Your story..

[Cheri 0]

Sounds like a good role for Sam Elliott or Tommy Chong!!

I would have to say my husband would be played by Mike Myers (do I even need to explain?!) I don't know who would play me...maybe Rosie, only without the lesbian thing? hehe Actually, I have been told that I look like a FAT Jamie Lee Curtis...is that supposed to be a compliment??

Paul, your picture is way small, but you look like a movie star in it, so I guess you would play yourself!!!

[mommy3boys 0]

Grew up being a short yet curvy. Didn't get real fat until I started working graveyard, 30 lbs in 3 months, then over couple of years up to 200. Had 1st son at 240, second son at 270. Three months later started researching gastric bypass, found spotlighthealth and all the wonderful people there, decided the band was for me. Had it done 1/25/03 got pregnant again, weighed 242 at time of surgery, 212 when son was born. Self paid with dr kuri in mexico. Got divorced and am raising 3 small boys by myself and am extremely grateful I did this because I know for a fact I would be currently over 300 lbs due to stress/depression/anxiety, instead I have the energy to raise my kids, work and feel so much better about myself. Am not at goal but getting closer.

ana

242/180/140

["Just" Paul 1]

James Brolin... I like it!

[the best me 6]

My story is I got fatter and fatter after quitting smoking, having 2 kids, and getting "up" in age. I joined Curves at my high weight (Jan 2004) and lost 20 pounds, but never lost another ounce. By Jan 2005, I found LBT, had surgery in April, turned 40 in May, and I'm down 60 pounds so far. Slow, but I'm losing it. I don't care how long it takes. I'm getting a Tummy Tuck at 165, and we'll see how it goes from there. I love my band.

Diane Keaton should play me. I saw Baby Boom on TV the other day and she reminds me of me in that film. Everything is hard, everything is hectic, I can even change the dadgum tire if I need to but a great big kiss square on the mouth will shut me up quick. Remember that scene? Very me. The whole movie is very me, except for the high powered exec job, right?! THAT's not me!

[jojo41 0]

My story is similar to a couple of others.

Growing up I thought I was fat but looking back on it.... I definitely wasn't.

When I was married at 24yrs I was 5ft7in and 140lbs , I gave up smoking, had 2 children, was diagnosed with PCOS and now at 41 I'm 276lbs.

I had tried every diet you could think of when one day I was reading the local paper and saw an advertisemnet for WLS in particular the lapband. I was not covered by insurance so I rang a health insurance company who told me if I took out insurance that day it would be a 12 months wait until I was covered. That was on 16th July 2005......and my surgery date is 17th July 2006....can't wait

:clap2:

"Just" Paul......I have given it some serious thought and I think Kathy Najimy or Ricky Lake should play me.

[Woodys 0]

If James Brolin is going to play the old hippie's role then the hell with Sally Fields, I'll play my own part.

Carol

[JMO 0]

I have always been big, I am 6'2 so in high school I was nicked name Jolly Green Giant. At that time I wasn't offended because I was big but most of it was muscle. I was very fit even thoiugh i was thick. I was huge into sports, so I could eat what I wanted and not gain. Then after Hs I got married at 18. Boy that was a BAD diet. My weight creeped up into the 250. I stayed in the 200's the first 5 years of marriage. Then our dreams came true. We were pregnant. We had been off birth control for five years and trying, testing, crying, wondering if it would ever happen. I had a wonderful pregnancy, never sick, nothing. Then I started having back pain real bad, I called me doc and he said that is normal your body is getting used to stretching. Well this pain lasted over a week. Finally One night around 12 or 1 I told my Dh I needed to go to the hospital. I went and they gave me a shot and sent me home. I went to my Ob the next day to just check. To my shock, They could not find my babies heartbeat.

This could not be happening to me, Not only could we not find the heartbeat, it it looked as if my child had passed several weeks ago and I had not known it. I was admitted to the hospital to have a dnc, it was now thought I had been in labor for weeks and my body just couldn't do it. This lead to alot of weight gain due to depression. We had a baby girl. She had passed from a genetic disorder called Turners syndrom. God knew what he was doing because, Although some do live with Turners, It is a very hard diease to cope with.

After a year we tried again and low and behold I was pregnant. I got over 300 for the first time in my life. I ate alot because I was so scared of misscarring. The yoyo effect was now a life style for me. I was up and down for the next five years and through two more pregnancies. At 28, I am in nursing school, married, with three perfect children, and missrable beyond belif.

My feet hurt I am in the worst shape of my life. I am on zoloft just to get through the day. My Bf mention to me, her sister who had the lap band and had lost over 200 lbs. I thought about it and started researching it. I am now scheduled in 10 days to have my band. And My Dh has decided to do it with me, so we will be a team.

[j.s. 0]

I was the fat kid (first diet at age 10) who became the fat teenager and then somewhere along the line I turned into the morbidly obese adult. I never liked the fat but just had accepted it as what I am ... I had no comorbidities. I also am the 10th child of 13 so my defining moment was when my brother almost had to get his foot cut off because he was diabetic and thinking he was just losing weight on his own but instead he had totally raging diabetes. And another brother had to have a heart stent placed just a few months later (hes diabetic as well with heart disease now). Now you have to realize I was 41, the foot brother was 46 and the heart brother was 45. If that does not kick your brain into high gear, nothing will. My family medical history is a train wreck (7 out of 13 have diabetes, mix in high blood pressure and heart disease). I needed to do something and do it qiuck. I didnt have the problems YET but that is the key word, one day I would and I hope to A) never get diabetes or :eek: push it back far,far into the future. So, that was it. I went to my doc, we talked WLS. I researched bypass first but was not comfortable with that and my husband was flat against it. Then I found out about the band and I never turned back. This is the best thing I have done for myself. My husband is happy I did it, he was afraid at the rate things were going he would lose me early (and I believe he would have). Being on the bottom of the family totem pole allowed me to see what is in store for me and I wanted to turn that around and run the other way.

[Devana 0]

I was living in a state of despair, the co-morbidities were beginning to appear and I was worried that I wouldn't survive long enough to see my son into adulthood.

I knew nothing about lap bands and found out about them in an indirect way. I was really pissed off about 2 things: My teenage son needs a hip replacement and the orthopedic surgeons said that he wouldn't be eligible for one until age 40 (!!!!!) and I had what I considered to be a relatively small amount of emergency dental work done and it cost me $3000 (!!!!!). I began to look into Medical Tourism in India, mainly because I have worked with some extremely well trained Indian health care professionals in the past and I have a great deal of respect for them. I thought I may be able to get one of the new ceramic hips for my son when he was fully grown rather than middle aged and I also thought that any future dental work may be more affordable out of the country.

So in the process of looking all this up I came across lap band information and was interested in all the positive aspects of it compared to other bariatric surgeries, which I had always dismissed. Then I found this forum and spent several months lurking as a guest and finally joining.

I was banded in Mexico two weeks ago and so far I'm delighted with my decision.

Devana

["Just" Paul 1]

Carol... James Brolin was supposed to play me.

Telly suggested Willie Nelson for your hubby.

[PhotoNut 7]

I'd role play with James Brolin any day. Oop, did I just say that outloud? teehee

["Just" Paul 1]

P'nut!!!

Shocking!:eek:

[sallyjo 0]

Now P'Nut wait a minute. I would be better for him he's to old for you.LOL:heh:

[BPM 0]

I was always athletic in school albeit a little husky. I played all the sports at the Varsity level.

I started seriously gaining some weight when I went away to college...the Freshman 15 was more like the Freshman 50.

Got out of school and slowly gained weight again...until I had enough. I got serious about my health and was introduced to Mtn biking by a friend. We started riding and unfortunately he was in FAR FAR better shape than I...but the good thing was...the competitive juices came out of the closet and it was game on.

I trained and trained until I had far more endurance than he and I dropped down to sub 200 for the first time in years. 200lbs looks great on me because I am broad shouldered and carry it well even though the ideal weight charts put me at 175 I wouldn't want to be that thin.

I changed jobs.....got several promotions....which increased the stress levels etc and I started turning to food to cope with the stress I guess. That's my story and I am sticking to it. I travel for work a lot and the fast food is just too convenient. 10 years later I found myself weighing 331 pounds. Holy Mackerel I am fat.

I started searching the web for info and came to this site....I researched the band and saw how successful many were....I was also surprised to see how many failed, how many were able to bypass the band and how many had complications. It sounded perfect at first but what I realized was it was still 90% mental. The brain controls everything when it comes to the body and the eating habits.

I went so far as to schedule my surgery but then I read a post about someone gaining while on the band because they were eating sweets to satisfy the cravings or something like that. It clicked in my head that even with the band...I would still need to be mentally strong...and if I had to be mentally strong anyways...why not do it without it and skip the complications. I cancelled it and haven't looked back....at least not yet.

I am only a few weeks in.....so the jury is out. In the last 10 years I had yet to make it past a week on a diet as I wasn't mentally committed to it. It feels different this time as I will say I am mentally very strong and have eaten nearly perfectly and have controlled my cravings, increased my exercise and have seen success so far. I may still find my way to the band as it is a great tool...but don't expect it to be a cure all because I think most would agree it is not. It's a tool that you have to work with to achieve your goals and it will still require a LOT of dedication and hard work on your part because you can overeat the band.

So for now...I came to bandland and walked away deciding it wasn't right for me...not for now. I like to post here because of the support and seeing others trying to achieve the same goals. It's inspiring and I think we can all relate to each others pains like thinner people cannot.

So good luck and stick around...the people here are great.

[gogetgoget 0]

Hi - I am 54 yrs old and of course have had a weight problem my whole life. But in High School I straved myself into being almost normal. But life happens and about 13 yrs ago I weighed 340 pounds. I lost down to 190 on my own and kept that weight for 10 yrs. Then my hubby got very sick and died. My weight shot straight up to 260. I KNEW I just could not do it again on my own and looked into the Band. I was banded Jan 1st, (self pay). I am a slow loser but am down 46 pounds and look and feel wonderful. I do not excerise alot (didn't before either) BUT I walk and walk and walk. That was the big secret to me keeping my weight off last time and it will work again this time! I think my story is a perfect example of the disease of over-weight is a life long illness and we need help and it's OK to need help. Best Wishes to you Both on your new path! Thank you for this thread.

Hugs - Donna in Sacramento