I am 17 and weigh about 270 now and I keep gaining and cant lose no matter what I do. I live with my parents who are average and I am the big one in the family. I have read a lot about this LapBand and yes I also was looking online about the Oprah show that was on yesterday. I really want this and my mom is backing me up. I am on her insurance so i dont worry about the money for it as much. But my question is do you think I am too young for this? I don't considering the age of consent is 18 and my birthday is August. But I would like to know your opinion on it though.

Thank You.

It depends on whether you are mature enough to follow the lap band rules (and I'm not saying that based on your age...I'm 29 and am worried if I'M mature enough and I've seen people older than me have the same worry.) If you are good at sticking with things, if you are willing to exercise, and if you are willing to go to your doctor if you have any issues, it might be a good thing for you.

I was your size at that age and I just said to my mother yesterday that I wish I had been able to get banded at that age but that I didn't know if I would have been ready for it.

Hi, Cortney. Life has got to be hard for you and the future probably doesn't look good either, does it.

I would think that the lapband is something you might want to consider, but don't make the decision until you and your mother both research it thoroughly and understand all the lifestyle changes that it requires.

Many doctors and infomercials make it sound like with the band you can continue to eat like you always did.....you just eat less. That's just not so. Your food intake needs to be basically a South Beach diet., heavy on the Protein. The wonderful thing about the band is, you just don't care that much about food.....you really dont have a lot of trouble controlling your eating habits if you keep your band adjusted. You have to go for fills (adjustments) probably the rest of your life.

The band is a wonderful tool but it requires many adjustments in your eating habits - you need to commit to using protein supplements probably the rest of your life to remain healthy and to keep from losing your hair (don't let people tell you the protein supps are yucky....there are some wonderful ones on the market). You will need to realize that there will be no over the top partying (i.e.drinking)......vomiting is to be avoided at all costs because it can cause band slippage which leads to serious complications. You will need to be able to handle the pressure from friends to eat the same crap they are....pizza, hamburgers, etc. With the band that bread and pizza crust just won't go down - even if it would it's empty calories....you don't need it.

Please research and talk to your doctor and see if he will support you in this. Mine didn't and I had to find another doctor. Doctors have their own prejudices just like us 'real people'...don't assume he knows best always unless he has some legitimate reason based on your personal health or body. Most insurance companies require evidence of prior doctor-supervised diets over a long period of time before they will approve the surgery. Find out what your insurance company requires before you get very far along.

You need to attend a few seminars presented by surgeons and ask lots of questions. If you are going to be moving away from your town, see if there are fill doctors in your new town that will do fills for others doctors....or be sure you can come back there easily for them. They are necessary!!

I hope you can find a solution to your weight problem, whatever it may be. I wish I had not had to be fat all my life and develop all the co-morbidities that so negatively affected my quality of life. Best wishes to you, sweetie.

i don't know that i can answer your question directly -- i think it just comes down to the fact that there are other things which matter much more with regard to being "ready" for surgery than age. there are a lot of hoops that most people have to jump through on doctor's orders before surgery, and i think they are absolutely necessary and wonderful: lifestyle change classes, meetings with nutritionists and psychologists, pre-op diets, etc. etc. before i started the process, i dreaded those things, but now, in hindsight, i couldn't be more grateful for having gone through all that preparation. the two things that weren't required that i believe should be are, first, really significant past attempts at weight loss. surgery is NOT an easy way out by any stretch of the imagination, so one has to be sure from the very beginning that one tried all of one's less invasive options first. i know that dieting for most of us who are obese and morbidly obese is kind of pointless, given the statistics as far as regain is concerned, but i think the experience of losing weight on one's own give a dieter a lot of perspective. it sounds like this is already part of your experience, right? the second thing i think is imperative for a surgery candidate is reading of the boards. spend several months reading lapbandtalk.com and obesityhelp.com/forums/lapband to read about all the ups and downs of life after surgery... take in as much as possible, ask as many questions as you can come up with, etc. the people who are most lost after surgery and who struggle the most to have any sort of success, in my opinion, are those who haven't been prepared adequately by their surgeons (through classes, etc.), by their past (through weight loss attempts), and by other post-ops (through message boards)... three totally essential parts of being ready for surgery. just my 2 cents!

all the best of luck to you--

sarah

I agree with the thoughtful advice given here. Be well informed, make sure you are ready for the changes that are necessary and then I say, go for it.

I wish I had this available to me at almost 18. You have the support of your parents, your insurance. I hope this will be a positive changing experience in your life.

Let us know what you decide.

I know that being overweight with normal size parents can happen, but are you sure there are no medical issues that haven't been discovered. I mean have you had you thyroid, cortisol, etc levels checked. Are your periods normal? Was your weight put on very rapidly or was it gradual? I'd talk to your mom about get a "FULL" work up and see if there might be any underlying problems or issues. Also I'd talk to your doc or pediatrician if you still see one and let them know you are considering lap band and want to know if it is something that they would recommend. I know when I went to the pediatrician (until I was 17) she would do a yearly levels check on me because I was heavy. Now my problem stems from genetics and learning to eat poorly thru my parents, so my doc could never find anything. As a matter of fact, I was a perfect bill of health other than I was fat. I do have a friend though who was severly overweight with normal size parents. She didn't routienly go to the doctor, and started getting facial hair, that's when I said "woah girl, you need to go have your hormone levels checked." Well, needless to say she did and it was found that some of her hormones were really outta wack and I think they put her on birth control or some other medication and low and behold she started loosing weight when she started dieting. Now, I am not saying this to get you worried something is wrong with you, I just think that you need to be sure that there is no underlying problem that is interfering with your weightloss attempts. If I had had this option when I was your age I would have totally gone for it. But just keep in mind that this surgery (if you have it done) will probably be the hardest and most challenging thing you will ever do in your life. Please be sure that you can commit to your band. Please be super knowledgable about all aspects before you go ahead with the surgery. And, please keep us posted on your journey!

Cortney, You say you keep gaining weight "no matter what you do", so I wonder what you are doing.

Have you ever been to weight watchers? Has anyone ever taught you to count calories and write it down. Has anyone explained how to read a nutrition label on a packaged food? Has anyone shown you how to weigh or measure your food for a "normal" portion. Do you know how many calories you need to cut from your daily intake to lose one pound a week?

Are you eating most of your food at home or at school? If at home, have you asked your parents to eliminate the foods that will easily add on pounds and to have healthier food choice in the house, like fruit for Snacks etc.

Sometimes for SOME people, a little knowledge can be a very powerful tool to understanding portion control. Changing everything you currently eat to half the portion, can make a big difference.

While you investigate if the lap band is right for you, why not try some of the above, if anything it will help you be better prepared after lap band surgery.

To be honest when I was 18 I weighed about the same as you do and I completely empathize that no matter what I did, I couldn't lose the weight. I got the surgery last year when I was 22. Part of me wishes I had done it when I was 18 before I had gained more weight, but I don't think I was quite ready for everything that comes with having this surgery when I got it. I am struggling with this change of lifestyle everyday, but I do have hope that this will work for me even though I haven't lost as much weight as I would like yet. So really think about if you are ready to go through the emotional aspects that this surgery brings much more than the physical aspects. I thought in the beginning that giving up foods that I love and throwing up every once in a while would be fine, but every once in a while I do get depressed. Don't let that discourage you though because a lot of people don't have these problems and feelings, but you should think about it in case you do. With that I hope you make the decision thats right for you. I am so glad that I got mine the happiness in seeing that scale go down and me feeling healthier have definately surpassed the bad emotional aspects. Good luck!

I am 17 and weigh about 270 now and I keep gaining and cant lose no matter what I do. I live with my parents who are average and I am the big one in the family. I have read a lot about this LapBand and yes I also was looking online about the Oprah show that was on yesterday. I really want this and my mom is backing me up. I am on her insurance so i dont worry about the money for it as much. But my question is do you think I am too young for this? I don't considering the age of consent is 18 and my birthday is August. But I would like to know your opinion on it though.:eek:

Thank You.

Out of blind curiosity, have you ever gotten your thyroid checked or had any other testing done?

Don't get me wrong, I can't think of any way I could be happier with the Lap-band. The only reason why I mention this is that this is major invasive surgery and not like being given a shot.

One more thought, Cortney (gee, can you tell people just love being asked for advice!!)......it might be interesting for you to use the food tracking tool that we use as wls patients.....only use it right now and eat as you normally eat (not trying to be extra good, just regular stuff) and see how your numbers come out. I thought I understood calories, etc. until I did that and OMG!!! I had so much to learn about food values. I was living on carbohydrates! That's about all I liked so that's what I ate......I didn't eat a lot of food....but boy was it bad food even tho I cook at home, etc. The band has made it so much easier to eat right......I have very little interest in food (shocker!!) so I just eat what I need to eat to maintain health.

Go to FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal or Calorie Counter, Diet Tracking, Food Journal, Nutrition Facts at The Daily Plate and record your food for a few days. See what helpful changes you might can make on your own - you'll probalby be asked to lose a few pounds before surgery

anyhow, so that would be good practice for you.

Dont let anything or anyone discourage you. WLS has helped many of us live better. Keep in mind its only a tool that can help you. You still have to make healthy food choices. good luck!

I think if you wait until you're 18 then you're not too young to decide that for yourself. Will you still be on Mom's insurance then? I totally empathize with you coming from a family of skinny people myself. If your parents support the decision, it sounds like you will have a lot of support and can make it through the bandster hell ok. You will probably have great prospects to get down to a nice goal weight since you are young. Keep us updated!

i think you should do the 6 month supervised diet with a dietitian that works with the surgeon you would use for the lap band surgery. the dietitian will teach you during those 6 months the changes that have to be made to succeed with the band. if you are really committed you will find out what needs to be done and do it. i hope you are so you can start enjoying life instead of being miserable about your weight. :eek: good luck!!!

Well you have a few months to try the conventional way to lose weight (cos you'll still have to diet when you have the band) so see how you get on (plus it will help shrink your liver). Then if you still feel the same, you go for it cos there are thousands of us who wished we'd done it years sooner than we have. Good luck!!

The youngest patient my surgeon has done was 16. You are not too young. Good luck.