Okay ... So I'm 20 and I'm 5'8 and almost 300 pounds. I don't look like I'm almost 300 pounds I seem to hold it well. I want the lap band so bad and I have my first appointment on the 31st of December but the thing I'm scared of the most is loose skin. Is there A LOT of loose skin involved with this procedure ? I'm super insecure now and I feel like losing weight will help but if I have loose skin afterwards I feel like ill still be insecure. :/ anything encouraging to say that'll help my decision ?

I'll tell you what I've heard about loose skin...it depends on so many factors like genetics and age. I would say since you are so young, it wouldn't be bad...your skin would most likely bounce back. But that is only my un-educated opinion.

Personally I would rather have loose skin than to be obese :-)

CaWannaBand is right. Plus loose skin can be surgically fixed.

You are young and that is an advantage. I wish I did this back when I was younger. Only regret is not doing it sooner.

Good luck to you.

To add I've also heard if u lose it at a slow steady pace and work out that the elasticity will be better so therefore less loose skin. It's hard to know for sure though. The loses skin I def way better than the health problems u might develop from being obese!

Thanks guys ! I hope my skin bounces back I'm excited ^-^

You are only 20, of course your skin will bounce back! It does take targeted exercises, and patience. It takes 12-16 months for the skin to conform. That is an issue I battle with, but I'm 55.

Just ask yourself which is worse? Loose skin or dieing from some co-morbidity.

Gosh, I wish I didn't wait 20 years to get this done. Year after year saying "This will be the year" Or tomorrow I will start, when I am 30 I will do it, blah blah blah......UGGH. I am sooo glad I did this Dec 4. Already feeling fantastic after 26 pound loss. I can't even begin to imagine how I will be feeling, bouncing off the walls another hundo pounds come this small frame LOL.

As far as skin lose it first then deal with that. I know I am going to have hanging skin, but I can have surgery for that and if I kept putting excuses in front of me about sagging skin I would continue to get bigger and bigger till I die! I was 200 when I was 20 and pretty active each decade I kept putting on more and more weight. Hitting a high of 317 ......

If it is possible get the WLS surgery when you can and don't wait any longer!! As AJTEXAS said my only regret is not getting done sooner!!!

Good Luck with what ever you decide and keep us posted. This is a great site for information, but always listen to your doctor first. There are so many "veteran" banders on here from 1-10 years of being banded. For me looking at them is so damn inspiring and helps me make good decisions everyday now! Being Obese is hard to deal with so having these fantastic knowledgable people is amazing! (check out Floridays profile, she also just had tummy tuck and breast surgrey the other day after a 200 pound weight loss, if thats not inspiring, I don't know what is!!) There are many many people on here with incredible weight loss stories!

Wow, I am getting all emotional here, I am so happy I guess that I know I am going to lose it this time!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! All

This is OUR YEAR!!!

All the above posts are excellent. Loose skin should be the least of your worries. I am 5'9 and weighed 377 lbs at my heaviest. You can check out the pic in my gallery. I thought I carried it well too but nevertheless it was still 377 lbs of strain I was putting on my heart.

I lost 220 lbs with the help of the band. Amazingly enough my loose skin wasnt as bad as I thought it would be but it was there. I am also 30 years older than you so have lost most of the elasticity and I was heavy most of my life so the odds of it bouncing back was slim. I chose to get surgery but I was in a size 8 on Monday before the tt and I am still in an 8 today... So I could have lived with it.

My point is... Don't let that be an excuse to not lose weight.... It's not worth it.