OK folks...here's the god's honest reason why I chose the band. I expected it wouldn't work. I was sure it wouldn't work. Nothing worked so why would a friggin' piece of plastic work? I was getting the band so that I could remove it in six months and continue my downward spiral towards being wheelchair bound and likely suffering a premature death.

So...when people talk about being in the right frame of mind to tackle this process and be successful, I was so not one of them. I was awfully cranky during the pre-op phase...and then sick and tired of the monotony of post-op liquids. Thinking about having to watch every little thing that went into my mouth was overwhelming for me. I used to scarf down two bowls of spaghetti without taking a breath. And then I'd eat Cookies and candy and still not be satisfied. Awful...just awful.

Well....guess what happened? I realized not long after the surgery that I was no longer ravenous. I didn't trust myself to eyeball my food so I weighed everything. And when I was done eating it.....I didn't feel hungry. I didn't feel full either...but I didn't feel hungry. And holy mackerel...the weight started to come off. The knee pain didn't get better....and now my hips were hurting bad as well, but I kept thinking five more pounds, then five more...then yes, five more...and I'll feel better. Well it took 70 lbs. off to finally find out that I needed both hips replaced. The orthopedic surgeon told me he had no idea how I was even walking..that's how bad it was. I knew that by the skin of my teeth, I barely avoided that damn wheelchair.

I had the surgery in October and there's barely any hip pain. That alone is a miracle. Unfortunately, I have residual back issues and continue to see a sports medicine/pain management doctor whom I've been a patient of since the summer of 2012. Today he said something to me that felt so good. He knew what I looked like at my heaviest because I started going to him six months before being banded. While we were talking he asked me how much weight I had lost in total and when I told him I was down 115 lbs., he said that he can't even remember me that much heavier and that he's gotten completely used to seeing me at this size. All I could think of was how much I hoped that would really be my new normal and that eventually, no one would remember the old me and then I could finally bury that fat bitch once and for all.

So what's the point of this story? Easy... if I can manage to be successful at this, well so can you. No excuses. Have a great night everyone.

Well said! So happy for you. Sometimes we side-step into success and then there we are. After so many failures it becomes difficult to believe in the possibility. And here you are -- evidence! Thank you for the inspiration.

Love that story. I think once you have back issues you always have them. But losing weight helped mine tremendously.

You are a success and you've made your band work for you...one day at a time...one pound at a time! As you said --it was hard but you see better days ahead of you now because of your tremendous efforts and accomplishments!

I am glad that I have gotten to know you more and that I was able to meet you in person and truly see how wonderful you look and what a great person you are...you are an inspiration!

Thank you for this interesting and different perspective. I hope many preops who are "on the fence" will read it. Most of us came to our surgeries with the firm conviction that this would work, so your take on how you got from A to Z is all the more impressive. And truly underscores the idea of taking weight loss a pound at a time.

Agree with the above poster about back issues. As I've written all this month, I'm currently in excruciating pain from a couple of disks which have slipped out of place and are pressing on a spinal nerve. My weight---high or low--has nothing to do with this particular issue; I've had this problem since high school, and my grandmother also had the same. It would always drive me nuts when a doctor would say "If you would just lose weight, you wouldn't have back problems." As we all know, not every ailment in the universe is related to excess weight, nor are they cured by losing weight. If only it were that easy!

Now you are getting yourself all fixed up and ready to enjoy even more your life at a good weight. Well done on making the band work, despite your initial mindset. You show us all that one doesn't need to be The Biggest Cheerleader to get this thing going, and that is a great message for preops to read.

I cried in the recovery room because I went into surgery expecting a by pass and came out with a lapband. I didn't study the lapband. I didn't have a clue so I cried. I treated my band like a by pass until I found all of you. am I a successful bandster. hell I don't know. I get so dang frustrated at times. but I do know one thing. I would have made a horrible by pass patient. I need this band for control help. so God was looking out for me. and all of you educated me. and the different articles you guys post for us to read. I think and I say this in a whisper. shhhhh, I have a bit more knowledge than even my pa thanks to you guys. so THANK YOU!!!!

I cried in the recovery room because I went into surgery expecting a by pass and came out with a lapband. I didn't study the lapband. I didn't have a clue so I cried. I treated my band like a by pass until I found all of you. am I a successful bandster. hell I don't know. I get so dang frustrated at times. but I do know one thing. I would have made a horrible by pass patient. I need this band for control help. so God was looking out for me. and all of you educated me. and the different articles you guys post for us to read. I think and I say this in a whisper. shhhhh, I have a bit more knowledge than even my pa thanks to you guys. so THANK YOU!!!!

WHAT? You were given a completely different WLS than what you had signed up for? I'd sue the f-ing shit out of the hospital. How in the world can this be even legal? If that had been me, I would have hired Johnnie Cochran (oh wait, he's dead) and sued that hospital for every single penny they had. I would have put them entirely out of business.

On the other hand, Terry, I'm so glad everything has worked out well for you. But seriously? Your story makes me very fearful of what medical teams are capable of. Don't go back there if you ever need, say, surgery on your leg. They might take your kidney.

OK folks...here's the god's honest reason why I chose the band. I expected it wouldn't work. I was sure it wouldn't work. Nothing worked so why would a friggin' piece of plastic work? I was getting the band so that I could remove it in six months and continue my downward spiral towards being wheelchair bound and likely suffering a premature death.

So...when people talk about being in the right frame of mind to tackle this process and be successful, I was so not one of them. I was awfully cranky during the pre-op phase...and then sick and tired of the monotony of post-op liquids. Thinking about having to watch every little thing that went into my mouth was overwhelming for me. I used to scarf down two bowls of spaghetti without taking a breath. And then I'd eat Cookies and candy and still not be satisfied. Awful...just awful.

Well....guess what happened? I realized not long after the surgery that I was no longer ravenous. I didn't trust myself to eyeball my food so I weighed everything. And when I was done eating it.....I didn't feel hungry. I didn't feel full either...but I didn't feel hungry. And holy mackerel...the weight started to come off. The knee pain didn't get better....and now my hips were hurting bad as well, but I kept thinking five more pounds, then five more...then yes, five more...and I'll feel better. Well it took 70 lbs. off to finally find out that I needed both hips replaced. The orthopedic surgeon told me he had no idea how I was even walking..that's how bad it was. I knew that by the skin of my teeth, I barely avoided that damn wheelchair.

I had the surgery in October and there's barely any hip pain. That alone is a miracle. Unfortunately, I have residual back issues and continue to see a sports medicine/pain management doctor whom I've been a patient of since the summer of 2012. Today he said something to me that felt so good. He knew what I looked like at my heaviest because I started going to him six months before being banded. While we were talking he asked me how much weight I had lost in total and when I told him I was down 115 lbs., he said that he can't even remember me that much heavier and that he's gotten completely used to seeing me at this size. All I could think of was how much I hoped that would really be my new normal and that eventually, no one would remember the old me and then I could finally bury that fat b***h once and for all.

So what's the point of this story? Easy... if I can manage to be successful at this, well so can you. No excuses. Have a great night everyone.

what a amazing woman you are....incredible

and there is a reason i call you my friend.....

dont forget this summer, we be naked in the ocean

I love reading your story you are one inspiring woman and you help me keep my sanity with the hubby believe me!

So glad we met my friend!!

one word: AWESOME

AMAZING story and AMAZING success! So happy for you!!!

OK folks...here's the god's honest reason why I chose the band. I expected it wouldn't work. I was sure it wouldn't work. Nothing worked so why would a friggin' piece of plastic work?

First off congratulations on your success.....and what a great story. Like yourself my story did not have a happy beginning either but more of a sense of desperation and I think if it wasn't for my Wife I would be 6 feet under by now. I went into it at 488lbs thinking well if I can at least take off a 100 with the band it would be better than nothing and at the very least it might give me a couple of years back.

I had serious doubts I would ever see the 300's again let alone the 200's. My beginning like yours was not all sunshine and roses but rather bleak, terrifying and desperate. I will forever remember who I was and where I was in my life during that time as a way to keep humble. I did not get banded for anything material. I was not looking for a job or a wife or to look good on the beach........I got banded simply for "MY LIFE" and I considered it a last ditch effort. If I failed then I was as good as dead and on borrowed time...