My name is Dawn and I weigh 348lbs. I have been overweight as long as I can remember. Four years ago I decided to have gastric bypass surgery, my insurance denied me twice. I gave up and have gained even more weight in the last 4 years. My weight has held me back for a very long time. I took my daughter to an amusement park two summers ago and she felt bad because I couldn't fit into the seats on the rides. I was humiliated and sad for her. She worries about be constantly. My other daughter and son are on the same self destructive path I am on and I am afraid for them. I went in for my surgeon consult today. Before I went to the office I had my mind made up, I was going to have the lap band procedure done as soon as possible. During the time I watched the video and talked with the nurse I started to doubt my decision. I am not sure the lapband is going to be enough to help me. The one thing I know for sure is I want my real body, I want my health, and I want my happiness. The more I read through this forum the more I feel like maybe this surgery is best for me. I see my doctor on Thursday and the nut and psy consult next week. I hope to be able to submit to insurance within two weeks. I am hoping to find some support here and some words of wisdom. Your stories are very encouraging and I look forward to coming back here and continuing my journey!

I am also new to the process. I like you considered the lap band. The more I researched the lap band vs. sleeve I realized the sleeve was right for me. I am going to see one surgeon on Feb.15 and then another one on Feb.16. Hope all goes well for you..Sending you lots of support from Baton Rouge Louisiana..

Dawn, thanks for sharing. I'd bet almost everyone here has a story like yours of the amusement park, a moment which sticks in our mind as to why we HATE being fat. Mine was on a recent trip to San Francisco...it's a place I've always wanted to go, and overall I had a great time but was frequently annoyed with how tired I got while walking around and how my feet/ankles/back hurt. I am pretty sure my thin friend was a bit annoyed too, although she didn't let on.

Best of luck to you!

My name is Dawn and I weigh 348lbs. I have been overweight as long as I can remember. Four years ago I decided to have gastric bypass surgery, my insurance denied me twice. I gave up and have gained even more weight in the last 4 years. My weight has held me back for a very long time. I took my daughter to an amusement park two summers ago and she felt bad because I couldn't fit into the seats on the rides. I was humiliated and sad for her. She worries about be constantly. My other daughter and son are on the same self destructive path I am on and I am afraid for them. I went in for my surgeon consult today. Before I went to the office I had my mind made up, I was going to have the lap band procedure done as soon as possible. During the time I watched the video and talked with the nurse I started to doubt my decision. I am not sure the lapband is going to be enough to help me. The one thing I know for sure is I want my real body, I want my health, and I want my happiness. The more I read through this forum the more I feel like maybe this surgery is best for me. I see my doctor on Thursday and the nut and psy consult next week. I hope to be able to submit to insurance within two weeks. I am hoping to find some support here and some words of wisdom. Your stories are very encouraging and I look forward to coming back here and continuing my journey!

Welcome! I, too, thought about the lap-band. Then my husband decided he wanted WLS also and begged me to research the sleeve. I am SO happy that I didn't get the band. I just can't imagine being 90 years old and having a plastic device inside of me. The more I read about the down side to the band, (the PB'ing, getting stuck, sliming) the more I knew that it wasn't someting I was willing to live with in order to lose the weight.

So now I've been sleeved 3 months, hubby is getting sleeved soon and I love my sleeve. I have not once had sliming or vomiting (even while in the hospital!) There are no fills/unfills, the first 3 weeks are the hardest (food-choice wise and just healing in general) but after 6 weeks your food choices increase and you can start having more variety.

Keep reading, keep researching, and only you can make the decision about what is right for you, but I'm so happy with my sleeve, can't imagine doing any other type of WLS surgery from what is available today.

Thank you all for your support! It is so important to come to a place where people understand where I am coming from. The only thing I think I may be worried about is the longterm effects. There isn't any long term data. I am pretty confident that the sleeve is what I am going with. I just have to get all the other stuff in line and get it scheduled. I know this is what I want. I want to feel better and look better. Way to go on your surgeries and I wish you all luck with losing!

Good luck with your insurance company and on making your decision. I too was concerned about the person I was showing to my child. I wanted to be here to see him grow up and to be healthy and have the energy to keep up with him. I researched the band and the bypass also. I did not like the idea of them rerouting my bowels and I also did not like all the people I read about on the forums that had trouble with the band. There are a lot of people on this board who had the band first and had problems with it. There are many people who then had revisions to the sleeve because of complications. It seemed to me that there were less risks with the sleeve. That was how I reached my decision anyway. Good luck with yours.

Dawn, thanks for sharing. I'd bet almost everyone here has a story like yours of the amusement park, a moment which sticks in our mind as to why we HATE being fat. Mine was on a recent trip to San Francisco...it's a place I've always wanted to go, and overall I had a great time but was frequently annoyed with how tired I got while walking around and how my feet/ankles/back hurt. I am pretty sure my thin friend was a bit annoyed too, although she didn't let on.

Best of luck to you!

I started my journey at 271 pounds, I considered the lap band many years. Then this last year my daughter had bypass and I began to look into it and then came across this forum. After reading here and in other places I had absolutely no doubt this surgery was the one for me. I did not like the slow weight loss, less weight loss and host of complications that come with the lap band and I just felt bypass has the ability for regain and in the long run causes more illness with the nutrient deficiencies.

I am now about 3 months post op and I can tell you it is the best thing I have ever done! I am down 76 pounds and I am feeling so much better and off all my meds.

I too had been overweight all my life, 47 years worth. I had experienced all the things with kids and amusements parks ect. I was not living! So many many things I have not done because of my weight in life! I will never again go on vacation and NOT truly vacation. I will go swimming, diving, lay on the pool deck on the cruise without feeling self conscious, if I want to zip line I will without worrying about what others see from the ground, I may go para sailing behind a boat and no longer worry about the fat person being pointed at. Simply I will LIVE! You are doing the best thing ever for yourself. I do have one regret though,,,, I regret that I did not have the ability to have this done 20 years ago!