I wanted to know from people what the final catalyst was in deciding to be banded.

Mine was when my father was diagnosed with type II Diabetes, along with most of his 7 other brothers. I decided that unless I did something about this weight I was going to have the same fate.

I have noticed there are alot of us 40-45yr olds in here.

Did turning 40 have anything to do with your decision to have WLS.

It did for me....I realised that at 41yrs I just didn't have the "fight" in me anymore. I just knew that another "diet" was not going to help me.

I also realised that I was now (drum roll)......"middle aged".........and my health was only going to get worse.

I gave up smoking and diet coke last year....*sigh*...two things that I loved most in the world. Yes it's true...I loved smoking and if it couldn't kill me I would have smoked till the day I died. But I knew it was bad for me so I had to let it go (with much bitterness) and in exchange I started eating more than I ever had. I ate whenever I would normally smoke and I've gained over 40 pounds in just over a year. I just knew that I couldn't keep doing this. I hate that I was able to quit smoking but I can't get control of my food addiction. I feel soooo incredibly weak. Ultimately I knew that if I didn't do the surgery now...I would gain another 40 pounds by next year. I'm already robbing my kids of all the mommy things that I should be doing, and my husband has worked his ass off for 15 years taking of our family....he deserves waaaay more than a fat wife. As for me...I've spent a lifetime living in self loathing, feeling worthless...I can't live like anymore...I need to do this, I matter enough to do this.

Okieee....my TOM so I'm riding the emotional roller coaster right now...lol..plus I'm in Last Supper mode. Pre op diet starts Saturday.

Bleh!

I don't think it was a Last Straw moment when I decided to have WLS. Besides the pain in my knees/feet/back/legs/hips, sleep apnea and other health problems....I have three reasons for doing this, Jim (DH), David (DS) and Kristen (DD).I want to be around for them. I have cried just thinking about my kids growing up without me. My DS is 17, but even he still needs me. My DD is 10 and I don't even want to think of anyone else doing all the mother-daughter things with her. These are my babies and I need to be there for them. Also, I love my DH to much to leave him too soon because of my weight. It took 10 years for us to get back together, I don't want to lose anymore time with him.

I pray for approval soon.

Getting older (52 this year); heart attacks at young ages in my family (3 fatal); 2 back surgeries & 1 current ruptured disk; just not getting any younger. Tired of yo-yo, mostly yo-ing up (if you know what I mean). Need to get the weight off to be healthy. Just plain tired of being FAT.

I'm so moved by everyone's honesty and candor. I truly know I am not alone.

For me, it was the sum of many things. I have been heavy since I was 10 so I have a laundry list of weight related angst.

But most recently it was a trip to Mexico with a (thin) friend. Throughout the trip I kept thinking, "as soon as I get back I will start The Diet and lose weight so I can make this same trip again with less humiliation and self-consciousness". Then it occured to me I had made that same promise to myself during EVERY vacation and/or business trip I had ever taken. How much longer would I diet and fail until I really looked ta surgical options.

Other big freak-outs that occured in the last few months to make me SURE about surgery:

I turned 30 at my heaviest weight ever.

I celebrated my 1st year of marriage with 30 more pounds than on my wedding day.

I have a constant rash on various body parts due to the rolls and chafing.

I dress like a homeless person.

I have new dark stretch marks on my stomach and I've never been pregnant.

Most of all, I'm just sick of it! All of the mental and physical BS that comes with obesity...why continue to suffer when there are other options that can help me?

JOJO, I actually decided I wanted WLS a couple of years ago, but only the gastric bypass was available to me through my insurance carrier. After attending the seminar, that surgery struck me as way too drastic an option for me. So, I decided that maybe I hadn't quite put forth enough sustained diet and exercise effort over the past 20 years -- yeah right. When I turned 40 I said to myself, "Self, if you're not well on your way to losing the weight in a year, you need to go ahead and have the WLS. It's time for this struggle to end." Bingo! I'm 41. Now, I'm keeping the promise I made to myself last year.

I have noticed there are alot of us 40-45yr olds in here.

Did turning 40 have anything to do with your decision to have WLS.

It did for me....I realised that at 41yrs I just didn't have the "fight" in me anymore. I just knew that another "diet" was not going to help me.

I also realised that I was now (drum roll)......"middle aged".........and my health was only going to get worse.

Wow, powerful thread!

For me, it was when my husband had heart problems and was diagnosed as diabetic at the same time - what?! - he is the thin, healthy one and he had to have heart surgery - scared the you know what out of me! I became very scared for my 3 beautiful girls. They need to have at least one healthy parent and I want to be there for them as they grow up and someday have children of their own.

Plus my 3 yr old twins (at the time) could totally out run me - that is very scary! It is bad enough when they run in opposite directions, but I couldn't even catch one of them - not good at all!

A lot of things added up to my decision too. I would have done it several years ago, but I knew that my husband wouldn't support it. This year he bought a scale (probably in hopes of getting me committed to weight loss). He weighed on it 159 soaking wet! Then he asked me to get on. I told him absolutely not!! I have always hated weighing b/c when I was in the 9th grade my dad did the same thing he wanted me to weigh and see how big I was in hopes that I would just wake up and start losing weight.

I got on and it was 170. I remember what a shock it was. My dad told me "See you weigh more than me." I cried and cried. That same thing happened with my husband at age 34 only this time I got on the scale and it said 256. Once again the man in my life was saying to me you've got to do something!! Realizing that I was on my way to the 300 mark I cried and cried. It was one of those heaving cries. My husband tried to console me but I told him the story about my dad and he felt terrible. He tried to tell me that I could lose the weight but I told him I have been telling myself that lie for years and every time it was the same story...lose 15-20lbs and gain back 25. Over the years the cycle was deprive myself and then make up for the deprivation by eating what I want. My husband then began to see my side of the story. He has observed it for the last 12 years but he finally got how much pain the weight carries along with it. We scheduled my surgery together and I am 6 days away!

June 27, 2006

Dr. Roberto Rumbaut

256/243/150

As many previous posters state, "this is a poweful/inspirational" thread. It's nice to know that you are not and have not been alone in the painful journey of obesity.

The last 18 months of my life have been life altering and lead me to my last straw:

1) October 9, 2004 My Aunt Kaye passed away unexpectantly from a brain annuryism after losing a significant amount of weight from taking diet pills. During this time I too had been taking diet pills. The week of her passing my medicine cabinet in the bathroom (where the diet pills were) continued to open. I would close the cabinet, leave the room, a few minutes later return to an open cabinet. I live alone. I knew that it was my aunt from beyond telling me to stop the diet pills. A week later I stopped the diet pills.

2) 6 months to the day (and almost exact time); My Uncle Charles died instatnly on April 9, 2005 from a heart attack. He had never been more than 50 pounds over weight and was active his whole life. The previous year he was diagnosed with Diabetes and High cholesterol and High triglycerides. He lost the weight and got in good health. We didn't know about his blocked arteries. One side of my family has strong history of heart disease. But no one except me has ever been more than 50 pounds over weight.

3) After 30 years of obesity (over weight since I was 4), the yo-yo diets, dieititans, weight loss programs/pills, and the picture of me I saw at Christmas, and recent deaths in my family was the last straw. I REFUSED to allow myself to weight 250 pounds (I'm only 5' 3").

I decided on New Years Day that I would have Lap Band Surgery (self-pay). I called as soon as the offices opened after New Years to make my appoinment for the seminar and meet the surgeron. In February of 2006, the hardest thing I've ever done is tell my family of my decision (they do not have a weight problem). Like so many others I feared ridicule. They were so very supportive and understood my decision.

I was banded on June 9, 2006. I know this is the best decision of my life!

Melissa Lea

Hi GreatDame, I was just skimming through the boards, and came across this post you wrote more than a year ago. I had to respond simply because your post then sounds exactly like who I am now. How has your life changed over the last year? I hope that you have evolved into the person you wanted to become, and are now "participating in life." I am scheduled to be banded this Friday and I look forward to feeling like a woman again who can actually attract a man again, and who wants to be around people.

Well, for me it was the fact that I weighed almost 300 pounds ( I still cant believe it), had been single for years because I was using the weight to not participate in life. I felt I was sexless...I didnt feel like I was even a woman anymore. I thought that I would never have the attraction of a man ever again...and thats not somthing I ever wanted to do.

I had taken myself out of life..stopped making friends....staying home alone...I never wanted to be seen..or made fun of. I was a dance teacher for years...I longed to go dancing again...but too ashamed to get out there where people can be so cruel. I WANT TO DANCE AGAIN,