OK January Bandsters- it will be great in '08 for all of us!!

Where are you starting and where do you want to go weight wise? What co-morbidities are you hoping to gain relief from?

For me, I'm currently at 381. My "ideal" weight is 176 :eek: I'd love to get to 220 though, and am hoping to be done with high blood pressure and many of the joint aches and pains that seem to grow by the day. I am also looking forward to a more positive self-image and outlook. I know all that is possible because I've been there before when I lost weight in the past.......... but sadly could never keep it off. I'm really looking forward to a fresh start and some serious help from my new best friend!

So, what's your story?

Mine is the 4th with Dr. Kuri! I'm getting ready and excited to start my new life!

I'm not scheduled yet, but I'm hoping for a date at the end of Jan. or beginning of Feb. I'm currently around 250 give or take, and my goal is 140 to 150, somewhere in there. I don't have any co-morbidities, but I'm certainly hoping to prevent them. My Mom is a diabetic and so was my Grandmother so I'm at higher risk for that. Honestly though, I think at this point I want this more for vanity reasons. I want to feel good about myself. I have been overweight for 20 years, since I was a kid and I'm just tired of it. I want to have the energy to play in the yard with my kids without getting winded from just walking down the damn stairs. I want to go in a store in the mall that has clothes that fit me and don't have an X in the size. I want to walk hand in hand with my husband and really feel like his Trophy wife...lol. I want people to say "Wow" when they see me and I never want to hear "You'd be so pretty if you lost some weight" or "You have such a pretty face" ever again. I want to be HOT! lol Don't get me wrong, I want to be healthy too, it's about 50/50, I want to be healthy and I want to be hot...lol.

I go in for my initial consultation on December 3rd...I'm counting down the days (12 incase you're wondering;) ). I've done the seminar, they've verified my insurance, I'm picking up my medical records next week so I can take them with me, I have a babysitter lined up so hubby can go with me, I've researched this thing like crazy for almost a year, I'm READY TO GET THIS BALL ROLLIN'!!!!!!! :whoo:

Hi everyone! I am not officially booked in January, but it looks like that is the month I will be banded. I would like to lose enough weight to get off my BP and diabetes medication. I am currently 274 and 5'2-- I would love to loose 100 pounds. I have lost 10 pounds in the past year-- 10 hard-fought pounds. It seems silly, but I am very proud of them.

After doing a lot of research, I have decided that the band is for me. I have also convinced my husband finally. I was glad that my insurance has required six months of supervised weight-loss with a nutritionist. That has really helped me get my head around the idea of being banded. Looking forward to getting to know everyone better!

~~Amaara

Chrisann-

We have alot in common. I am turning 40 in January and also am very healthy. My starting weight was 358 (doc's office) and 354 (my scale). I had a physical after I made my surgical appt. just to get clearence from my physician. She was all for it and ran every test known to man to ensure that I was very healthy. The test results proved that there was nothing wrong with me. So when I went to Dr. Lautz he looked in my file and said, "Well, looks like you want to have the Lapband.". I said, "Yes, that I was healthy as a horse but just freakin fat". To this he chuckled and said, "You are a perfect canidate for the Lapband and that I would do very well with it." He didn't even push torwards Gastric Bypass; which I would not do anyway.

This surgery is to get me to have 40 more healthy years..why not get it taken care of before we have other issues late in life. I like my new friend the Band; we are still in the honeymoon stage; so we will see when it gets a bit harder.

Best Wishes.

Thanksgiving Greetings January Travelers! :hungry:

I put in my request for a January 18th surgery date, my advocate is going to bat for me with my surgeon (he doesn't like to do surgery on Friday). Tomorrow a.m. is blood work, p.m. my sleep study and Monday a.m. some sort of "swallowing" test. That will be all my pre-op tests. Then I enjoy my holidays, prepare for my liquid diet after the 1st, and then on to finding the old me on the 18th.

Prayers appreciated:pray2:, especially for the sleep test. I absolutely don't what to have to get one of those CPAP things! YUK! I don't think I have this problem, but I'm concerned they may just want to "sell" me one anyway. We'll see.

RuthE:ranger:

RuthE,

My sleep study is next weekend and I also hope I won't have to get a CPAP. I don't think I have sleep apnea, but you never know. CPAPs are covered under insurance, at least mine covers them. As much as I would hate to have one, if I really do have sleep apnea, the quality of my sleep would be much improved because of it and hopefully it will get resolved after losing weight with the band.

The fact is that sleep apnea is very dangerous. My father has severe sleep apnea and he would stop breathing at night for up to a minute at a time and he would wake up every morning with headaches, ie. his brain wasn't getting enough oxygen. It was very scary for my mother to hear my father stop breathing and she couldn't sleep because she would wake up to wake him up so he would start breathing again. Now he has a cpap and he can actually sleep well now.

Hopefully you'll get your Fri surgery date. My doc only does surgery Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays so I had to pick from those days. Good luck with all your tests this week. I have my nutrition appt. next Friday. Blookwork not til Dec. How are you doing bloodwork so much in advance? They told me I had to do it within 30 days of surgery.

RuthE & RedTulips3! Best of luck with your scheduled sleep tests. I somehow got passed on needing the sleep test but I have to see a cardiologist on Thursday (29th) to set schedule a stress test and if that is good I'm scheduled for surgery Jan 10th!

Thoughts & prayers for you both to have good results & no CPAP

Thank you for the well wishes. When I scheduled the surgery, there was no sleep study needed. The office called to let me know that the center where I'm having surgery is making it a new requirement as of Jan 1, 2008, so that includes me. Like I said before, I highly doubt that I have sleep apnea, and hopefully this sleep study will confirm my thoughts!

Red! You're doing great with your weight presurgery weight loss! What are you doing to prepare? The center gave me a list of behavior modifications and told me to choose three to work on ..... I think it's been two weeks and I had lost 1 lb which now I''ve gained 2 this past holiday weekend. Have lost 10 since Sept on WW. Great start for you! I wish you the best on your sleep test. I look forward to watching your journey...I'm the day after you!

I'm getting banded on January 14,2008 in mexico by Dr. Aceves.Is anyone else out there getting banded by him?

Thanks a lot luvsrocks, I appreciate the compliment. Congrats on the 10lbs! You earned(or should I say lost?) each and every one!

My weight loss is nothing that the Dr. or nutritionist told me to do. When I walked in for my consultation in Aug. I weighed 300lb. and he didn't say I should lose x amount of weight before surgery. I just got all excited for the surgery and knew it would be 5 months to surgery so why waste all that time gaining more weight. I also felt disgusting because I was eating anything and everything.

I know I feel great and healthy and get results with Atkins, so thats what I started a week after the consultation and I have been moving full force with it since. I did Atkins seriously one time before, losing about 50lbs, but of course it came back when I went back to eating all the junk. The only reason I'm so dedicated to it is because I know that the band is going to prevent it from coming back.

I have my nutritionist meeting on Fri and am eager to discuss things with her. I feel like Atkins was a big behavior modification in that I know that sugar and refined carbs are bad for me, but it's not true modification. and that's the fault with Atkins: it only works if you cut everything out, it takes a long time to get to the point of moderation and some people can't even tolerate any moderation. It will be interesting to discuss transitioning to losing weight with the band than with Atkins.

I know if I did WW, the pounds would be coming off a lot slower, but I would rather do Atkins for another month and get as much weight off now so I have less to lose with band.

You have such a great attitude! Positive attitude is so important. You are to be congratulated on taking control of your life now, at a young age. Great job!

ACALPN - I don't know anyone, but you might go to the Surgery Forums under Doctors & Hospitals.....there is one thread called Mexico Dr. and might be other threads there. Good luck to you!

thanx luvsrocks

acalpn- congrats on getting your surgery date! I put you on the surgery date list.

luvsrocks,

All I can say is that I am grateful that the opportunity to do something now is available to me. I'll have to thank my parents for raising me to always have a positive attitude. I am blessed with parents who accept, love, and support me unconditionally. It has made all the difference in my life and I know this journey will be no different.