I'm Donna and I'm new here. I has an appt with a surgeon in 2 weeks. I weigh 285 with a 48.9 BMI. My primary care dr has been talking to me about the lapband, as well as my pain management dr and my lung dr. My primary care and pain dr have had a conference call with a bariatric dr about me so maybe I will get approved. We never know about insurance companies though. They can be fickle.

I used to be over 300lbs, on oxygen, and in a power wheelchair most of the time. My mom died a few years ago and my sister (who was my best friend) died suddenly this year. It has spurred me into not wanting to have my kids and grandkids bury me and go thru this pain so I have been putting alot of energy into getting more active.

I'm off oxygen now and only in my chair about 1/3 of the time but depending on pain levels. I am having a horrible time losing the weight. I have tried to diet on my own, pills my doctor gave me, personal trainer, dietician, etc and nothings working. I have the usual pains of morbidly obesity: asthma, diabetes, hypertension, severe osteoarthritis and degenerative disease and I have had a mild heart attack in my past. My family history is strong for massive fatal heart attacks so my doctors are really helping me work on this. My kids, however, are totally against it. They say if I find the motivation to do all of the pre-op dieting and the post-op then why can't I just find the discipline to do it without the band??

I hope to be one of these success stories some day that I am finding on this forum.

If your primary physician thinks you are able to do the surgery, then by all means do it. It has been a life saver to lots of people out there who definitely would die sooner if they didn't do anything about their weight. Most of us have problems already and did the surgery. My surgery was only under 40 minutes total and that was with a hernia repair near the breastbone. I had no problems and was able to return home later that same day. In your case, you might have to be monitored a day or so in the hospital.There was very little discomfort from the lapband, more with the hernia repair. But liquid vicodin prescribed and I used for 24 hours helped me sleep very comfortable.

Please check with all your doctors and let them decide if you are a good canidate for the surgery.

Best wishes and Keep the Faith.

Thank you for that information. I also have a hernia and they said that when they do the lapband they would correct it. So that may hurt more. I'm used to pain so that doesn't scare me . I'm most scared about being able to be disciplined.

Welcome tbear!

I am new, banded on the 17th of Dec.

I wish you all the success in the world!

Hi Donna! I'm new here too. It was my orthapedic surgeon who suggested to me to get lap band surgery. So, I'm on my way now. I have to do 6 months of doctor monitored dieting. I've tried all kinds of diets - low carb, weight watchers, medifast, etc...with little success. My dad would feel the same as your kids - if you can do it before surgery why not just do it on your own? But, I can't seem to manage to stay on it on my own. I figure there are a lot of things I can do in life...but this is something I need help with and the lap band is a great tool that is going to help me be healthy!

One of the gals at my work had this done in May...she is doing great! She says it is the best thing (aside from marrying her husband!) that she has done for herself.

we can do this! And be healthy and around for our kids and grand kids!

Take care,

Angela

Hello Angela,

Thanks for the support. Last summer my primary care doctor and I have been trying different things like diet suppressants, diabetes medicine that speeds up metabolism, physical therapy, etc....My ortho doctor also has me doing PT and also did a medial branch block to help with the pain in my facet joints also switching meds around so we have been actively trying things for about 6-7 months now. My mobility issues have been a huge factor also. So all of my doctors including my cardiologist are on board saying this has gotta happen.

They wanted to see if I was serious about change but since my sis died so suddenly I knew I had to change my life drastically so I am out of my power chair alot more and trying to be more active swimming and stuff but the drawback is I have to load up on 2 Vicodin, 1 Flexeril, and 3 Lidoderm patches just in order to be on my feet for a few hours (like going to a meeting, church, etc). I've been trying everything they suggest so they talked to a bariatric dr if I would be a candidate and he said absolutely but I go on THursday (Jan 3) for my consult.

Wish me luck! I'm trusting God to help me make the right decisions about it. I'm nervous about it!

Good luck! You must do this yourself. It is a tool to help with the dieting and that is how I would present it to your family. My family was/is very supportive I have asthma, high cholesterol, GERD, and degenerative joint disease 1 disc in my back is completely gone. I knew I had to do something different.

Welcome Donna,

The band is the best thing I have done for myself. It is a wonderful tool that has assisted me in loosing 73 lbs in 10 months. I completely changed my eating lifestyle, I don't eat fast food anymore, I don't drink sodas anymore. Most of my meals are prepaid from scratch using fresh produce (nothing out of a box). I log everything I eat. Drink my Water and exercise daily. Yes its a lot of work, but worth every minute of it.

I would recommend that you read this forum, read the success stories and also the unsuccessful stories. Research and educate yourself on the band and the rules that you will need to follow. One book that was very helpful to me was Bandwagon by Jean McMillan. There is a link to buy it at the bottom of this page. And finally ask questions, we would love to answer them and tell you our experiences.

Good luck to you.