:confused:I'm a 29yo mom. I have been overweight for about 9 years now. I have been gaining weight like crazy the past 5 years. I have tried just about every over the counter diet pill. I have starved myself. I have exercised and been in many gyms. Nothing seems to work. I am sick of buying "fat clothes". I am disgusted when I look in the mirror. I am currently 239lbs. Today I decided to make a change. I called my Dr and made an appt to discuss the lap band. I have been on-line reading up on this all day and I am ready to get this done now! I am so sick of being overweight. I don't feel pretty. I have been noticing more and more health problems. My legs swell up real bad and I have to take lasik and then I am running to the bathroom all day. Somethings not right! I can't sleep, I have acid reflux real bad and heartburn, now I am getting migraines. When I climb stairs I am out of breath and its embarassing! My triglycerides are high. I have a family history of heart failure, high BP, high Cholestrol, breast cancer, diabetes and I know I am on my way to all of these diseases and I am scared!

I am copying this from Robert W. Sewell, M.D. F.A.C.S., & Linda Rohrbough's book. WLS with the AGB, page # 159. This all sounds too good to be true? A surgical procedure that "cures" high blood pressure? Well, the fact is that if if your blood pressure falls to normal after AGB surgery, hypertension can return unless-- are you ready this?--you get regular exercise & eat a sensible diet. This is not rocket science! I hope this book helps you. Good Luck, Hasta Pronto, George:thumbup:

Hi Tonya, I have quite the comparable story! I started at 241. I was just banded on 7/24/08 - 9 days ago. On my pre-op diet I lost 13 Lbs. and since surgery I have lost 8 Lbs. so far. I did tons of research before making my decision to have this done to my body. As I'm sure you probably will too. So far I'm happy with my decision because I knew that I needed help. Knock on wood, it hasn't been very painful at all either, just some mild discomfort here and there. Good luck in your decision. Keep us posted!

Does anyone know if it is safe to use the tanning bed after lap band surgery?

I think that it would be fine, but I am not a Dr. I'd also say though, to wait the usual 3 weeks (most other things were 3 weeks). You probably shouldn't expose your incisions to the tanning bed so soon. My Dr. told me to wait at least 3 weeks to put Mederma or anything else on them. Mederma also makes a formula with sunscreen in it, so if you do go after time, then you should either cover your scars or put sunscreen on them (or both).