Hi all, I am new to this site - and hoping I can find a lot of support on here. So here's my story.... When I was 18, only 6 months after my birthday I had decided to get the lapband. I have ALWAYS been "the big, little sister", obesity runs in my mothers side of the family & after having a beautiful baby girl when I was 17 (yes, young!) I had reached my heaviest. I went in, with high hopes, but two years later, I am still struggling with my weight at 5'4 & 230lbs. The lapband was HORRIBLE, I would never wish that procedure even on my own enemy.. I was always in pain, couldn't eat ANYTHING without throwing it up... Not even a grape! For 2 years, I just hoped it would one day work, I finally called a news doctor within my insurance, & he wanted it out ASAP, & suggested I go with the Gastric Sleeve. Of course, I said YES! He put in a request to my insurance to do the conversion, & within 5 days, I received a letter of denial. I was in tears, I called my doctor, & he said we weren't giving up, he put in another request demanding the conversion, or at least removal of my band, as it was causing me much pain. Finally, a day after that, I was approved for the conversion my surgery was scheduled for today, I went in, in high hopes that he would be able to take out my band, & also give me the gastric sleeve..... I would only find out if he was able to do both-when I would awake from anesthesia.. First question I asked was if I had the conversion. Answer was, no I'm sorry it was too risky- and being so drugged up, I fell into a sleep again. When I woke again, they explained to me that the band had slipped (for some reason it was not seen in the X-ray) & being it slipped, I ended up with a few ulcers in my stomach, & the band was pushing into my liver, which has caused a "dent" in it... Hearing that, I cried... Now I see where all the pain came from! I was heart broken, still am, & now I will have to wait until July---END OF MONTH July feeling really bummed, I just turned 21 last Monday, and I was hoping this would be my birthday gift to myself... Looks like I won't enjoy this hot weather this summer.. Does this sound familiar to anyone? - has something similar happened to you? How did you feel? I'm looking for any type of support on this one, as I am just feeling really upset tonight.. Ps, please excuse any bad grammar, if any, as I am still feeling a little drowsy... Thanks in advance to anyone who reads/comments/supports!

Hello Alyshac, First of all, l I'm so sorry to hear about your lap band trauma! My friend has a lap band and she hates it too. She sounds just like you with the pain and the throwing up. I know July seems like a long time to wait, but it will fly by. You made a great decision to do the sleeve it sounds like. I had to move my surgery from June 17th to July 9th and that was frustrating. But it'll give me time to do my "restaurant bucket list". And to get totally ready for my new way of life. I'm going to try different Protein shakes and see which ones I like, things like that. I'm going to sort through my clothes and say goodbye to those super sized ones that I'll never want to lay eyes on again. I'm searching new looks and make over's too. I heard that there is a chance that we can lose a lot of hair after this procedure, so I need to mentally prepare for that possibility. I hope these ideas help a little bit. Good luck to you!

Jiggly Puff totally hit the nail on the head here! You've been hit with a setback, true, but in the next couple of months, you will just become that much more prepared and ready for the Big Day. It will happen--and that is a victory in itself! Just ask some of the folks here who've been told flat-out "NO" by their insurance, or who don't know how or when they'll save up the money needed to do a self-pay procedure. Look at this time as an opportunity to get all your ducks in a row, and try to keep busy by preparing.

It's a speed bump, but you'll power past it in no time--and in a year you'll be a brand new you!

I'm most likely going to be a July sleever too, so welcome to the home stretch!