I've been reading for over a YEAR!!!

I've been to one seminar and think I know the questions and answers by heart.

I don't know why I can't pick up the phone and commit to having the surgery!! :faint: Just the same type of failure I guess as all the other failed attempts at weight loss.

I have enjoyed reading the November and December bandsters posts.

What finally helped make your decision.

I'm self-pay so I guess that's a BIG thing, since I feel that I'm taking a LOT of money from our joint account. We both work very hard to make a living and 16K...well that's a LOT.

I keep thinking I can do it on my own and keep failing. I just tried weight watchers AGAIN for the 100th time and didn't stay on program for a week.

Soooo. I'm afraid of having surgery and not being able to stay on *the program*

:cry

Thanks for listening and hopfully you can give me a *clue*

I had NO will power - and too many clothes I could no longer wear. I just wanted to be a normal weight!!!

Banded 12/1.

As I watch a program on obesity on Discovery Health, I know the reason I committed to the surgery . . . my life! I have thyroid disease and have been struggling for 20 years with weight issues. I've lost weight on phen-fen and medically supervised diets only to gain it back. With no thyroid, I have no metabolism to burn calories. I can't tell you how much better I feel since the band has limited my intake. Before the band, I was always hungry eventhough I didn't physically need the calories. I finally found something that works!

I am four months out and 31 pounds lighter. I still have 50 pounds or so to make my goal but I am happy I spent the money (self-pay). I feel better everyday and would not hesistate to do it all over again. Recovery was very easy for me.

As mentioned before, the band does change your life. You can cheat the band by eatting high calorie foods. However, once you start losing weight, you will try really hard to make your band happy. I had to give up beer. That was really hard for me. But, I discovered wine. I have really cut back on my alcohol but I refuse to give it up completely. You can still eat and drink most anything, just in small quantites. Once you get fills, you may also have to adjust the time of day you can eat certain foods. I'm pretty tight but can still eat most foods in the evening.

It is a big decision and only you can make it. The best thing is it is reversible.

Good luck!

PatU

I have to say my reason is exactly the same as pat's I also have thyroid disease and it was weightloss or my life! needless to say I chose life...with medication I can manage the disease but it does nothing to help me loose the weight that has accrued because of it...the lapband helps me to manage that. I am lighter and happier and have no regrets regarding my decision...although it is taking hard work and will power to work with the band and not against it. It is worth it!

:bananapartyhat: becky

For me it was watching a tv program about 3 people who had lost weight and managed to keep it off for a couple of years. The program had a statistic that alarmed me: only 4 or 5% of people manage to keep the weight of for long term. I had to admit that it was pretty unlikely, knowing myself, that I would ever be in that small percentage. I needed help.

I've had a few "last straw" moments, but another one came to mind, so I thought I'd pass it along. About a year ago my wife and I went to an all-inclusive beach resort for a few days and we went out on a snorkeling trip. We all jumped in the Water and snorkeling was good, we had fun.

Now the bad news: When it was time to go back in to shore they lowered a sturdy ladder over the side of the boat and everyone climbed in. But I could not make it. I was about 320 at that point and when I got near the top of the ladder the boat tipped toward me and I could not get over the top. People tried to help me when I was near the top of the ladder and even with their assistance I could not get over the top and into the boat. They had to call another boat to bring a bigger ladder. With that ladder I was barely able to get over the top and when I made it I had to roll into the boat, flopping onto the deck like a beached whale with snorkel gear around my neck. It was not a pretty site. My wife was not proud of her husband on that trip.

Now it's a year later and I'm up to 340.

Can anyone say "lap band"?

i think the fact that in looking back at pictures, i am only in about 1 or 2 with my daughter. i do not want her to look back when she is older and ask where were you? seeing me in pictures made me almost physically ill. i knew i was a "big girl" but i truly had no idea how horrible i looked.

Seeing me in pictures made me almost physically ill. i knew i was a "big girl" but i truly had no idea how horrible i looked.

Isn't that horrible? I look at myself in the mirror and think "Well you don't look THAT bad..." but then, seeing myself in pictures? OMG!! It is horrifying to see that my face and neck are blending into one large white blob. My arms are huge... I have no waist anymore, that was the last thing to go (I even had a waist from the back when I was pregnant), and God forbid anyone takes a picture of be from behind. Then there's the fact that I feel like crap physically and mentally, that I know, from family history, what's coming if I DON'T do something about it. And oh yeah -- all those failed diets. If I hear "Just eat less and exercise more" one more time, someone's gonna die LOL... if it was that easy, would any of us be here now? I feel like banding is my last chance at being able to enjoy what a wonderful life I have, and aside from my weight getting in the way of everything, it really is great. I want this soooooooo bad!

I asked myself:

1. Was my life going to be different next year? (no, not unless I did something about it)

2. Was I EVER successful in dieting? (NO)

3. How many morbidly obese women have I seen to reach 80 or 90 years old? (NONE)

4. I was turning 40 and sick of not participating in life.

Take care. Shawn

What pushed me to commit? I was 25 years old, my doctor told me with good authority that I would be dead by my 50th birthday, because of my health issues, at that I would be miserable for the next 25 years getting to that "death date" NOW, I know the power of the human mind and I know that no one can tell you when you will die. But the day she said that too me I was so overweight and hurt so bad I would have gladly died that moment. I just didn't want to deal with it any more. I was 486 pounds the day I went to get my band.

<O:p</O:pI do want to address something you said that hit me, you will not "fail" your lapband, trust me if you could I would have done it by now. Your band does not allow you to fail, if you eat something that you shouldn't, guess what?? -- it comes back to you, once something comes back often enough you loose all emotional desire to eat that item. Yes, I do know that puking is not a "correct bandster" thing, but with my tenacity and unwillingness to be told what to do, for a few select foods puking has been the only thing that's hit home. TRUST ME pizza, when it comes back up, SUCKS and it never tastes the same again.

<O:p</O:pYes, you can eat around your band, drink a million calories a day, eat ice cream like its going out of style. But you will ask yourself . .. is this what I spent my money for? You’ll say to yourself, I risked my life to go under anesthesia (which is totally safe by the way, but still a risk) I spent 1 week in pain, on pain meds, I did not go thru ALL of that to fail this. Another point you don't realize, most of us (I say 'most' because there are ALWAYS exceptions) are never hungry. I used to spend all the moments of my day planning my next meal, planning what I would eat next. I would have tomorrows breakfast planned while I was eating dinner tonight. Now I have my list of what I HAVE to eat by the end of the day, and most days I don't succeed at eating all of it (My 60g of protein, my 64 fl oz water, my meds, my 5 veggies and 3 fruits a day --- heck almighty bandsters will tell you, once you gag down all that food each day the LAST thing you want is a milk shake)

<O:p</O:pI guess with all my rambling I’m just trying to say your fears are valid, because they are your fears, but I think once you get into this experience, deeper then you are you will be amazed at how many of your fears just never come to light

<O:p</O:pAlso have you considered going to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comMexico</ST1:p</st1:country-region> to have your band done? I have 2 very close friends that did not qualify for insurance to cover here in the states that were very impressed and happy. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you or help you in any way. I love my band, I wouldn’t give it back if someone offered me the world.

I had been on Atkins for 3 years. Lost from 318 down to 268 and held that for 9 months straight. No matter what I did I could not lose. My husband said, "you know, I would understand if you wanted to do surgery like soandso did". So I started looking into it. When I was approved, I went off the deep end in carb land and gained back to 300lbs. Now, I don't know what I am, because I can't find my scale...

I'm waiting on insurance approval but for me:

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired!!

I want to have a life. I want to wear tight jeans, keep up with my neices and nephews, quit my day job (it's related I swear!) and feel good about my body. I want to be healthy and happy. It's silly but I want to be normal. This camel's back has been broken a million times over and I'm ready to live my life!

I did a PhD in statistics (you need to know that for background). I researched the band for 3 years. Then I -- reluctantly -- went to a seminar, prodded by my parents, who are both physicians. At the seminar, the doctor cited several studies that did statistical analyses of patients who were trying to lose more than 50 pounds. Less than TWO PERCENT of those thousands of patients were able to lose and keep off 50 or more pounds for A SINGLE YEAR.

So what did that mean for me? I needed to lose 150 lbs. I was only 33 years old, so I needed to lose triple the weight and keep it off (God willing) --not for a single year-- but for 55 or 60 years. What would the stats be on that? Next to nothing.

So I accepted in one instant what I hadn't been able to accept in my three years of research on the band. I can do many many things on my own. I got a PhD and a JD in the same semester. I am a loyal friend. I have a rewarding job. I am a good sister and daughter. But -- statistically -- I needed to accept that I could not lose and maintain the weight loss on my own. I needed surgical intervention.

So, I got it and 8 months later I'm down 120+ pounds. And unlike the times I've lost it before, I trust that it's gone for good. It's my own personal renaissance.

Get the band! It's not a failure. It's the smartest, most responsible thing you can do for yourself, your family and your health.

Good luck on your journey. It's a great one....

:girl_hug: WOW Julie...you have just summed it all up for me! You wrote that about ME, if I didn't know any better. The statistics are amazing. Your weight loss is phenomenal; you are my inspiration! My Dr; Abkin - studied under your doctor. I get banded on 1/30...and I just keep trying to look ahead, so I can write to those aspiring bandsters and be proud, like you! Congrats~! I printed your posting, and I'm putting it in my purse to carry with me.