Hello everyone.I want to introduce myself.I am a 32 year old woman that has type 2 diabetes and currently weigh 328.This is largest that I have every weighed.My height is 5 ft 2.I have always been an over weight person.Starting from the age of 11.I have been up and down on roller coaster diets.I always loose the weight and gain it back except it is always more than what I weighed before.Everyday is a struggle for me.It is embarrasing to say this but even going to the bathroom is a stuggle because I have to get up off of the toliet.Now anytime It is getting hard for me to get up off of the toilet than I know that it is time to try to loose weight.LOL!:pout: .The last time that I dieted I was taking on phetermines.My doctor had me on it for a year.I lost over 100lbs.The only drawback from it was that I had a lot of loose flab but I could walk,run,and enjoy life.Now I feel like that I am nothing.I want to try out the lapband but I am not getting any support from anyone.My doctor does not advise it my mother does not support it and she said that I could die.I told her that if I do not loose this weight than I would die anyway.I feel like that I have nowhere to turn too.I cannot even enjoy any company with my boyfriend.:think I am just so sad until I do not know what to do.I need some cheering up.Has anyone had this procedure done after you have tried any and everything else? Did any of you had support? I just basically need help and I feel like that each step that I take will be my last breath because it is so difficult.:help: Since I cannot get any support at home than maybe I can get some support from here. Thank you for reading my story.

Welcome tj74,

This is deffinatly the place to find support, all the peoiple here are wonderful and offer great advice and support. I am 5 ft 2 too. I am carrying around an extra 100 pounds and I have decided to get the LB. I scheduled for May 18th. I too have tried many. many diets and have been successful only to regain what I lost and extra pounds too. I was even a Phen-fen patient, I lost 100 pounds and found it again. I have tried the Atkins, Weight Watchers, over the counter pills, prescription pills, grapefruit diet, oh soo many others. I am looking at this chance to help me curb my appetite, they say use it as a tool and follow the LB rules (gosh, I hope I can). If you llook around this site you will find many stories that match ours. I wish I would have made this decision when I was your age! Keep in touch. I wish you all the best!

The last time that I dieted I was taking on phetermines.My doctor had me on it for a year.I lost over 100lbs.The only drawback from it was that I had a lot of loose flab but I could walk,run,and enjoy life.Now I feel like that I am nothing.I want to try out the lapband but I am not getting any support from anyone.My doctor does not advise it my mother does not support it and she said that I could die.

Welcome to the site. Your story is a carbon copy of many here; diets, emotions, failures, weight up and down like a yo-yo, etc. First things first Yes, you are shortening your lifespan with your weight and your co-morbidities. Are you familiar with the term BMI? It stands for Body Mass Indicator. A simple measure of your height and your weight determines a figure. I didn't copy your weight and height but I think you said something like 328 lbs. at one time (don't know your current weight) and about 5' 2". That's a body mass that is not on my chart but it's well over 50. You need help immediately. Not trying to scare you but you need to put this on the front burner. Why does your doctor not recommend the lap band? Did he suggest a gastric bypass instead? What solution did he offer? It sounds to me like your mother knows zero about the lap band. It is, by far, the safest of all weight loss surgeries, there's simply no question about that. One thing that bothered me was you said you'd like to "try out" the lap band. You don't "try it out." It's a surgical operation done under full sedation and it's for life. Yes, it can be undone, if necessary. But it's not like a new car....you don't test drive it. FYI, many ins. companies are now paying for the lap band procedure. I highly recommend you not put this off any longer. You are the Captain of your own ship. No one is going to steer your ship for you. Take charge, put your good brain in motion and steer toward a new, safer life. Good luck. Airwayman

Hello everyone.I want to introduce myself.I am a 32 year old woman that has type 2 diabetes and currently weigh 328.This is largest that I have every weighed.My height is 5 ft 2.I have always been an over weight person.Starting from the age of 11.I have been up and down on roller coaster diets.I always loose the weight and gain it back except it is always more than what I weighed before.Everyday is a struggle for me.It is embarrasing to say this but even going to the bathroom is a stuggle because I have to get up off of the toliet.Now anytime It is getting hard for me to get up off of the toilet than I know that it is time to try to loose weight.LOL!:pout: .The last time that I dieted I was taking on phetermines.My doctor had me on it for a year.I lost over 100lbs.The only drawback from it was that I had a lot of loose flab but I could walk,run,and enjoy life.Now I feel like that I am nothing.I want to try out the lapband but I am not getting any support from anyone.My doctor does not advise it my mother does not support it and she said that I could die.I told her that if I do not loose this weight than I would die anyway.I feel like that I have nowhere to turn too.I cannot even enjoy any company with my boyfriend.:think I am just so sad until I do not know what to do.I need some cheering up.Has anyone had this procedure done after you have tried any and everything else? Did any of you had support? I just basically need help and I feel like that each step that I take will be my last breath because it is so difficult.:help: Since I cannot get any support at home than maybe I can get some support from here. Thank you for reading my story.

Why is your doctor not supporting your decision? Is there some reason you should not have surgery?

At my highest I was 102 lbs overweight. My insurance would have paid for surgery if I agreed to jump through hoops but honestly, I just wasn't willing to do that and the surgeon I choose was a better doc with a better track record so instead of waiting six months for a surgeon I didn't want, I went to Mexico and paid cash for the surgeon I did want.

My point is that I do understand how you feel, I was so anxious to have it done I refused to wait.

So the first thing to do is ask why your doc does not support this. Is it because of surgical risk? Is it because he doesn't know anything about lap bands and is speaking from ignorance? Is he one of those that just says to stop eating and exercise a lot?

Well,

Both of you have made the right decision as far as I'm concerned. I am 5'8" tall and was never overweight until 5 years ago and I had tried phentermine and everything. I would loose but always to gain back that and more. I decided to go to Mexico and I'm sure you can imagine what my family thought of that. I heard, you've got to be kidding me. My daughter is a nurse and she threw a ungodly fit. Well, needless to say, Mexico was fabulous, the whole experience. I've lost 60 pounds in the first 6 months and now am a little too tight and can only eat about 800 calories a day so gone into starvation mode so I think my surgeon is going to do a slight unfill. So, this is not a dangerous surgery. My surgeon had done more than 6000 and never had anyone to die. The complications rate is less than 1 percent for him. If you want the band, do it. I didn't tell anyone but a few family members. Most just thought we went to Texas on vacation. If you need anyone to talk to please feel free to pm me. Good luck to you.

Welcome tj74,

This is deffinatly the place to find support, all the peoiple here are wonderful and offer great advice and support. I am 5 ft 2 too. I am carrying around an extra 100 pounds and I have decided to get the LB. I scheduled for May 18th. I too have tried many. many diets and have been successful only to regain what I lost and extra pounds too. I was even a Phen-fen patient, I lost 100 pounds and found it again. I have tried the Atkins, Weight Watchers, over the counter pills, prescription pills, grapefruit diet, oh soo many others. I am looking at this chance to help me curb my appetite, they say use it as a tool and follow the LB rules (gosh, I hope I can). If you llook around this site you will find many stories that match ours. I wish I would have made this decision when I was your age! Keep in touch. I wish you all the best!

Thank you for the support I really appreaciate it.!

Welcome to the site. Your story is a carbon copy of many here; diets, emotions, failures, weight up and down like a yo-yo, etc. First things first Yes, you are shortening your lifespan with your weight and your co-morbidities. Are you familiar with the term BMI? It stands for Body Mass Indicator. A simple measure of your height and your weight determines a figure. I didn't copy your weight and height but I think you said something like 328 lbs. at one time (don't know your current weight) and about 5' 2". That's a body mass that is not on my chart but it's well over 50. You need help immediately. Not trying to scare you but you need to put this on the front burner. Why does your doctor not recommend the lap band? Did he suggest a gastric bypass instead? What solution did he offer? It sounds to me like your mother knows zero about the lap band. It is, by far, the safest of all weight loss surgeries, there's simply no question about that. One thing that bothered me was you said you'd like to "try out" the lap band. You don't "try it out." It's a surgical operation done under full sedation and it's for life. Yes, it can be undone, if necessary. But it's not like a new car....you don't test drive it. FYI, many ins. companies are now paying for the lap band procedure. I highly recommend you not put this off any longer. You are the Captain of your own ship. No one is going to steer your ship for you. Take charge, put your good brain in motion and steer toward a new, safer life. Good luck. Airwayman

Yes my current weight is 328lbs and 5 ft 2.I was typing so fast until what I meant to say was that I wanted to have this procedure done instead of "try it out".My insurance company will pay for this procedure with no questions asked.You gave me some good advice.I will put my foot down and let the people that care about me know how I feel and you are right I have to make this descision.I just wish that they would quit scaring me with all of the what ifs? you know what I mean? Thank you for the advice and giving me a little kick in my but.:clap2:

Airwayman,

Congratulations on making a decision to seek out a solution to your problem of being overweight. Many times, we fat people try approaches to weight loss that are unsuccessful. But like so many great people we must keep at it until we succeed. We are not the sum of our weight; we are much greater than that! I know several people that have been in your boat and are now much healthier for having the surgery. Have you read up on how it is done? Talked to an gastroenterologist about the procedure? It is not enough to talk to your primary care physician. You must become an information vaccuum and suck up all the info you can about the procedure. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half for the operation, on average. You do get knocked out for it. Some people stay overnight at the hospital where the procedure is performed, others go home the same day. (I prefered to stay overnight.) The one thing that everyone seems to wonder is why your doctor did not think it was the procedure for you. Can you explain that part to me? What was his reasoning? What type of Doctor is he? Anyhow, don't give up. Check out the before and after pictures and see the possibilities.

wow. Your exact words used to come out of my mouth! And my PCP said all I needed to do was eat smaller meals and I'd be fine. I should say my ex-PCP. I'd suggest you find a lap band Dr and go to their seminar to get information. And congrats on the insurance. I had to self-pay mine. And worth every penny. Find a local lap band support group andf start going there for support. And then slowly begin to educate the uninformed around you. It takes awhile. Change (in you) is as scary for them as it might be for you.

Where are you? Let's see if we can find you a cheering section.....

Why is your doctor not supporting your decision? Is there some reason you should not have surgery?

At my highest I was 102 lbs overweight. My insurance would have paid for surgery if I agreed to jump through hoops but honestly, I just wasn't willing to do that and the surgeon I choose was a better doc with a better track record so instead of waiting six months for a surgeon I didn't want, I went to Mexico and paid cash for the surgeon I did want.

My point is that I do understand how you feel, I was so anxious to have it done I refused to wait.

So the first thing to do is ask why your doc does not support this. Is it because of surgical risk? Is it because he doesn't know anything about lap bands and is speaking from ignorance? Is he one of those that just says to stop eating and exercise a lot?

My new PCP is a total:censored: .All that she said was that the weight will come right back on youif you have this procedure done.Nothing works but diet and exercise.How in the :censored: can I exercise when I have to use a cane to walk with! I am barely able to put one foot before the other.Than she says.Try nutrisystem or Jenny Craig.I cannot affford to by those meals when other people in the house has to eat too! I am working on getting another PCP.Thanks for listening.

Well,

Both of you have made the right decision as far as I'm concerned. I am 5'8" tall and was never overweight until 5 years ago and I had tried phentermine and everything. I would loose but always to gain back that and more. I decided to go to Mexico and I'm sure you can imagine what my family thought of that. I heard, you've got to be kidding me. My daughter is a nurse and she threw a ungodly fit. Well, needless to say, Mexico was fabulous, the whole experience. I've lost 60 pounds in the first 6 months and now am a little too tight and can only eat about 800 calories a day so gone into starvation mode so I think my surgeon is going to do a slight unfill. So, this is not a dangerous surgery. My surgeon had done more than 6000 and never had anyone to die. The complications rate is less than 1 percent for him. If you want the band, do it. I didn't tell anyone but a few family members. Most just thought we went to Texas on vacation. If you need anyone to talk to please feel free to pm me. Good luck to you.

Thank you so much for those encouraging words.

tj74: It is tough when you don't have anyone around to help reinforce your good decisions and only want to continue with the old tired routines that didn't work before....

Whether the Band is for you or not, it sounds like you need to find a provider who can give you better answers.

Keep reading here, ask questions, and realize that others have faced the very same quandries. Ultimately no one but you and your surgeon have the power to make that decision.

I was at the bottomless pit of frustration and despair seeking a solution to being morbidly obese and seeing the ever declining vitality I was suffering.

Fears, anxieties and confusion fall away when you make an informed decision and take steps toward your own action plan.

:welcomeB: to BandLand....hope we can help....

Thank you for your words it has helped me a lot.

Airwayman,

Congratulations on making a decision to seek out a solution to your problem of being overweight. Many times, we fat people try approaches to weight loss that are unsuccessful. But like so many great people we must keep at it until we succeed. We are not the sum of our weight; we are much greater than that! I know several people that have been in your boat and are now much healthier for having the surgery. Have you read up on how it is done? Talked to an gastroenterologist about the procedure? It is not enough to talk to your primary care physician. You must become an information vaccuum and suck up all the info you can about the procedure. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half for the operation, on average. You do get knocked out for it. Some people stay overnight at the hospital where the procedure is performed, others go home the same day. (I prefered to stay overnight.) The one thing that everyone seems to wonder is why your doctor did not think it was the procedure for you. Can you explain that part to me? What was his reasoning? What type of Doctor is he? Anyhow, don't give up. Check out the before and after pictures and see the possibilities.

My PCP is basically being a jerk and saying that I need a diet and exercise.The lapband will never work because she has even known of superstars that has had this done nevertheless she did not name any names.She mentioned Nutrisystem,Jenny Craig,and Weight watchers.I cannot afford Nutrisystem and Jenny craig when their are others in the house that has to eat too.She just talked like a complete :censored:

Hey there!

I am 9 days post-op. I was about 113 pounds overweight. BEtween the pre-surgery process and now post-surgery restriction, I have already lost 33 pounds.

I am still dealing emotionally with the fact that I have permanently altered my body - basically because I was powerless over food. It's hard to own it, but I'm getting there. I vascillate between scared to death that I've made a mistake and being excited about my potential new future.

Pain, pain, pain - that's the worst part of being fat. NOt being able to exercise. Now, there's pain post-surgery. From anesthesia, whatever. But that is short-lived and when I weight that against the future of pain reduction from weight reduction, I am feeling hopeful for the first time in many, many years.

Give yourself help. Disregard your PCP, they are obviously one of those who just don't get it. Same with your mother. Don't keep toxic people around you who won't support you. I wonder if your mother is overweight, too, and perhaps is worried she won't have co-miserable company? Or she's thin and doesn't understand what you're going through.

Anyway, follow your heart, find another PCP. If your insurance will cover it, find a support system - a physical support system - someone who can drive you to/from the surgery and stay with you for a couple of days.

Best wishes to you!

I know how you feel. I am close to 300 pounds and I have lost and gained the weight many times. I have people in my family that tell me to just stop eating so much and exercise. They just don't understand. My favorite is the stick thin coworkers I have that tell me to just eat salads. You have to do what is right for you. I am trying to get my band approved. Have you gone to a seminar or lap band doctor to talk to them? I have found they are more understanding and helpful than PCP. They have seen so many success stories with the band and will support you more! Keep visiting the forum- It always cheers me up as I wait for my surgery date!