I have decided that lap band surgery is definatly for me, goodness knows how long i have been struggling with my weight. Anyway i went to my nurse as advised by my doc to talk to her about loosing weight. As soon as i mentioned lapband she just went off on one: "i have known so and so person who has had it done and it hasnt worked for them", "its not a quick fix to loose weight" (which i tried to explain to her that i know, ultimately i am the one who has to loose the weight, but controlling and managing what i eat) but did she wanna listen...ohh no!! "surgery doesn't work" i told her to come to this website and thousands upon thousands are living proof it DOES!

even when she was telling me about the stories of how it went wrong, i had to correct her half way through and tell her that the person she was referring to had gastric bypass and not banding. By the time i came out of the office i felt so small, and was on the verge of crying my eyes out!!

why is it always the people that have had no issues with their weight and dont have a clue, what it is like to be over weight, are always the first one to shun surgery?? I have researched for years and making the decision to undergo surgery is not one that i have taken lightly. But staying the way i am now, is pushing me towards and early grave, and i refuse to walk that path any longer and have taken the stand to do something about my weight. As mentioned i have spent a very long time doing my research and am not naive, i know that things can go wrong and they do go wrong. But if i stay the way i am, i not even giving myself a chance. I have seem both the positives and negatives and have made an informed choice.

When i came home i was so upset, but i am STRONGER than that, i know 100% that the lapband is what I WANT and its people like her that convince me EVEN MORE SO that i know im doing the right thing and pushes me to go further and prove them wrong!

So i say not only for myself, but for people that have had people trying to talk them out of the lapband, if you know that it is for YOU. Go for it, and don't let the haters stand in your way!

The more people hate the STRONGER I GET!!

I have no idea what my primary care physician will say, but I have scheduled my surgery without even saying a word to her. Since I am self-paying, I don't have to worry about any one's approval. My husband and daughter are not crazy about the idea but I just told them it was my decision. I really don't consider it anyone else's business but my own.

That would be the sweetest revenge! I had some trouble w/my PCP at first, but once he saw my determination, he went along with it. I just went to a pulmonolgist to get my cpap (a machine to help sleep apnea)read out, and told him I'm getting the lap band. He said he hates the lap band too. He said that he had at least a dozen patients in the last year get the surgery, and lost so much weight, they no longer need to see him, because the weight loss took care of the sleep apnea. Jokingly he said the lap band is going to put him out of business!

Definatly...!!i will turn up to the office in the near future with my sexy new bod lol, and i will tell her where to stick her "weight loss surgery doesn't work":biggrin::cursing:

I have no idea what my primary care physician will say, but I have scheduled my surgery without even saying a word to her. Since I am self-paying, I don't have to worry about any one's approval. My husband and daughter are not crazy about the idea but I just told them it was my decision. I really don't consider it anyone else's business but my own.

I have done the same, after all of their negative comments, i am going ahead and doing it privately. although it will cost me, there is no price 2 big for my health. Afterall im sure ive spent far more than what surgery is costing me, on the food that got me here in the first place.

Good luck with your journey xxx

Luckily for me, my wife is a physician and she's the one the recommended the surgery. My PCP thinks it's a great idea, and the weight loss surgeon is an acquaintance of my wife and she (Dr. Tiffany Jessee) has been simply fantastic with getting everything coordinated with me.

Hopefully, I'll have my band in sometime this Sept.

Hi!

Your really lucky, i wish i had a relation or family member that carry out the procedure or could at least recc somebody to do it.

Goodluck with your weigh loss journey!! Hopefully i will be banded too around sept time, let us know how you go xxxx

Luckily for me, my wife is a physician and she's the one the recommended the surgery. My PCP thinks it's a great idea, and the weight loss surgeon is an acquaintance of my wife and she (Dr. Tiffany Jessee) has been simply fantastic with getting everything coordinated with me.

Hopefully, I'll have my band in sometime this Sept.

Well i am 19 years old and scheduled to have my surgery Thursday! Some people may think im too young including my surgeon, which scares me. My family is so so very suppoertive and behind me 100%. I have tried to lose my weight so many times and i always fail. I need something more permanent, and something as a constant reminder. I know I am mature enough, and i have done all the research and support groups. I guess im just scared of failing yet again! I want to be healthy and skinny more than anything in this world. My life would really feel perfect, if i wasnt so set back because of my weight. I just wish my surgeon didnt act like a complete jerk, he acted like i didnt have any idea of what i was getting myself into. But i do, and i do want this, but yes im still scared of failure and regret!

wow, all this incouragement. I am having surgery on the 20th. I keep questioning myselff whetherr I really want to do this or not. I have went through the 6 month supervision and day 5 of liquid pre op.

I think of how I wont be able to eat a piece of cake have a pop. sounds like i wont eat a normal meal anymore. 1/2 cup of food each meal just depresses me.

Well i am 19 years old and scheduled to have my surgery Thursday! Some people may think im too young including my surgeon, which scares me. My family is so so very suppoertive and behind me 100%. I have tried to lose my weight so many times and i always fail. I need something more permanent, and something as a constant reminder. I know I am mature enough, and i have done all the research and support groups. I guess im just scared of failing yet again! I want to be healthy and skinny more than anything in this world. My life would really feel perfect, if i wasnt so set back because of my weight. I just wish my surgeon didnt act like a complete jerk, he acted like i didnt have any idea of what i was getting myself into. But i do, and i do want this, but yes im still scared of failure and regret!

Im not here to judge whether you are too old to young etc, each to their own i say. I think as long as you know that it is 100% what you want to do and you have done your homework, and know the good and the bad and making an informed choice, you should do it. Just remember that your weight doesnt determine who you are, you are still gonna be the same person, just a smaller healthier version. good luck, let us know how you get on xx

wow, all this incouragement. I am having surgery on the 20th. I keep questioning myselff whetherr I really want to do this or not. I have went through the 6 month supervision and day 5 of liquid pre op.

I think of how I wont be able to eat a piece of cake have a pop. sounds like i wont eat a normal meal anymore. 1/2 cup of food each meal just depresses me.

hey, good luck with your surgery. Hun you need to be 100% sure that this is what you want to do before you go ahead with it. You can still enjoy food but just less of it, and think of all of the advanatges of dropping the weight!

I don't think 19 is too young, what I think is too young is these people who let their 16 year olds get WLS. that's ridiculous.

I think at 19, if you are prepared to do the work involved and deal with the occasional highs and lows that the band --or most any --WLS brings with it, then you are old enough! I personally think getting control on your weight when you are young is IDEAL! I wish I could have done this years ago!

If you are properly using your band, and as you lose weight you will learn better eating habits, better exercise habits----and those are lessons that will benefit you your entire life, and it can be a life that does not sideline you due to your weight.

Personally, my band has been a huge success. I have so much better eating habits now! Plus it has allowed me to discover how eating certain things does affect my body differently. If I make a meal out of a Protein source and some veggies, or a salad.....I can be full for hours. Even banded though, if I make a meal out of something high in carbs.....say mac and cheese---it does not keep me full for very long, and it kicks my cravings into high gear!!! Now that does not mean, I do not eat mac and cheese, it means when I do, I know I need to have something like a cheese wedge ready to eat when I get the munchies later....because I will!!! And I know to tell myself, I am not hungry, it is my body reacting to the carbs----so I am better able to control it! I just sat here reading the last few posts, and seriously laughed out loud! I was eating a small piece of cake as I read the post about not eating cake!!!

I am not supposed to be eating it today, a group of us are avoiding junk food-----but the neighbor brought it to me....so I took a few nibbles!!! That was enough! I do not want to eat the whole piece, let alone a whole cake, which I would have wanted to before. But 2 years later, this band and my new habits, have given me a whole new way of eating.....and I do not feel deprived in any way....I eat everything, just in different amounts, and in different ways.

You have to have dedication to it though because that does not come right away.

Chewing is KEY!!! You must chew your food well! It allows our body with a band to process the food. It also allows you to truly --I mean REALLY--taste what you are eating. Many highly processed sugary, or fatty foods, are really good, until you really chew it, and it is nasty!!! Most of them end up feeling like you are chewing a mouth full of lard!!! It changes how you feel about foods!

I am not sure even a 16 year old could not handle the surgery---the problem I have with 16 year olds, is it is often a decision made by a judgemental parent pushing a child that they see having a problem.

That is wrong on so many levels, and could be the cause of the child being obese in the first place!

Take control while your young though, and enjoy your life--don't waste years being obese if you do not have too.

Kat

Wow, this thread has been amazing to read! Here's what I've learned at 55 years of age. I SPEAK UP to people now like I've never done before. I'm not rude or nasty but I'll tell you I didn't ask for your opinion. I totally skipped my skinny little PCP, did a lot of reasearch, sole searching, got my husband on board, contacted the surgeon, did all the necessary testing and one week before my surgery on June 6th went to my PCP for my History and Physical, Blood Work, & EKG. She was so shocked when she came in the room. She wanted to engage me in a conversation about her thoughts and I cut her off and said, you know, it's not up for discussion, I'm here for you to do what I need done, I've researched this and is 5 days, I'm having the procedure done. Thanks for your concern. She was taken back abit and said, OK, lets get you ready for your big day. We did, I've had my surgery, so far everything has gone great, I've lost 10 lbs since the 6th of June and life is good. I wish I could have spoken my mind a lot earlier in life. You are all beautiful intelligent people. Carpe diem (I hope I spelled that right).

You Go there!!! Its about time we all started speaking up for ourselves, people think because you are bigger they can talk to you anyhow or pass judgement. I love that positive attitude xxxx

if you stand for nothing you will fall for everything....

Wow, this thread has been amazing to read! Here's what I've learned at 55 years of age. I SPEAK UP to people now like I've never done before. I'm not rude or nasty but I'll tell you I didn't ask for your opinion. I totally skipped my skinny little PCP, did a lot of reasearch, sole searching, got my husband on board, contacted the surgeon, did all the necessary testing and one week before my surgery on June 6th went to my PCP for my History and Physical, Blood Work, & EKG. She was so shocked when she came in the room. She wanted to engage me in a conversation about her thoughts and I cut her off and said, you know, it's not up for discussion, I'm here for you to do what I need done, I've researched this and is 5 days, I'm having the procedure done. Thanks for your concern. She was taken back abit and said, OK, lets get you ready for your big day. We did, I've had my surgery, so far everything has gone great, I've lost 10 lbs since the 6th of June and life is good. I wish I could have spoken my mind a lot earlier in life. You are all beautiful intelligent people. Carpe diem (I hope I spelled that right).