I finally made my mind up and attended a WLS seminar this week. I am scheduled for my consult on September 5th. I cannot wait to start to process to a new me, emotionally, mentally and physically. I've been trying to get my PC to get on board with my decision for sometime now & she finally did. I am so excited!!! People don't understand how discouraging it can be to lose weight & gain just to lose & gain it all over again. I am tired of being I am tired of being in limbo with my weight. I am 34 years old and have been on a diet for more than half of my life. I want to be free from the fat that consumes my body; which ultimately impacts my health. I've been taking medication for hypertension since I was about 23/24 years old and found out this year that I need hip replacements. I need to lose the weight to prolong my health and any future surgery. Listening to everyone's testimony has been a great help in affirming my decision and truly knowing in my heart that it will be the best thing for me to finally be free.

Congratulation on taking the first step to a newer you! I did manage to lose 176 pounds on my own, than hit the wall no losses for a year! So I decided in June to go forward with the band. Very happy I did! My PC who went through all the bad stuff with me didn't want me to have the surgery she felt I could lose it all on my own, but she was willing to support me in my choice to go forward with it. She just moved and today I saw my new PC for the first time. She was so impressed with all the former conditions that I had battled that had been overcome by my weight loss. She went down the list and removed 6 things that I no longer have. She said she was very supportive of my choice to get a lap band too, so I felt on board with her. She said my other doctor was there for the first 200 lost now she'd be there for the last 50 but I told her I really want more than 50! I told her I was cheating for the home run, but she said no you already hit a triple play! It was nice that the doctor is on board and supportive. I am glad that your PC finely sees it your way. I too previously had hypertension and was on 4 different blood pressure meds, I was taken off all of them. I currently only take medication for my seizure condition and all the weight loss in the world will take that one away!! I wish you all the best in your WLS journey I can tell you that you will have no regrets I am sure.

Taking that first step is going to turn into giant leaps for you. Congratulations!

I finally made my mind up and attended a WLS seminar this week. I am scheduled for my consult on September 5th. I cannot wait to start to process to a new me, emotionally, mentally and physically. I've been trying to get my PC to get on board with my decision for sometime now & she finally did. I am so excited!!! People don't understand how discouraging it can be to lose weight & gain just to lose & gain it all over again. I am tired of being I am tired of being in limbo with my weight. I am 34 years old and have been on a diet for more than half of my life. I want to be free from the fat that consumes my body; which ultimately impacts my health. I've been taking medication for hypertension since I was about 23/24 years old and found out this year that I need hip replacements. I need to lose the weight to prolong my health and any future surgery. Listening to everyone's testimony has been a great help in affirming my decision and truly knowing in my heart that it will be the best thing for me to finally be free.

Good luck to you Journey. Your story resonated with me because I've had a bad knee for several years and finally knew that I'd need it replaced and heard the news I suspected but didn't know for sure. At 267 lbs. I was not a good candidate for knee replacement. I knew at that point that I needed help to lose weight and I went forward with the band.

I'm banded now a little over 7 months and was cleared for surgery when I got to 200 lbs...some six months earlier than anyone expected. I'm now at 182 so I've even gone well below the 200 number and I know the more I lose, the better my rehab will go. I've since found out that my hips are also involved and while the doctors feel that there is an underlying systemic cause for my joint degeneration, I know in my heart and my gut that carrying around that extra weight for so many years surely didn't help any.

Keep us posted on your progress and know that there is great support and information on this site.

Thank you all for the support, it really makes me feel much confident in my decision as I move forward in the process. I hope to be a fellow bandster in the near future.

Today I had my consult, I had all these questions I wanted ask & was so excited I forgot them all. My tentative surgery date is October 30, as long as all my require the are completed by the 16th. As soon as I left the doctors office and got into my car, I started making all the necessary appointments needed to keep my date. So far so good! I go see my PCP tomorrow, I have my psychological scheduled for Sept. 17th and my nutritional evaluation on Oct. 26th. I am excited beyond belief to get this journey started! I did start to reschedule for after the holidays but its no time like the present, plus there will be plenty of holidays for me to celebrate and none of them will be as great as being skinny will feel!