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Should I go through with this ?



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I'm 18 years old, and I weigh about 200 lbs, Everyone I know says I have my fat well spread out so you can't tell i weigh that much, but I know my weight and I see myself in the mirror. My mom got the lap band a couple years ago and went from a size 26 to a size 4 ! She looks AMAZING :eek: ! At the moment I am in Dominican Republic on vacation visiting my family and basically I had a bright idea of possibly getting the surgery done myself here in Dominican Republic. Of course, it's alot less expensive and I'd really love to see myself at 140 lbs. I don't feel like I'm a big eater but I do love to snack and snack on different things and also find myself eating a big plate for a meal if I go out to eat and for dinner. Mostly, I'd like to get this surgery done for 1. to be much happier with myself and 2. for my future (my family is diabetic and almost all of my aunts have had to get the surgery for health purposes). I figure I should get the surgery done now since I'm young and my skin is young enough to pull back to normal if I lose weight so i won't be flabby and also so i can be happy now with my body now as well as later in my future. Please give me your thoughts on what i should do. Also since I live in orlando and I'd be getting the surgery done here in Dominican Republic - getting fills would be pretty hard (but if it needs to be done, of course I'd make my trips down here to get them done) but about how many fills is necessary and why ?

Also give me your stories, on your skin (like did it stay flabby?), how fast did you find yourself losing weight?, does the band hurt on some days?

ANY ADVICE WILL DO :) I'm just pretty much nervous.

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If you have tried Weight Watchers, etc. and no luck, then yes this is the best alternative! I would do it again tomorrow if I had too.

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200lbs. Been there, done that.

I'm 16 years old and I just got the Lap Band on April 30th

in Mexico by Dr. Ortiz. So far i'm really glad I went through

with having the surgery. I read a lot about the surgery and

my doctor so I wasn't nervous at all! I was suprisingly really

confident in everything. The worst part for me was having to

take these really gross chalky pills without Water. Oh, and

once your all drugged up you won't be nervous because you'll

feel soooo good. But afterwards it is hard, I just started eating

my solid foods yesterday.. day 21. If your for following the rules

and such I would say go get the Lap Band. Plus your mom has

already had it so she can be there to help you along the way.

I also live in Orlando. I think i'm going to get my fills done at a

fill center in Tampa just because Mexico is so far away and it's

very pricey to make trips back there. :blushing:

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200lbs. Been there, done that.

I'm 16 years old and I just got the Lap Band on April 30th

in Mexico by Dr. Ortiz. So far i'm really glad I went through

with having the surgery. I read a lot about the surgery and

my doctor so I wasn't nervous at all! I was suprisingly really

confident in everything. The worst part for me was having to

take these really gross chalky pills without Water. Oh, and

once your all drugged up you won't be nervous because you'll

feel soooo good. But afterwards it is hard, I just started eating

my solid foods yesterday.. day 21. If your for following the rules

and such I would say go get the Lap Band. Plus your mom has

already had it so she can be there to help you along the way.

I also live in Orlando. I think i'm going to get my fills done at a

fill center in Tampa just because Mexico is so far away and it's

very pricey to make trips back there. :cursing:

So I'm pretty excited :biggrin2:

I went today to find out more about the surgery and the price, etc. and did some analysis on my body right away ! This decision was such a quick decision so Im hoping to get the surgery done this week ! on wednesday or thursday and im planning on going back home on the 31st and then returning in a month to get my first fill.

so basically i just had a quick question. since you got your surgery in mexico, how long did you wait until returing to florida ? do you think getting the surgery done on the 28th or 29th and leaving the 31st would be too quick ?

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So I'm pretty excited :biggrin2:

I went today to find out more about the surgery and the price, etc. and did some analysis on my body right away ! This decision was such a quick decision so Im hoping to get the surgery done this week ! on wednesday or thursday and im planning on going back home on the 31st and then returning in a month to get my first fill.

so basically i just had a quick question. since you got your surgery in Mexico, how long did you wait until returing to florida ? do you think getting the surgery done on the 28th or 29th and leaving the 31st would be too quick ?

No that wouldn't be too quick at all! I had it done on a Wednesday

and flew back on Friday. Though if I could go back I would have

probably waited another day to leave because after surgery your

really bloated and being on a plane for six hours and being really

bloated isn't so comfortable. Getting it done this week seems

quick though. I had to loose ten pounds before surgery, but

i'm not sure what your surgon requires. But if you don't need

to do that then I would say go for it as soon as possible.

Would you be getting it done by the same doctor who

performed it on your mom? Let me know how everything

goes. I'm excited for you!!!

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No that wouldn't be too quick at all! I had it done on a Wednesday

and flew back on Friday. Though if I could go back I would have

probably waited another day to leave because after surgery your

really bloated and being on a plane for six hours and being really

bloated isn't so comfortable. Getting it done this week seems

quick though. I had to loose ten pounds before surgery, but

i'm not sure what your surgon requires. But if you don't need

to do that then I would say go for it as soon as possible.

Would you be getting it done by the same doctor who

performed it on your mom? Let me know how everything

goes. I'm excited for you!!!

hey !

well i've had most of my analysis done on my body and my last analysis is on monday, so i'm really hoping i can get the surgery by wednesday and be able to leave by saturday morning. and yeah thankfully my surgeon said i'd be able to stay at my weight since i lost 7 pounds while here in dominican republic; at the moment i am down to 196 lbs. When did your doctor tell you to get your first fill done? and also can you possibly give me more information on the tampa doctor about the fills?

oh and about my mom, she got hers done in usa since she was VERY obese her insurance convered it.

i can't wait until i have my before and after pictures up !

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So let me get this straight you went on holiday and just decided to do it because "hey your young and your skin won't be as flabby and its cheaper while your on holiday"? It doesnt sound great to me the way you explained it but im sure there are other reasons for you wanting to do this? I'm 20 and I was told last year that I may need a transplant in about 5-10 years - that overall is my motiviation for this, everyones is different, I would have thought reading what you wrote that your motivation is to prevent diabetes overall not the other way you describe it, for me the transplant is a huge motivation, I won't be paying for anything which makes my life easier in the way of choosing the surgery but overall your decision is based entirely on that - you and what you want in your life - I'm only 20 and at the moment I feel like I have no future, this is basically the only option for me if I want to live past 30, have a future and have an actual life. Just think about the things you want overall before you base your decision on the vanity things in life, if you know what I mean

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Oh that's great! I hope your for sure able to get it done Wednesday. My doctor said about 6-8 weeks I will need to get my first fill. Here's

the link for the fill places closest to Orlando.. www.fillcentersusa.com

I made my mom an appointment at one of them but I can't

remember which one. I'll ask her tomorrow because the woman

who does the fills at one of them is really experience and has

good reviews.

I know me too! With getting the lap band I have more modivation

to loose the weight now and prove to a lot of people I can loose

the weight.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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