I'm very excited to be posting on here for the first time. I have read many wonderful stories on this site ever since I have considered getting the lapband. I have decided to have the surgery and am lucky to have insurance that will pay 90%.

I am in the very preliminary stages. I will attend a seminar next week, and have already filled out the application and contacted my insurance about coverage. I have no doubt I will get approved as I am currently at least a 50 BMI.

I've only scratched the surface and have so much to learn about the lapband process. I have done a fair bit of research and I hope to be able to use this website for information and support. I am recently divorced with only my parents and a few close friends to talk with. Only one friend truly understands what it means to be obese....leaving me with a very small support group.

I'm excited to be going on this journey.

I have been overweight most of my life. I have been on serveral diets but few worked. I was able to lose over 100 lbs on three of the successful diets. Once when I was a teenager on a liquid diet, the next while in college on a non fat diet, and the third during grad school by using atkins and phen fen. Each time I lost weight was a journey. Each time I eventually gained the weight again.

I hope this journey will be different. I am ready to sacrifice in order to be healthy. I have read so much here, yet still feel as if I don't know what to expect. I hope to break my addiction to food and use the band as a tool to focus on my disease.

It was a relief to find this website. I hope to contribute to this forum by sharing my journey and learning from others.

Hi Natasha, I am being banded on the 16th Jan. These boards can have a wealth of information. The people on here are very supportive of each other.Good luck on your journey.

Saleel22

Welcome, Natasha and congratulations on beginning your journey. I love my band and I am so grateful to have it. It has done me wonders. Best of luck to you.

Welcome Natasha, you will love this forum it's totally awesome and I've read and met so many wonderful ppl on this site. I also will be attending a seminar on Jan 12th and I cant wait. I already know my insurance approves it and I already have a doc lined up. It's a requirement that I attend a seminar, get a psych evaluation done and then they submit to my insurance company which covers the lapband and then I wait for a surgery date. I'm hoping to get the band by March. *crossing fingers*

Look frwd to hearing your progress on your journey.

blessings