and am taking the right steps to be banded. I am so excited and hope I can get this. I've been large my entire life and I'm tired of it. I want desperately to take control of my life and know I'm going to be healthier overall. :confused: I have my first appointment with my PCP on Thursday to sign off for my surgeons and I am also getting all my labs done, should be fun!

I'm towards the end of the -teen spectrum, but I'm still one!