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????

weeee...its working now.

Oh THANK GOODNESS!!!! I'm so glad because I seriously had NO other ideas on how to help!! :teeth_smile:

Take care!

Hi, My name is Angela. I am happily married to my husband of 14 years and we have one daughter who is 4. We adopted her from China when she was 9 months old and she is the love of our life!! We live in Mineral, VA which is 30 miles west of Richmond, VA. Basically, we live between Charlottesville and Richmond!! I am very fortunate and have a husband who supports me 100%, he is the best!

My surgery is scheduled for August 14th at St. Marys Hospital in Richmond, VA.

One of the main reasons I am having this surgery is to lose weight and get healthy so I can be around for her as she grows!

I am 38 years old and work for an orthopedic surgeon. I am at my heaviest weight now, I have always been heavy since I was a little girl. i grew up in an Italian family where all we do is cook and eat!!

I am nervous and excited at the same time. I am looking forward to losing weight and being physically fit!:teeth_smile:

Hello All,

I am Shelly. I will be getting banded on 08-08-08 and i am very excited. I am a single mother of a great 16 year old son. I am currently going to school full-time to become a nurse and of course working full-time as well. So, being overweight all my life, just as many others, has brought me to try the Lap-Band. I was a skeptic in the past thinking that it was an easy way out, but after much research I now know that it is nothing more than a tool for weight loss. I wish all the best in their journey to a new life! :biggrin:

Hi to all the August All Stars

My name is Jo Ann, I am 40. I have been married for 14 years to a really sweet guy named Joe. I have known him since I was 12 and first dated him when I was 17... then went off to college in Arizona but came back to him at 21 and have been with him ever since. I'm a social worker in Manhattan working with the elderly helping them with entitlements and benefits. I have been over weight since I was a teenager but in the last few years have gained the most weight. I have tried everything from going to a nutritionist to atkins to weight watcher... not that that they were not successful but I always seem to gain all the weight back and of course a few extra for good measure. October of 2007 was my wake up call.. I was at a client's and he began to fall so me being the caring social worker got up and I caught him... I ended up herinating 3 disks in my back and have been out on Workman's Comp since. Since the back has not gotten any better of course doctors are contributing the long lack of recovery to my weight. I have thought about WLS for a long time but this really pushed me in to getting more information. I had my initial consult with Dr. Holover for the lapband on June 18th which was my 14 year anniversary with my husband... (which I took as a good omen)... and I now have a date for my surgery on the 18th of August. Of course I am exited but also very nervous. I know I will be out here over and over for support and information...

I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone out here for all the information over the last few months and I look forward to chatting more and hearing all the success stories....

Wishing all the best...

Welcome Josie!! Not long now at all!!

And you can get advice from people who have been there or are going through the same thing as you which I think is great!!

I do have a question???? I was wondering how you do the ticker thing... I am a little computer stupid... lol only kidding a lot computer stupid...lol :smile:

click on AGW's ticker (mine doesn't link to the site to go) and it will take you to the ticker factory and then you can create your own....then you put it where you put the August All Star banner is in your sig!! ust don't forget to bookmark your ticker :smile:

Thanks for the information...

If I did it right it should be on this ....

Let's see if I am as computer stupid as I think...lol

Yay it worked :smile: I figured if you got the all star to show you wouldn't need a complete blow by blow to get the ticker :wub:

Hello!

My name is Cassie and I'm 26 (will be 27 on the 14th!) and am very happily engaged to a wonderful man who is also having Lap-Band done the same day I am. We've been together for 6.5 years now and engaged for 1.5 years. We're waiting until we both lose weight so we can have our dream wedding. (That's more my request than his...I want to be able to fit in a wedding dress.) We don't have any children together, though he does have a 12yo daughter.

I work as a police dispatcher and have for almost 7 years. I'm hoping to one day finally make it into nursing school...I've been aiming for that since I graduated high school in '99. Hopefully losing weight will motivate me to actually take the next steps to succeed with that goal.

I've been obese my entire life. I was fat as a toddler and by age 7 had the "obese" label on my medical records. I've never known what it was like to be a normal weight.

I can't wait until Thursday when I can have this done!

Cassie, congrats on you and your guy taking this plunge together! I guess this will be both a banding experience and a bonding!

My name is Beth and I am from Cleveland, Ohio. I am married to my high school sweatheart and bestest friend in the whole world. We have been together for 21 years and married for 14 years. I am a stay-at-home Mom to 3 beautiful girls, 10 and 8 year old twins. They are my motivation all 4 of them.

I have had weight issues since I could eat.........YIKES:eek: I have tried every diet there is with the same results. Now I see how my poor choices and life is affecting my girls. I so don't want them to grow up and look and feel the way I do.

Our insurance company does NOT pay for any kind of weight loss help, nutritionist, pills, and absolutly no surgery. We started looking into self pay,:thumbup: and then Mexico, and I am now all set for August 19, with Dr. Kuri, in Mexico.

I am so ready for this life change. I am so tired of being the fat mom everywhere. Last year for parent teacher conferences they offer you the kids chairs to sit in, I felt like my butt ate the chair:ohmy:, I was so embarressed, and the teacher kept telling me she was sorry I had to sit in such a small chair. (Which only made me feel worse about it)

Anyway, I look forward to sharing this journey with all of you. I am now 15 days away from the begininng of the rest of my life!!!!!!!

Hey Cassie not long now at all!! I think it is cool you are doing this with your fiance and I can understand about the wedding :cool2: Good luck to you both!

Hey Momma and welcome! I HATE it when people make you feel worse about your weight by trying to apologise for something happening related to your weight! I mean really do you need it emphasised??!! I think not!!

Edited August 5, 200817 yr by Roheryn

Greetings!

I'm a police officer in a small southern MI town. My LapBand journey began when my sister-in-law started her prequalify evaluations. That's when I thought, "hey.... why don't I do that?" So I started the eval process in April and finished in May. Paperwork was sent to my insurance company on June 2nd and three weeks later I had my approval. My doc says he was very surprised how fast the process progressed for me. This has been a big year. We had a new baby in January, bought a new house in July, and now banded in August.

I got banded yesterday (Aug 4th) and it went so much easier than I had ever expected. I do have some discomfort. I would liken it to having severly overexercised though rather than pain. I have not had any strong pain meds. My surgery began at 7:30am and was done in an hour and 15 minutes. I was out walking the halls by 1pm.

The anesthesia did not make me nausiated, although I was told they gave me something to prevent that. The recovery nurse asked if I needed anything and I said, "Coffee!" She laughed and said, "you can't have coffee at all today - maybe tomorrow." Then the doc walked by and she asked him when I could first have coffee and he said, "go ahead and give it to him." So I was drinking a cup of coffee in the recovery room - which has had several shifts of nurses saying, "I can't believe you got coffee in the recovery room."

So now I'm waiting for the barium swallow so I can get out of here this morning. So I say to all of you yet to be banded: I know the process is unique to every individual and YMMV, but it was nowhere near as painful as I was prepared for.

Now, let the rest of the journey begin.....

Good luck all! Brad