My daughter has been overweight since she was 8 years old and it has caused serious and frequent emotional pain. She 16 and is just now beginning to seriously want a boyfriend and she is so self conscious. She is getting more stretch marks and if it were me, this is what I would want for myself.

Can anyone share what they would have liked if they experienced something similar? My husband is against the idea and wants to make her work out more but I think we should do something now so that she doesn't have to continue to suffer unnecessarily.

I appreciate any feedback.

If I had a daughter that was 16 and overweight I would approve the band but I would couple it with couseling and a good nutritionist. The youngest patient my doctor has performed surgery on is 16. Good luck.

lap band is not a quick fix by any stretch of the imagination--i woukd try counceling and perhaps a program like Take Shape For Life. It will give her a balanced program--if she can lose on the program and eat a normal meal out w/friends it will boost her self comfidence--se the website NeverHungry.tsfl.com for the details..drs are using it before the band to get people to lose weight and to get them programed into an eating pattern that is healthy and balanced....and you are NEVERHUNGRY!!!! fell free to pm me!!

Hey Robgoblin87,

for 19 you sure are one smart kid!

Jx

I would be inclined to let the girl be banded. It sounds as though she has reached her full physical growth and she is certainly carrying a lot of weight. This must be a terrible thing for her emotionally and physically this will lead to a bunch of problems. I guess the test that I might put her through in order to ensure that she is ready for the band is to have her see a dietitian, learn about healthy eating habits, and watch her put these into practice for the next 6 months or so; afterall, this is how she will have to work with her band for the rest of her life if she wants it to be an effective tool. Forcing her to go through years of yo-yo dieting before she gets the band will only mess up her metabolism and make losing weight - even with the band - that much harder.

I have to say, that I am totally AGAINST banding for teens. They haven't even stopped growing yet. Parts of their brains won't even mature for years , like up to 25. They need to address the issues as to why they are fat. Life style and parents childhood lifestyle: THIS is the biggest reason most of us are fat. The difference is when you are 40, your body doesn't "bounce back" after years of yo-yo dieting. A teen, still has a great metabolism, but they must take some time and DO something. I don't believe the genetic crud. We tell this to ourselves to take off the blame. All the rest of the world has gene's too. many of them may have genes that are prone to be overweight, but they are NOT!!! It is called lifestyle and here in the states, we have a bad one for eating. Learn what is good for you, don't just have LESS of what is BAD. Small McDonald's fries instead of a large McDonald's fries is NOT the answer!!! Having a cup of ice cream instead of 2 cups of ice cream is NOT the answer. DROP the BAD foods and replace them with GOOD foods. Face it folks, even being banded, you cannot eat the bad food or you will NOT lose the weight. We have had to work hard to learn the good foods. Because since WWII, companies started processing foods MUCH differently and in their processing they have made many foods that once were good ...bad. We were raised with this food, not knowing all the bad things they did to it. But now the info is out there. In addition, with our lab band, we need to count calories. If we were 16 and counted the calories and ate healthy food, and exercised, NONE of us would be here banded now. If we cannot admit this and admit that there was something in us that stopped us from looking out for us, then we are not being honest with ourselves. I think that the mom is taking the correct approach. See a therapist and get her self esteem up. Get her motivated to WANT to learn about the good foods and why they are good and why she needs to get rid of the bad foods before they kill you. The older generations still don't get it to a point. my mom defends homemade pizza. made with white flour because it was unbleached, she thinks it is healthy. AGHGHGHGH!! Homemade pizza made with wheat flour wouldn't be bad except that Mozz cheese is hard to digest, and will turn to fat faster. White unbleached flour is better then bleached flour but please don't DARE call it healthy!!! This is the stuff they need to realize. Yes it is work, but better to learn as a child that nothing is worth it unless you work for it. It is true that you appreciate things more too when you work for it then when you are given it. Give the kids a chance to build their self esteem and part of that is by doing the work to lose the weight. Let's try not to put our adult feelings from when we were a teenager into their heads because if we knew as teenagers to do the "right " things, we wouldn't have to have been banded. Sorry this is so long, and preachy, but unnecessary surgery, even the band, for a teenager is nuts.

Whoa there, wait a minute. According to the following you are banded:

>>Banded 2/28/07

1st fill 4/13/07- 1cc

2nd fill 5/18/07-1cc

Dr. Ragui Sadek

Endo-Surgical Associates

Freehold, NJ<!-- google_ad_section_end --> <<

If it is not genetic or physiological and it's a matter of choosing a healthy diet and a good therapist, why is life different for you than a teen?

Teen years set the pace for a great many future behaviors and life challenges. I'd rather see someone overcome the horrors of obesity young vs. old. Things that happen to a child during their teen years often stay with them for a lifetime. Most people if you ask them for the top five most embarrassing moments of their life at least one of those will be from their teen years. An obese teen has embarrassing moments every bloody day of their life. Teen years are supposed to be fun, lots of care free days at the beach. Then they move on to college and have more fun, care free days at the beach. That doesn't happen in the same way with obesity.

I say why waste another day living the life of a fattie? While I wasn't obese as a teen I do remember my friend who was obese and at 45 she is now merely bigger. She grows with each passing year.

I think Mom sounds absolutely fantastic! She is realistic, she is open to learning, she is open to ideas and suggestions, and it is pretty damn obvious she only wants the best for her daughter.

I give Mom a gazillion kudos!!!

Big shout out for "wasabubble butt"!!!!! My teenage years of being fat destroyed me, I ended up in many bad relationships, because how could anyone love the fat chick, I was happy to be in a bad relationship because it was all I could get, or so I thought! If I had sorted out my weight in my teens I wouldn't have had to go through that crap..... As I said my son is heavy, 14 and 220llb 5'9,k his Dad is 6'4 and I'm hoping he now just grows upwards. I will and would do anything in my power to save him any unhapiness. At the moment he is doing great with his food and exercise he's down 20llbs but I try not to dewl to much on his weight because I want him to know that he is so much more than that and I want him to get on with his life. I truly hope he manages to gain controle of his weight, and food. Unlike me who has struggled with it all my life. If he get's to 16/17 and it is still a problem I will look at banding for him. The funny thing is my daughter who is 11 and has always been slim has started to put weight on, quite a bit. Now I have never once mentioned this to her, I have never reffered to her weight gain, in the opposite I have told her how beautiful and curvy she is and do you know what, she thinks she is "Canadians next top model". I have noticed she herself is begining to take controle of portion sizes and exercise! But as for self essteam she has it in bucketfuls, It makes me wonder how much of my sons weight issues I have caused indirectly. As soon as he started to put weight around 7yrs old I freaked and tried to take controle of it, whilst not even being able to take controle of my own!

Jx

I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, being once an overweight child myself, there was nothing more difficult. And I still struggle with the low self-esteem that I feel came mostly from other kids teasing me.

But I also recognize that it's a relatively new procedure. In the back of my head I keep wondering when the alert is going to come out that lap bands cause other health problems. Part of this is due to the FDA's quick approval and then disapproval of drugs lately (including Phen-Fen and other "miracle" diet drugs which affected many overweight people like myself).

So, I'm unsure how I would proceed. I'm relatively young, but old enough that my weight was affecting my health. I doubt your teenage daughter is in that position at this time. If you haven't already (and I didn't read the entire thread, so excuse me if you've mentioned it elsewhere), you might take her some place like Jenny Craig. That's a really great program. Some people are capable of turning their lives around without the lap band.

The band is not a new procedure, though. Yes, it's only been approved for use in the US relatively recently, but it's been used internationally for years.

Speaking as an obese woman who used to be an obese teen, I wish this had been available to me. It could have saved me a LOT of grief over the years.

Like other people have said, I would recommend that the OP give her daughter several months to show her that she really is serious about wanting to do this. Take her to seminars, nutrition classes, make her watch the surgery online, make her meet people who have had the surgery. Make sure that she knows EXACTLY what she would be getting into. And if she can show you that she does know, and that she's ready and willing to make the lifestyle changes that are necessary, try and make it happen for her.

Well I just saw this post at work and HAD to reply. I am honestly dissapointed to see so many people who are against the band for teens. I am 18 years old and was banded on May 23rd 2007. I STRONGLY believe in banding for teenagers. I had first heard of the band when NWWLS had the comercial on the television when I was 15. I had researched it and begged my mom ever since. She initially thought it was crazy. Last summer she agreed to come with me to a seminar at NWWLS and when we left she told me she would do everything in her power to help me get the lapband because she truley believed it would be the best thing for me, now and in the future. High school caused me so much pain from teasing and harrasment, I decided to go to an alternative school whereI could advance in credit and get the hell out of there. I am now 18, financed the band MYSELF and work full time and go to college. Just like an adult. I was the biggest bored eater ever. So far the band has been the best thing ever. I have lost 18 pounds as of today (need to update ticker) and would have never imagined the feelign of no hunger and being full so instantly. And thats without a fill. It is amazing. I had tried everythignt oo. Nutri-system, jenny craig, weigth watchers, curves, la fitness, slim-fast. I don't know how mcuh my mom has spent on fad diets for me. I just feel better. I know that if I get up and work out, that it's actually going to count, and I can't screw it up later by eating a double cheeseburger. I feel like every good choice I make isn't in jeopardy of beign reversed by my bad habits. I would have killed to have this at 16, but am so happy I got it at 18. I now have the chance to have a normal life. It's so hard beign a teen a being obese. It controls your life. When your friends want to hang out and they want to take their car I always dread if it's a two door, there is nothign worse then trying to SQUEEZE into the back of one of those, (that's why I got an SUV lol) but still, it controls your life. I don't know how much your daughter tells you about her issues but man, I totally feel for her. And no insurance does not cover it because the band is not approved by the FDA for people under 18. However the cheapest places I have found seem to be Dr. Ortiz in Mexico and Dr.Kirshenbaum in Colorado. I decided that I'd rather have 94' Ford Explorer as opposed to a 2006 Explorer so I can afford my surgery, and that's just fine for me. I'd take health and a better life over a new car any day! I urge your daughter to learn more about it and see if she really thinks it will be something she can work with. Feel free to private message me or I'm on myspace, www.myspace.com/audreyg I'd be more than happy to talk to your daughter more about it on a teen level and how it isn't just a quick fix. Sometimes teens understand more when hearing it from a peer. I truley do believe it is something that will help so many teens. My motivation for life is through the roof and I finally feel free. I have control over everythign in my life now, including my weight.

-Audrey

Audreyg!!!!! AWSOME......

Audreyg!!!!! AWSOME......

Thanks jetlagjane (love the name by the way) I appreciate the support!

I'm sure I came off a little aggresive but man, I wish every obese teen could experience this. I am so lucky I did what I did in my life to be able to afford the surgery. I hope the FDA approves it for teens ASAP this could stop an epidemic. No person should have to go through the horrible taunting of being overweight especially when your becoming who you are (15,16,17,18) tough ages. I would not wish being overweight in highschool on worst enemy. I don't remember who, but someone on this thread posted something about being overweight in relationships and accepting such poor behavior from a significant other. I TOTALLY agree with this. When I was 15 I met my "dream guy" we were together on and off for a year or more. He was terrible, cheated on me made rumors about me and a still stuck with him cause I didn't know any better and thought that's the best I can get. I made a decision long before the band to 86 all of those negative people out of my life, and boy I can't wait until I am thin and that boy can see how Okay I really am on my own. Needless to say, back to duckys post, I am 100% for teens gettign the surgery. Again I'd be happy to talk to her if she has any questions, or mayeb just needs a friend, I like to believe I'm kinda cool.

Hey Audreyg,

It was me who mentioned, when you're fat you accept being treated like crap in relationships! I happily accepted it..... You sound like you've got your whole fantastic life ahead of you, with your head firmly on your banded slimming down nicely booty!!!!. I'm so glad things are working out for you! My user name is because I travel loads in my job and I'm always jetlaged!

Jx

Ducky, I'm not against banding for teens but have you also looked into the gastric balloon (BIB) My daughter is looking at getting this done instead of the band. Lap Band Bajanor Obesity Center The BioEnterics® Intragastric Balloon This is one of the places that offer it. Best of luck to you and yours.

Ducky, I'm not against banding for teens but have you also looked into the gastric balloon (BIB) My daughter is looking at getting this done instead of the band. Lap Band Bajanor Obesity Center The BioEnterics® Intragastric Balloon This is one of the places that offer it. Best of luck to you and yours.

The balloon isn't designed for long term weight loss. Matter of fact, the balloon needs to be changed out every six months. It's my understanding that they typically use it for malignantly obese folks to get their weight down so surgery is a little safer for banding, bypass, or DS.

Things might have changed since I last read about it.

Wasa, according to the people my daughter has talked with, it is used for many teens that just need that boost to get started. You are right though it does need to be changed after 6 months. I was just saying this could be a alternative to banding. The cost is also significantly less then the band.