I am interested in finding out about my fellow August All-Stars! I'll start.

I am a stay at home mom to 5 awesome, rambunctious, talkative kids. My oldest is 9 and she is going into the 4th grade. My next daughter is 6. She was adopted from China at 10 months. She'll be in first grade this year. My only son is 4 and is starting preschool this fall:thumbup:. My next daughter is four also. She was adopted from China at 20 months of age. She's going to preschool too:thumbup:. My baby is 3 this year. While her brother and sister are at preschool, she is going to learn how to behave in public. At least that is the plan...don't tell her:eek:!

I used to teach 8th grade English. Now I take care of the kids. I love to read. I make and sell girls' hair bows for fun.

I am married to one awesome man (but don't tell him I said so:wink2:)

I decided to have this surgery because nothing else was working for me. My hubby and kids are all thin and fit and I just can't keep up with them anymore!! I want to see my kids grow up! My cholesterol is through the roof and I have a family history of heart disease.

Okay, who is next????

My name is Jessenia. I am 25 years old, and am the mother to a 1.5 year old girl. My DH and I have been together for 7 years now. He's loved me from day one (which was about 70 pounds ago) and I'm glad he found me -- because I was not looking for love when he came in my life.

I work in Customer Service, but work from home. Dull, but it gets the billed paid.

I'm looking forward to going to the gym with DH and one day hiking/running with him too. I'm also excited about going on more outings with him and DD. I'm especially looking forward to playing with my daughter and one day tiring HER out, lol!!!

I've been heavy my entire life (and no, I'm not just saying that!) so I don't know what its like to be "normal" or "skinny". This is probably one of the harder things to get my head around while on this journey. I'm definitely embarking on new territory here.

Oh, and this is the first time that I'm looking forward to starting a diet (pre-op diet).

Good Luck to All.

Hi, I'm new to this site. I have 3 kids. A daughter, 10 going into 5th grade. A daughter 8, going into 3rd grade, and a sone 6 going into 1st grade.

I'm scheduled to have surgery August 20th. I can't believe all of the appointments I have scheduled in the next 3 weeks. It's nice to know that they are covering all of the bases, but I work full time and all of these appointments are killing me.

I'm excited to have the surgery, but part of me it worried. Eating is one of my favorite past times. I eat when I'm happy, sad, nervous... pretty much every occassion. I've been overweight all of my life and it scares me a little to think of what life would be like as a "normal" person. I can't even imagine buying clothes in a regular store. It would be a dream.

I worry most that I will sabotage myself. I'm glad I found this website. It will be good to have so much support.

Hi! My name is Laura. I am a stay at home Mom to 4 great kids. Chelsea-13, Natalie-5, John-4 and Kylie 22mo. I have been married to my DH for what will be 14 years the day after my band

I have been heavy since high school and have tried so hard to lose the weight with only gaining it right back. I am ready to finally lose it for good and be able to play with my kids and not feel so worn out all the time because I am lugging around all the weight!

I go Aug 6th for my pre-op appointment and then my surgery is Aug 27th. For once I am looking forward to NOT eating cake on my birthday which is Sep. 3rd LOL

Hi all,

I'm Kathy, I have 2 children, a daughter, 12, going into the 7th grade and a son, 10, going into 5th grade. My husband and I have been married for 17 years this Aug. 17th.

I have been heavy off and on since my late teens. After I got married, I gained a bunch of weight and had 2 c-sections and just haven't lost it all. I've been working on getting approved for the band for over a year. I have a date of Aug. 27th for my surgery. I'm excited and scared.

I also started a blog a month or more ago. Carolina Girl

It is so helpful to jot all this stuff down.

Thanks for starting this thread.

Kathy S.

hi everyone,

i'm kristen. i'm 34 and live in new york city. i'm an interactive producer -- basically, i oversee the creation of web sites. that said, i wanna be a photographer when i grow up -- i'm in the process of trying to switch careers.

i'm married to a musician -- we've been together for 13 years, married for close to seven. we have a houseful of critters -- two dogs (boston terriers) and two kitties. i'm also an auntie to the worlds cutest baby, olivia. she turns one next month.

i love animals, traveling, movies, books and art. also, an am unrepentant tv freak.

Hi I'm Lisa and I live in Melbourne, Australia. I'm 30 ooops nope I'm now 31 (today) :eek:, single with no human children though I am mum to a greyhound Ebony and a labradoodle Buffy! I work full time as an analyst so spend a LOT of time at a computer.

I have been 'bigger' since puberty hit but really began to have battles with my weight when I wrecked my knee dancing and had to have a knee reconstruction at 15!!

I love my dogs, gardening, renovating, reading and I love TV and Movies. I also love to travel and have been lucky to travel to every state and territory of Australia and I've been to quite a few states of the US! ALso Bali and Fiji...

I am getting banded the same date as my dad and Kathy and Laura it appears (AUG 27th) and mum will likely follow in the future! My brother is the freak of our family with no weight issues!

Edited July 29, 200817 yr by Roheryn

:eek:Happy Birthday, Lisa!!!

Hi I'm Lisa and I live in Melbourne, Australia. I'm 30 ooops nope I'm now 31 (today) :lost1lbs:, single with no human children though I am mum to a greyhound Ebony and a labradoodle Buffy! :thumbup: I work full time as an analyst so spend a LOT of time at a computer.

I have been 'bigger' since puberty hit but really began to have battles with my weight when I wrecked my knee dancing and had to have a knee reconstruction at 15!!

At least the "wrecked my knee dancing" is probably a better story than my just plain old ate myself here :thumbs_up:

I'm Lanakila, 39, and I've been married for a year (July 14th). I am a native Hawai'ian-Chinese mix married to an almost life-long guy from Alaska. Funny how we met in North Carolina! We are both childless by choice, but have a full family of a pound doggie, four cats, and a marine tank-full. We enjoy geocaching together, I love reading, I'm an accomplished seamstress, and we are fans of all of the crime drama tv shows. We are very in to feeding songbirds in our yard and perennial gardening. We've only had our house 2 years, so the garden is still a work in progress. It will be great when I'm able to stoop and bend, and work for more than 10 minutes without huffing and puffing!

He is a computer geek, and I'm a secretary at a university. I'll finish the final course for a Master's degree tomorrow :thumbup: and will finish my thesis project in time to graduate in December. My degree will be in Instructional Technology. We're the folks who help teachers and faculty integrate technology into the classrooms and create online courses for distance education.

Got banded on the 24th of July, can I still play???

'course!!!! Tell us all about yourself...and about how you are doing post-op (lucky you!)

I'm a new bandit as of July 24th, the first day of the rest of my life. Still pretty sore, but am bouncing back. The dill was taking over my garden so Mr. Wonderful (husband of 11 years) pulled some weeds last night. Well, bending over repeatedly isn't the smartest move on the planet. WEED YOUR GARDEN BEFORE YOU HAVE SURGERY!!!

I'm a 44 year old lawyer who has began struggling with "chubby" sizes in my pre-teens. I'm tall and have always "carried it well." yeah, right. With the creep of slower metabolism, less activity, busier schedule, love of chocolate, blah blahb labh albha, you know the story. I also felt pretty much kicked in the head when my joints started to hurt pretty consistently and I realized that couldn't run with my 10 and 8 year old daughters. My 8 year old announced, "its ok mom, you're just a little fat." There is was, the realization that my kids are aware that their mom is less active, less fit and too big in comparison to the rest of the world.

Like most of us, I've had varied success and failure with every diet on the planet. I look forward to long term success with reasonable eating and my new secret weapon!

Hi!

My B day will be on August 4th and I'm excited. I'm married with a 12 yr old who's going on 30 (Anybody have one of these?) he will be entering the seventh grade the following week after my surgery. Yeah! Fun, Fun, Fun! GOD please give me strength.

I've been interested in the Lap Band for 2 years but was with an insurance company that would not budge when it came to covering the surgery. But then GOD bless me, and at the beginning of this year my employer change insurance company. I'm not going to say that they didn't make it difficult but at least they didn't straight out say "No." So with much determination and fight I'm having surgery.

I'M A TWICE BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR:thumbup: And was told I needed to lose weight in order to have breast reconstruction surgery along with Tummy Tuck. So that everything would look right. I do this also for my health and my family I want to be more active with my son. So that's my long story.:thumbup:

Hi August All Stars... My Band Date : Aug 15th. Just had my pre-op tests this morning. I'm happily married almost 24 years. Two sons, age 19 in college and 14 starting HS. I have a great extended family and friend that are close. I'm keeping my band a secret, except to my wife of course, I don't want to worry others close to me on a procedure that many are unfamiliar with. I play golf, go to NY Giants football games and coach my sons basketball team. I have had a tough battle losing weight for most of my life. I love to eat, drink and be merry. I look forward to my journey.....living with moderation...

So Gary...by Superbowl you could be imagining yourself actually being comfortable in a stadium seat! Although, with a team like yours I'm sure that no one really sits down except for during the game and halftime. Maybe we can set up a Band Fantasy team?

hey fellow all stars! My name is Trish, I'm 21, and I live in northeast pa. I'll be getting banded on August 12, two weeks from today!!! I'm a veterinary nurse and I love love love my job even though it can be difficult at times. I also volunteer once a week at the local zoo helping their veterinary department with procedures and such. I also love football and can't wait for the season to start. I'm a lifelong NY Giants fan. I've been heavy my whole life so I'm curious to see what life's like on the other side.