Hello! My name is Josette. I got banded in 2003 in Colorado by Dr. Michael Johnell. I am from Socorro New Mexico. At the time of my banding nobody in New Mexico was doing lapband. I have lost 130 pounds. I started at 281 and now weigh 151. It has been a long journey with getting sick and ending up having surgery to fix the band because of slipping. My doctor and staff are wonderful. I got into your website because now with losing all the weight I have so much extra skin that I want to get rid of. All the people I read about on this website seem like wonderful people and I like reading about them and their success.

Hi Josette!!! I live up in the Farmington area! I also travel to Colorado for my fill. Welcome to LBT!!! There are several in the ABQ area now, they have started meeting the first Saturday of each month. I intend on going when the weather is better come Spring/summer.

Just wanted to say Hi to a fellow New Mexican, and welcome you to the site---it is an awesome place for support. Feel free to contact me anytime!

My Dad went to college (mining) in Soccoro!

Kat

You have done wonderfully. There is a great thread out there on plastic surgery. You can find it off of the main posting site. Good luck to you.

Welcome to LBT! Great job you have done with your band!:clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

Hello! My name is Josette. I got banded in 2003 in Colorado by Dr. Michael Johnell. I am from Socorro New Mexico. At the time of my banding nobody in New Mexico was doing lapband. I have lost 130 pounds. I started at 281 and now weigh 151. It has been a long journey with getting sick and ending up having surgery to fix the band because of slipping. My doctor and staff are wonderful. I got into your website because now with losing all the weight I have so much extra skin that I want to get rid of. All the people I read about on this website seem like wonderful people and I like reading about them and their success.

Hi Josette, welcome aboard:D . This is a great site. You've done amazing on your weight loss. I was banded in nov. 06 . I would do it again if i had to. Bummer about the band slipping. Tell me, did u lose certain friends after u lost all that weight? Or did u feel people were kinda snide and hurtful towards u. A friend of mine warned me that once i lose my weight certain people will be mean. Just wondering if u came across that. You are an inspiration:clap2: take care, Kelley

Hi Josette, Welcome to LBT! You have done GREAT with your weight loss! It was too bad that your band slipped. Anyway, welcome aboard-Gigi

Thank you for welcoming me to this site. Everyone here seems so nice.

Kelley,

Things for me have changed so much for me and the way people treat me. I have lost friends because it was ok to have a fat friend and now that I'm not it's different. Losing wieght changes the way we think and the way other people think. Losing weight had made my husband so jealous that I just couldn't take it. So now I am divorced. I wouldn't change my mind about the surgery even if I had known that things will change. I think this is the best thing that has happened to me. I want to be around to see my kids grow up and where I was going that wasn't going to happen.

Thank you for welcoming me everybody!

josette

That blows me away. My friend said that would happen but I didn't even realize so called friends would do that. Jealousy is a huge insecure emotion. Sorry about your marriage. My problem is my husband has gained so much weight since we've been married. I've asked him to do the band too. He won't. I'm afraid I won't be able to stand him being so obese and i won't be anymore. It sounds so superficial but i did the band cause i couldn't stand myself.........well time will tell:nervous Take Care, kelley

I have had the opposite experience for the most part. In all fairness, I do have one "friend" who has acted rather aloof since I made the decision to have the band. She did not want me to do it from the get go. She is a control freak, and me not complying with what she said is the issue, more so than me getting banded. But when I began losing the weight, I regained soooo much confidence, I have refused to attempt to appease her. What it will do is show you who your friends really are, and what type of friendships and relationships you have pursued. Besides her, my true friends, have been great, and if anything it has added a new dimension to our friendships. Where we used to "go to dinner" now we go bowling, and we have went on a jeep trip, and went hiking---all kinds of things that I kept them from doing before. The ideas were bounced around, but I always declined. Now we go! 4 of us couples all went out and cut firewood together, we take out the dirt bikes/ATV's, I ALWAYS chose to stay home for that! Now it is a blast! I am not thin yet, but my weight is down enough it doesn't hold me back. I bought 2 new pairs of jeans yesterday, and one is going back, it is going to be too big very soon, and it is a size 14!!! Now my girlfriends and I can shop together, in the same dept.! I feel blessed by the friends I have, they have supported me, and helped me along, and if I ever feel like this is taking too long, or that I am never gonna get there---they bolster me back up, and make me see this amazing change as it really is! I have also found on here, on this site, a group of friends, that I fully intend on meeting someday---they understand the band, and give advice, and support...a HUGE help.

No friend, in person or online wants to talk about nothing but your weight loss, or your surgery. It is like talking to someone who has nothing to say except what cute things their doggie does!!!

Friendship is give and take, and IF you have a friend who does just that---gives when you need it---and is accepting when she needs it, then your friendship will survive. It is a friendship of the heart, or of the soul. If it is a one sided thing---it will likely go by the wayside. I have had my share of those following my divorce...and it taught me to make and handle my friendships differently! So if you do lose friends---I fully believe sooner or later it would have happened. Such is my case, if I had remained unsure of myself, and valued her opinion more than my own, the so-called friendship would have survived. I didn't remain that way---I found my backbone, and she found that it come between us. I am better off without her negativity.

I hope your friends surprise you!!! And DH as well, when he sees you CAN eat, and you CAN have a normal life, and what a hottie you turn into (not that you are not now!!!), he may change his tune. And by the same token, if you do start seeing him for nothing other than the shell of the man he is, look for the qualities within him, that make him WHO he is, not what size of belt he wears. Something made you fall in love with him, try to focus on that! And SHOW him it can be done---he might just follow suit!

Good Luck!!!

Kat

Josette--Congratulations! You've done wonderfully! How did you know your band had slipped?

Thanks Kat, Yeah I know your right. The friends that really know who I am will still be there.....the others oh well. My DH is another thing. Our relationship hasn't been the best for along time. I think I'm just making excuses to get out of my marriage. And that was one of them. Whatever happens , I will deal with it. I've been single before and if it happens again I will survive. On the other hand, I did buy 2 of Dr laura books on marriage for both of us. Kat... Size 14 too big!?? Yahoo for U

I haven't dropped down a size yet, but congats to u . Keep it up U LOSER(in a good way) Take Care, Kelley

Thanks Kelley---it IS pretty wierd to celebrate beng a loser, and I had a huge celebration a couple of days ago, because I am overweight now!!! When I started I was morbidly obese, went through obese, and just the other day---I dropped into the overweight category. So I am a happy camper about being an "overweight loser"!!!!!

As for your marriage, I too have been divorced---but I once again repeat---try to remember what you fell in love with him for, and do your best to resurrect that. You will never regret giving it your best shot---on the other hand giving up too soon, could bring on serious regret. I hope he is willing to work with you. When it is bad, it is awful---I know. Being alone was better for me than being with my ex. He was extremely abusive, but the emotional side--is what crippled me from taking action, not the physical. I realized one night, I was lonlier with him there, than I was with him gone. When he was gone, I didn't feel like there was someone there I should be connecting with...it was ok to feel lonely, I was alone. BUT when he was there, I actually felt lonelier---because I could feel what all was missing, with him sitting right there, and us having nothing to say to one another, and no love left to share. He killed it, long before he tried to kill me!

I wish you lots of luck, if you need someone to talk to message me!

Kat