Hi all...I don't know where to begin...I am really anxious & excited all at once at the thought of getting this lap band done! I just turned 40 and am at might highest weight ever!! I'm 5'7" & weigh 277 ! I have 3 incredible kids 12, 10, & 3! Also, a very supportive husband! Weight happens, I can remember when I was thinner...and that was a long time ago..... way back then.....Now they are all full of energy, energy I once had! I miss out on alot of stuff cause i feel exhausted all the time. I am ready to try this to succeed! I need to become a much healthier, happier, better person again!

I am right there with you! I am 40, 6 kids, ages 21, 19, 18, 16, 15 and 3! I just don't have the energy to keep up with the little one and I have 1 granchild who just turned 2. I was self pay and used Dr Aceves in Mexico, great experience. I contacted his office and within 2 days I had a surgery date scheduled a week later! WOW! Banded 6/2/2007 and doing well, 283 down to 265 in 9 days. I wish I had the surgery in my 20's. Maybe my skin would have been more elastic, LOL. Keep looking to the future it is going to be glorious! Kate

I have no energy either. I am 34 with 3 kids: 8, 4, and 2. The youngest 2 have mild disabilities. I work full-time as an advocate/counselor for victims of domestic violence. I cannot keep up with any of it anymore. I can't wait to get the band to take my life back. I feel empowered just thinking about getting banded!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Roc,

The difference in my life . Where do I start.

MY weight was "weighing" as much on my mind as it was on my body.

It wasn't just making my organs ill but my soul too.

My healthy mind has been just as much help to me as not carrying around all that weight.

I was banded July 06 and today is June 11 07 and the changes in how the band affects me amazes me every day.

Today I had go to a dealership to pick up a truck part for my husband.

I just parked made my way in, asked where the parts department was , did my business and walked out.

Before I would have trudged in huffing and puffing ,hot and sweaty , felt everyone's eyes on me (all men of course), I would know they were grading me , men do that, it would have been a bad experience and when I left there, I would have felt bad about myself and hoped they enjoyed the show, and felt like they talked about how big that one was....

Today with my band success it was just a simple transaction. Thats all.

edie

I am so amazed at how quickly you all have been able to lose in such a short amount of time....That is was really motivates me more! Now I can't wait to get started. I'm meeting with the doctors this Wed. and we'll take it from there.

I work for the school district as an ESL teacher's assistant, so I have the summer off, I'd like to get in there and get this done so I can be ready by the time school begins!

It's great so far to know that support is out there. And hearing your testimony(s) is comforting.

Roc..I am also a teacher and am getting banded this Thursday.. I went through the rigamaroll through the school year and now and ready to be banded and set before school starts again. I am anxious yet excited. I cant believe my life will begin agai non Thursday. I was once tall and slender- never really skinny I didnt think.. but now at the age of 32 with two kids ages 2 and 3 (10 mths apart) I am at my heaviest - 293 pounds at 5'10". I think part of it had to do with fertility meds that I had to take to get my little guys and trhat weas well worth it.. but I am ready to have my old self back as well.

Jodi

So Jodi, it took you most of the school year to get this far? So, I'm like thinking I go in for the consultation Wed. and then we schedule for LB for the following week....I guess I'm wrong, huh? Does most of it have to do with the insurance process....

I'm about to turn 40, 3 kids aged 12, 10 and 4 and am at university completing my Bachelor of Primary Education (grade school teaching to you).

I felt the same, like I'd disappeared under the burden of kids, responsibility and fat and that middle age was staring me in the face and I was going to walk into it, fat, frumpy and not 1/4 of the person I deserve to be. So I did something about it.

I feel so excited about the new career thats on my horizon, and the way I look and feel, ready to face it.

But the me that's emerged from spending my 30's buried under 80 extra pounds of fat is not the person who went into it. Sigh. I look older, for starters. But I'm going to be the very best 40 I can be and that's all anybody can do.

Roc,

Are you self pay? I work for the school district too but in the district ofc. so I work all yr round. I am self pay and getting banded June 18th. I went in for consult on May 30th and scheduled for surgery after getting approval from my pulmonary doctor on June 1st for the 13th but had to reschedule to the 18th because I ad to make a presentation to the principals. Good luck and see you on the other side. I am very excited one minute and then anxious and nervous the next but I hear it is normal. The main thing is I want to get control of my lung disease and be alive to see my daughter grow up.

Good luck.

Cat

What a great post! You sound ready to rock and roll! You go girl!

Edie, I can absolutely relate to the car dealership thingy.....I always feel humiliated in those situations! I even feel as though the rip me off sometimes and would charge less money if I were younger and thinner.

Roc- I could have had my surgery earlier but I did not want to take the time off of work.. I wanted to wait unti lthe summer to have the actual surgery.. I can't believe it is tomorrow!!

Jodi

Hello ROC and welcome. You have made a great decision and young enough to really enjoy. I'll be 55 in Oct and had my band in March this year. I feel GREAT!!!! Energy level is unbeliveable already! Good luck!

Dear Edie I am 61 I had my surgery Nov 21 o6 and I am doing terrible. I only have 15 lbs off and I have had 2 fills already with no luck. I can eat what i want and dont know how to do the right way to eat. I feel like a sad failure and dont even want to look at a scale let alone get on one. Could you help me to get on the right track? I would greatly appreciate it. my email address is pateve1@comcast.net I will take all the help and advice I can get. thankyou sincerely , makemelean