Your story..

[Arkgl01 0]

Hello to everyone, I am new here and this is my first post. I was wanting to hear your story on how you decided to to the lap band and how you like it months, years down the road..from how you herd about it til today!

I am 27 yrs old 300lbs and have tried and tried to lose the lbs since high school. I have always been kinda big but never this big. I can stick to a diet for a little bit but then slip off of it. My wife is over weight too and we are both going to do the lap band surgery at the same time, looks like july 27th. I am really scared but know I really need to lose weight and the lap band will help me do that. My wife said to ask questions but I have ask til blue in the face and it seems like the best way to lose weight when you have been fighting it for so long.

Thanks

Mark

["Just" Paul 1]

Basically, at 371 I had reached the elastic limit of skin.

One more bag of chips and KABOOM:boom:

I read about the band on the web, went to talk to a local doc, got denied by my insurance, borrowed the money, had the procedure in November, and since then I FEEL GREAT.

Back to what I weighed in High School 22 years ago!

[lisah25 3]

Hello to everyone, I am new here and this is my first post. I was wanting to hear your story on how you decided to to the lap band and how you like it months, years down the road..from how you herd about it til today!

I am 27 yrs old 300lbs and have tried and tried to lose the lbs since high school. I have always been kinda big but never this big. I can stick to a diet for a little bit but then slip off of it. My wife is over weight too and we are both going to do the lap band surgery at the same time, looks like july 27th. I am really scared but know I really need to lose weight and the lap band will help me do that. My wife said to ask questions but I have ask til blue in the face and it seems like the best way to lose weight when you have been fighting it for so long.

Thanks

Mark

YES - ask a ton of questions! How cool that you and your wife are doing it at the same time, you can be good support for each other.

My story starts about 2 1/2 years ago. When our doctor told my husband that if he didn't lose weight, he wouldn't see 50(He was 40 at the time). He suggested we look into WLS. I was totally against it, the idea scared me too much. Our insurance would cover only the Gastric Bypass, so we went to meetings and worked on getting him approved for that, I dreaded him actually having it. In that process, his aunt heard about lap-band surgery, and convinced us to attend a seminar. We did, and after that and a lot of research decided it was the best option for us. We arranged a home equity line of credit and set it all up. On his surgery day, I was a wreck. I was so sure something bad would happen, but he came through with flying colors. Recovered well, and although there has been a learning curve, he's done good.

I didn't start thinking about having the surgery myself for maybe a year. Then I realized I wanted it, but insurance still didn't cover it, so I told myself it was out of the question, we couldn't afford another self-pay surgery. But it was in the back of my mind all along.

We were in Hawaii in May this year, and one day I was walking up the stairs to the condo behind him, huffing and puffing and cursing the lack of an elevator under my breath when he turned and said, "I want you to have the surgery". We hadn't talked about it before, but I knew in that moment we would figure out a way to make it happen. And we did, I'm scheduled for 8/31 and I'm SOOOOOOOO excited about it.

Yes, I know it's not a miracle cure. I know I still have to work at it. But I feel hope for the first time in years.

[juliegeraci 7]

My story starts about 2 years ago when my doctor suggested gastric bypass. I put it on the back burner for quite some time thinking I could do this on my own through diet and exercise. After joining Weight Watchers for the 50th time I decided enough was enough. After research and finding out more I knew this path was the right one for me. Good luck with your decision. I am happy I made mine.

[ralheit 0]

I have battled my weight my entire life. Over the last few years and being in my 50's it just became impossible. I know dozens of people who have had bypass, but I just knew it wasn't for me. My fear of the "slice and dice" procedure superseded my knowing I needed real help. I learned about the band when I heard about Anne Wilson, of Heart having had the procedure. I began looking into it and now about 2 years later I have been banded for 4 months. My weight loss is slower than some, but it sure beats a constant gain. I was beginning to think like "Just" Paul that I would soon simply explode. Glad I did it and yes I would do it again.

[Stephanie MG 0]

Hi!

I had mine done 3 weeks ago! I am feeling back to my normal self (but thinner already) I am a self pay. I have battled my weight problem since I had my daughter, 14 years ago and really yo-yo'ed in my weight through the years, Diets worked for me but I just couldnt keep the weight off.

The past year i just gave up, and that led to a hard year, I even tried anti depressants. That did not help at all. So, I went to a seminar and talked to my husband and just got the ball rolling. Seemed like forever to get through all the tests and pre-surgery stuff but then finally it was done and now Im on the other side....drinking my Protein Shakes, taking the Calcium, and vitamins....and LOSING weight!!!!!

I just weighed this morning,looks like Im losing about 4 1/2 pounds a week. I lost 10 the week before surgery, so 26 total. YAY! I cant believe this is it, and that I WILL be thin and healthy for the rest of my life!

By the way I have a very strict Dr. so I am STILL on a liquid diet! So, it's not like its easy. I will start pureed food next week, then 2 weeks later intro to solids. I have my first fill appt August 4th, Im glad because Iam getting that hungry feeling now!

Good luck to you and your wife, thats awesome!!

[Tricia K. 0]

I have been heavy since about the age of 11 or 12. I started looking into the lap band about 3 1/2 years ago but at the time I was single and living in New Jersey with no relatives in the state. At my heaviest, I was 283 pounds. I didn't have any health problems, other than being fat. I was almost positive that my insurance would cover it but I didn't want to have the surgery and then have no one to help me during recovery. My friends were great but they all had busy lives with marriage, kids and work. I didn't feel right asking any of them to put things on hold to help me for up to a week.

So, fast forward to last Summer. I was now happily married and living in Louisiana. My insurance company at the time had a written exclusion for weight loss surgery and/or anything obesity related, including nutritional counseling. So, after discussing with my husband my desire to have surgery and our desire to have a child some day, he and I decided that the best thing for us to do was to obtain a personal loan and pay for the surgery ourselves. I had surgery on September 16, 2005 at the age of 34.

I am now 10 months post-op and have lost 84 pounds. I feel really healthy and am very active. We are both happy with our decision and hope to get pregnant with our first child at the beginning of next year.

["Just" Paul 1]

These are great stories!

[PhotoNut 7]

At 48 years old and 307 pounds, life was looking pretty bleak. My knees hurt, my feet hurt, my hips hurt, I looked like hell, felt like crap, and had almost decided to give up on the hope of ever being healthy or looking nice.

One night I was looking up some information about Heart (the band) and started reading about Ann Wilson's lapband. I was fascinated. I researched the snot out of it! I wanted it. I wanted it NOW. I had hope again! But when I found out how much it cost, I plunged into depression and a big bowl of anything I could find to eat.

A year later I had developed a hernia just above my belly button (walked around with it for the better part of that year, thinking I had cancer or something, too scared to go see a Dr about it). Through the course of seeing the surgeon about that, the lapband came up again and my mom said "Get it, I'll have the money for you." And she did! I got my inheritance early and what a gift.

That was 6 months ago and my life is changing drastically! I feel alive. I love my band. It's kept me on the straight and narrow in the times I would have normally thrown in the towel and run back to the food.

Best of luck to you in your decision.

["Just" Paul 1]

Trisha, P'nut,

You guys are killing me here. It like some kind of Lifetime channel movie of the week. Touching and incredible.

Amazing stuff, you've both done well.

Now, which one of you gets to be played by Meredith Baxter Birney?

[Kat817 19]

A couple of years ago, one of my SIL's who works for an insurance company, mentioned it, saying that she was thinking of it. Now, this SIL is still and was then, much smaller than the 2 of us she was talking to about it, her sister and I. No one did anything about it at the time. The thought popped in my head on occasion, but I never did anything about it. Fat forward a couple of years, and a friend and her husband had it done in Mexico. Now she has not lost as quickly as he has, but it still perked my interest again, so I began talking to my Dr., and researching. I was denied by insurance, so appealled, and researched some more...was denied again. I was in a car accident and injured so that it required surgery, which give me a lot of thinking time, a lot of time to regret my size as I attempted to heal, but I spent huge amounts of time researching, reading and learning about the band. By this time I KNEW it was what I wanted, and I wanted it desperately! So I began looking at self pay. I hated my weakness at losing weight to affect our family financial security tho. I was bordering on depression, and looking into financing it, which I truly did not want to do, but was prepared to, when I got my answer! The accident I was in...the insurance company offered me a settlement! I used it to pay for my surgery!!! I was self pay and went to Mexico, to the same surgeon my friends had used...in fact one of the SIL's and I went together and had it done, and it looks as tho the SIL who originally put the idea in our heads will have it done this next year. She is still fighting the insurance battle...and works for the insurance company!! No wonder some of US can't win it!!! Good Luck to all!!

Kat

[imagine 3]

I am 31 years old, single and 307lbs. I have battled weight since 3rd grade, and finally came to the conclusion that I was losing the battle. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

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After thinking about it for almost a year and watching <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Discovery Health Channel WAY</st1:address></st1:Street> too much, I started checking in to surgery. I found a surgeon and went to see him only to find out that my insurance would not cover the surgery. <o:p></o:p>

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I own my own business, so I switched the company to a different insurance provider and got covered. I go in Tues. and am hopeful for a new life!<o:p></o:p>

["Just" Paul 1]

OK, these stories are too amazing. This will need to be a new series, not just a movie. one episode for each great story. Now the question is, who getts to play you in the film?

I guess this shows why we are all so motivated to make this happen.

[DonnaB 3]

Trisha, P'nut,

You guys are killing me here. It like some kind of Lifetime channel movie of the week. Touching and incredible.

Amazing stuff, you've both done well.

Now, which one of you gets to be played by Meredith Baxter Birney?

*snort* *cough* *choke* *cough* *ahem*

Too TOO funny Paul! Don't do that while I'm trying to drink my water!!!!

OMG Meredith Baxter Birney! LOL

["Just" Paul 1]

I think she should play P'nut.

That girl from "facts of life" (the dark-haired one, I think it was Jo) can play Tricia K.

Katt can be played by... Meryl Streep.

I can be played by Dom Deluise, or the Dad from "Rosanne". maybe King of Queens.

Who will play you in your movie?