I am really thinking about getting a Band. Did an online info session tonite and that was helpful. Tell me why it has been good for you, I need to hear some of the positives, because the fear is a little overwhelming as is the guilt that I cannot control or manage this weight issue in my life. Thanks.

Hi Pally!

First off, it saved my marrage. My DH weight 600 pounds before he got his band. He's now lost just about 200 pounds.

I believe it has saved my life. Before I was banded I was spending a lot of time in hospital and in the ER with breathing problems and asthma. In serious risk of resperatory failure. I've been banded for just over 5 weeks, and haven't needed any of my inhailers for 4 weeks. This has been the best my breathing has been in years.

I struggled with the guilt of not being able to do it on my own. I was so tired of trying and failing. WLS is not for everyone, and neither is the band, although I think it's the ONLY wls option for me. My personal opinion is that it's the best wls option. It's adjustable, reversible, and less invasive.

I have been banded for less than two weeks, so my "why it's been good for you" is tough to answer. So far, it's just been hard. Not bad hard, just a hard post-surgery. Others sail through a little better than I have.

My attitude is, if you are skinny, your opinion really doesn't count much to me because you have no idea my struggle. So don't talk, just respect my decision. If you are Obese, you understand a little better but you still have to respect my decision. I'm sorry if I dissappoint you and "take the easy way out" If you can do this without surgery, go for it. More power to ya. Happy for ya. Great for you, really! But I'll be 40 this year and my children are young, my weight loss struggle will tarnish my best years if I don't do something. So I did, and I own my choice. Now when I work at it, I'll actually get somewhere! I'm excited about next year. And next year I'll have a better answer for you. Next year my cholesterol will be normal, my blood pressure will no longer be borderline high, my joints won't ache, I'll breathe better, sleep better, have more energy, feel confident, look on the outside as great as I feel on the inside, and be in a place where I can actually grow, emotionally, physically, spiritually, rather than stay stuck in this same old thinking about myself that my big ole fat body keeps jerking me back into. I'm really looking forward to it.

There are lots of other threads in here along the same lines, maybe try a Search on some of the words in your post, see what comes up. Good Luck to you. It's wild ride if you decide to take it!

I will search, thanks for the suggestion and I do like the part about your best years being tarnished, I do agree with that. thanks, P

Pally,

Without the band, I would surely be dead by age 50. I had a BMI of 53.9. I have small children and want to be around when they are in their teen. I am 39 years old and still have my whole life ahead of me. I could not walk up a flight of stairs without stopping three times. I could not fit without an extender and physical pain when flying, so I stopped going places by airplane. This was life 22 months ago.

Now, I have a BMI of 29.0. I lost 154 pounds. I can do most anything I want. I go on planes regularly. I go to theme parks and ride the coasters with my kids. I run up the stairs without any breathing issues. I can get on a treadmill or an elliptical for 1/2 hour without barely breaking a sweat. The only bad news is that I am cold all the time cause I dont have insulation to keep me warm!!!

I never felt guilty about taking the surgical way as assistance in my weight loss. The band is just a tool. You get what you put into it. It will keep you from having the constant hunger that drives people to eat crap. You will be the one making the decisions what you put in your mouth, how much you exercise and how much you want to lose. I have to admit that I never really dieted pre band. ONly once on Atkins for 8 months. I was in total denial about my weight and fear set in only when I reached 330 pounds. I was banded at about 334 pounds or more. My home scale did not register anymore and I was weighed about 5 days preop on a scale at the hospital which gave my weight as 348. I asked them to weigh me again and it showed somewhere between 334-338. So there ya go! If I can do it, so can you.

Guilt will not make you thinner and healthier. Being proactive will.

Babs in TX

I was always a small kid. In college I gained the freshman 20 but lost it before my wedding. Over the next 17 years of marriage, 3 children, bad eating habits, lack of exercise and tons of stress, I felt like crud. I have tried every diet there is. I lost and gained like everyone else and I finally got sick of being so unhappy with my weight. I couldn't run around with my boys, I couldn't wear the clothes I wanted to wear and I felt unhappy alot. I began to feel self conscious about being the fattest person in my social circle and that really bothered me too. Personally, my main goal was to find something that would make me not hungry all of the time. When I got the band, it was like a miracle. I am very rarely hungry and I feel a sense of freedom from food. It is very liberating to go to a restaurant and not focus on the meal. I watch my family and enjoy their company more. I can have my dinner for lunch and dinner the next day and that is very cool. If I want to have a desert or if I am pms and crave chocolate, I eat it but I now eat it in small amounts. I can't tell you how happy I am with my band. It has been a very pleasant experience for me and I would do it all over again. I still have to make the right choices and listen to my body when I've had enough to eat and sometimes it is uncomfortable when something gets stuck but if I follow the band rules - small bites, chew, stop when full, no drinking during meals, it really does work. I have 84 pounds to lose and since my band in January, I have lost 34 pounds. That is only 50 more. I know it will get slower and harder to lose, but I am hoping I can continue eating right and kicking up the exercise to continue on my journey. I knew before I got the surgery that I was committed. I was fed up with being overweight and the feelings that go with it. My only suggestion to people who are considering the band is to make sure you are committed to changing your lifestyle and making your band your priority. Follow all Doctors orders and change your relationship with food. It works if you work with it. That is why the band has been good for me.

the main reason i want the band is that I want to keep the weight off for good I don't want to have the failure of putting the weight back on I want something in place literally to help me eat portion control and right choices of foods I want to wear nice clothes and feel good in my own skin

How has the band been good for me?

The band has, and will be good for me, because I really wish to lose weight, and keep it off. I want a tool to use, that will teach me better eating habits, and portion control. I want to make it really really hard for me to cheat at this, and instead of a diet, I want a life change.

What made me decide to get the band? Im 23 years old..Ive been fat all of my life. Ive never had the chance of looking or feeling good about myself. I have never been able to walk into a store and find something that fit me just right, or been able to shop in the normal section. In high school, I had to have my prom dress specially made because they didnt make anything above a size 16. I never got to do sports, run around with the other kids or anything similar. In highschool I dreded P.E...Not because I wasn't willing to do the excersize...but because I knew all the slender kids would be looking at me, and I couldnt "run" the expected half a mile 2 times a week with everyone else.

There were too many things that being obese were stopping me from doing. Im still young..and I wish to start living my life as a normal person should. Im sick of my weight using ME as its crutch.

-Kendra

My dinner tonight was the perfect example. Once a week my family has pizza for dinner. Pre-band, 2 slices was easy, easy, easy, and I always ate something after that. Tonight I couldn't finish one slice and I am FULL. Pizza is not exactly the greatest bandster food, but I made up my mind that once a week I would have it. The rest of the week I eat much better choices. For me, that's the beauty of the band...we have a lot of choices, but the portions are oh so much smaller.

Health-wise, I had high blood pressure, high chol. for the first time in my life, and had a bout w/cancer. The band is the best thing I ever did for myself.