I just joined this forum. I really would like to know all the negative stuff that might happen during the lap-band process. It seems to good to be true at this point, but that might be because I'm a natural pessimist.

This all started about 6 months ago when I went in for a doctor's appointment. Instead of my regular physician (who was out of town that day), one of the other doctors in the same clinic saw me. During the visit, he told me that I would probably be the perfect candidate for a lap band procedure. I had never heard of this before. I assumed what he meant by that was an old-fashioned stomach stapling procedure, which I'd heard so many very bad things about, so I basically dismissed his advice - partly because he wasn't my regular doctor.

However, over the months this kept popping back in my mind, what he had said. I later asked my regular doctor about it, and she concurred that I would probably benefit from a lapband procedure. This still didn't convince me.

After waiting for many years to become a father, at age 46 I finally had my dream come true. I am now the father of a wonderful little two-year-old boy, whom I love more than anything in the world. This past Fathers Day (in June) I had a most wonderful day celebrating being a father. But the whole day long I kept thinking: "I need to do something about my health to make sure I'm around to help raise my son." All day long this was very much on my mind. I do not want to have my son grow up without a daddy...

So, after that I began to dig around on the Internet, and discovered to my huge surprise that the procedure my doctors had been talking about was *NOT* the old-fashioned stomach stapling surgery where they hack off part of your intestinal tract, but instead was this very simple, very amazing procedure of the lap band. I was absolutely stunned about this. I still haven't gotten over it. It seems too good to be true.

So, I've made an appointment to start the process next Wednesday. I'm going to go in and discuss it with my doctor, and get the ball rolling. I'm doing it for me, but I'm also doing it for my wife and son. I want to be around to watch him grow up. I have some health problems associated with my being overweight such as high blood pressure, sleep apnea, difficulty walking, etc. that I hope will get better if I can drop the pounds.

So any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening.

My advice is to get all the information you can. This site has tons of information to help you decide. I tell people, I will give you all the information, good or bad, that I know. I will not tell you it will work for you. That part is up to you. The band is not magic. It's worked for many of us, but it definitely works better when the bandster does his/her part. The band has been part of a big change in my life and has the potential to do the same in yours.

Good luck!

Bruce