Hi everybody, here I go. After being fat my whole life I am finally claiming my right to be here and seeking the help I need. I hope to God I can get the doctors and insurance company to agree that I am worth it and deserving. If not I am afraid I will burst out in anger and rage.

I have been dancing around with doctors heads in the sand and looking at me like everything is just fine as long as I take more pills and try to loose a bit of weight. Ive lost weight at times via full time effort and insane dedication and obsession to the process. As soon as real life kicks back in it hops back on.

Oh but you have probably all been there, and this book has already been written a dozen times.

I have a bmi45 and several comorbidities, sort of gazing into knee and hip problems too. My Insurance does pay for this procedure and I will be working with Brigham and Womens hospital, which is a Harvard teaching facility so hopefully can get through the approval process without too much fuss... I would love to know how that went for other people....Will you share? Listening is better than talking for me right now I think..:huh2::cool2:

Hi Sue and welcome to LBT! Congrats on your decision to get the band, it is a wonderful tool. You have to do your part as well for it to work though.

I was self-pay, so I did not have to go through the whole insurance approval process. I can't speak with much knowledge there.

Best of luck to you. Keep us posted on how things are going and let us know as soon as you get a date.

Hi suehobart, I have recently made up mind to have the procedure. But first I checked out all info. I could find on the internet (that's how I found this site). I was so glad to have found it.

suehobart, sorry hit the wrong key before I had finished. Yes, I have been through everything that you said including the doctors response. I have dieted and lost only to not only gain it back but more than I had lost. It is very frustrating. So one nite I was channel surfing and on the TLC channel was a program about LapBand surgery. I had been reading about it started to watch (some I couldn't because it shows part of the actual surgery) but anyhoo, that is when I started my investigation. I talked to my PP and she was supportive. and I think she was relieved that I was the one that had brought up the subject. and I have gone on from there. This site is wonderfully full of support and information. Good luck! and don't hesitate to talk here. GaLina

It is great to get feedback so quick. I'm anxious today. I have 4 people I know who have had various surgeries for obesity and all are relieved and happy for the help with their problem. I have been going through all sorts of issues, denial, anger and finally accepting that this is something I can do and succeed with. I really thought I was loosing my mind last summer but it was all sorts of denial and avoidance stuff going on. ( I also have low oxygen issues, bad sleep and breathing issues from the fat...so those symptoms sent me on a wild goose chase as well.) What seems so silly now is that I knew always that most if not all my health issues are about the obesity. Then sometimes the medication for the complications of it...all sorts of stuff was in place to support avoiding of the root of the problem.

In my family of origin alcoholism is an issue. I have been so angry sometimes that drug addicts and alcoholics have been treated with more respect for their disease than I have for mine. Alcoholism was easy to recover from compared to this...I hope with the success of these surgical procedures we can all begin to get what we need.

I am already beginning to come up substitutes for masking my emotions with food...( can ya tell...like venting here to people I don't even know?...I am normally so mild and sweet...yahh.) I think it will be a really good thing to remove the option of emotional eating...I suspect my house will be cleaner, music will be louder and garden will be amazing...( always my favorite therapy..)

Funny thing is that I haven't actually enjoyed eating in a long time...It's more like just a negative behavior. It will be interesting to see what goes on here ...I think it will be tricky but probably the only way to go. And whatever it takes will probably be an improvement over this.

A few years ago the stars aligned (so to speak) and I actually) managed to take off 50 pounds... At one point my eating was a bit bullet proof. I mean I just was not interested in overeating. It actually lasted for almost an year and a half and I felt so good! It was a mini miracle, and unfortunately life stresses came back and I reverted to my usual coping mechanism.

I am hoping this tool will keep me where I need to be. I don't mind the possibility of being an emotional wing ding instead of a fat, sick, nearly dying sweetie pie.

Good luck and hope for improving health to all of us..and thanks for being out there. love

Hi---I am new here and was wondering if you went through with the lap band surgery and if you wouldn't mind sharing your experiences good, bad, or otherwise with me?!

Sally