Please call me Rose! I'm so happy to have found these forums, I feel like I've been on a very lonely and scary ride. I do have an excellent lap-band doctor (Dr. Deol in Michigan) and I've been to her seminar, had my first consultation, and I'm currently going through a lot of tests from other doctors, to make sure I'm healthy for the lap-band surgery. I've seen many doctors so far, but still have a ways to go, no surgery date yet. My starting weight is 248 pounds, my height is only 5'2", making my BMI 45.4, putting me into the morbidly obese catagory (sigh). I have a lot of health problems in my family history, including diabetes, heart disease, and several types of cancer. My current problems are "only" high blood pressure, degenerative joint disease, and *possible* coronary artery heart disease, but this has not been confirmed yet (seeing my cardiologist next week).

I want to lose this weight first to improve my health, and hopefully avoid further health problems, second to improve ENERGY (don't we all need some of this! :whoo: ) and last just to look and feel better about myself! I'm so tired of baggy unattractive clothes. Being short, it's even harder to find clothes - I think the clothes stores assume all heavy people must be tall!

So that's a little about me . . . I'm hoping to get all these tests done and get banded SOON! I could use any support and suggestions anyone cares to offer :help: I don't have much in the way of family at all, and could use someone to really talk to. My husband supports me 100%, and he's a good listener, but he's just not the best talker. I have an 11 year old son that has autism. I just need someone who really understands all of this!

Thanks so much, looking forward to talking to all of you!

Rose, I was banded on July 27th in Mexico. I feel great and i am so glad i did this. I have already lost 12 pounds. Hope all goes well for you. Donna

Hello Donna! Thanks so much for the positive feedback, I need to hear these success stories (I know the risks and complications, lol). I'm so happy to hear you are pleased with this, congrats on the weight loss so far!

Hello Rose and welcome to the "bandster family". We are always looking for a few good folks to join in. This is a great site to explore and visit. You also can go to the chat site and see what everyone is talking about. Ask any questions or voice any concerns. Most of the questions have been asked and are posted but every now and then someone surprises us with a new one. Good luck on your journey. Let me know if I can help.

Rose,

Welcome! You've come to the right place. I've found such a warm, caring and receptive group here. I was banded 6/25/07, and found the group after the banding. I so wished I had found them before hand. I went through an emotional time the first couple of weeks, and the folks here are awesome. Feel free to ask any question, bring any topic up, or chime in whenever the urge strikes. I've learned so much here about the band, and how I'm not alone in all of this. We're all in it together!!!

Best of luck to you...

Peggy

Hello Peggy and Jen! Thank-you both for the information and such warm welcomes! I am already feeling better about many things, and feeling right at home here in the forums. I wasn't sure if I should join before I was banded, but now I'm glad I did! It's a much smoother journey when you have friends who've gone before you, to help guide the way. I've been looking around the forums, excellent information available here!

Thanks again, looking forward to chatting with you some more!

Welcome to LBT! I have also just started my journey to Band Land and this site is such a great wealth of information. What caught my eye on your post was that you have an 11 year old son with autism. I also have a 3 year old son with mild autism. He has been a great motivation for my wanting to lose weight. He is EXTREMELY active (too young to diagnose ADHD or ODD, but it's a definate!) and I have a very hard time keeping him safe, ie: running into the street, running away from me, running out the door when we are in any store etc.. I have no mobility, I can't even take him to the park or the beach alone because I simply cannot catch him. So, just wanted to say "hi" and "welcome" and if you want to PM me, please feel free!

Maria

Hi Rose, you sound like me. My husband is great and helpful but not a listener or talker. I am 5'2" and weight 290 when I started this, I am at 272 and I have not been banded yet. I too had to have all the test & am waiting for just a few results. I should have a date tomorrow. I have no children and live in a very small town in Georgia. I have only been here 3 years and have few friends. Lots of business friends since we have a computer retail & repair store here. We have apartments in the same building & we live there. It has been fun. I want to lose this weight for the same reason as you, family history, bad joints, high blood pressure. I can barely walk these days my legs & feet are so bad. Please feel free to email me anytime.

P

Hi Rose..............I'm fairly new here myslef having been banded 7-16 in Mexico. Where in Michigan do you live? I live in Mi too and my hubby doesn't like to talk either,

Hi Rose

I was banded 7/17 - and this is where I got tons of info prior to being banded (joined in May) - the people on this site are wonderful.

I too had TONS of doctors appointments prior to being banded - due to my age and never going to the doctors - heart (failed the treadmill - they had to do a nuclar stress test-don't ask me how they thought a fat 52 yr old couch potato was going to run on a treadmill for any lenght of time:o) colonospcy - mamo - pap - lungs (smoker) - sleep test - 14 vials of blood - shrink - but all those visits were worth it. I have lost 20 as of last week - tomorrow is my weigh in day (wish me luck).

I did this for the same reason that you are looking in to it - I want to be healthy ..

Welcome - read - ask questions - we are hear for you...

:tea:

Hi Rose..............I'm fairly new here myslef having been banded 7-16 in Mexico. Where in Michigan do you live? I live in Mi too and my hubby doesn't like to talk either,

Hi Kirajh!

I live in Waterford, near Pontiac. Congrats on your band! :clap2: How are you doing with it?

Hi Rose

I was banded 7/17 - and this is where I got tons of info prior to being banded (joined in May) - the people on this site are wonderful.

I too had TONS of doctors appointments prior to being banded - due to my age and never going to the doctors - heart (failed the treadmill - they had to do a nuclar stress test-don't ask me how they thought a fat 52 yr old couch potato was going to run on a treadmill for any lenght of time:o) colonospcy - mamo - pap - lungs (smoker) - sleep test - 14 vials of blood - shrink - but all those visits were worth it. I have lost 20 as of last week - tomorrow is my weigh in day (wish me luck).

I did this for the same reason that you are looking in to it - I want to be healthy ..

Welcome - read - ask questions - we are hear for you...

:tea:

Hi IndioGirl!

Wonderful to hear about your new banding! Please keep in touch and let me know how you are doing, I always like to hear what happens right after the operation! That's a lot of pre-op tests you had to do! I too failed the cardiac "stress test", but I didn't do the treadmill (I hear ya on the couch potato stuff, lol) they injected a cardiac medicine to make my heart rate speed up, just as if I was working on the tread mill. It was NOT pleasant! My heart rate went up to 130 and they had to inject another medication to reverse the first one. Oy! But I failed it, it's possible I have a blocked artery in my heart, so now I face the nuclear test you mention, or a possible cardiac cath before I can progress further in my Quest for a lap-band (sigh). I was hoping to lose the weight and avoid these problems!:think

Good for you for hanging in there, going through all those doctors and finally getting your band! and for losing 20 pounds! :clap2::clap2::clap2: That's awesome, I know that must have been a rough road for you. I think I'm burning out on doctor visits, but I'm hanging tough in there! :whoo:

Hi Rose, you sound like me. My husband is great and helpful but not a listener or talker. I am 5'2" and weight 290 when I started this, I am at 272 and I have not been banded yet. I too had to have all the test & am waiting for just a few results. I should have a date tomorrow. I have no children and live in a very small town in Georgia. I have only been here 3 years and have few friends. Lots of business friends since we have a computer retail & repair store here. We have apartments in the same building & we live there. It has been fun. I want to lose this weight for the same reason as you, family history, bad joints, high blood pressure. I can barely walk these days my legs & feet are so bad. Please feel free to email me anytime.

P

Hello PCracker :tea:

It's great to meet you! I am just loving all the wonderful responses here on LBT. I'm really glad I joined, I don't feel as alone anymore. Please feel free to PM or email me anytime too! We do sound like we have a lot in common. Congratz on the 20 pound weight loss so far, that's more than I can do without some diet (although I have not done the pre-op diet yet).

Please let me know when your date for the banding is! Would love to know how you are doing :gluck: