Hi..i'm new here so here goes...

I just turned 39 last week and was overweight pretty much my whole life. Back in 1990 I lost a good amount of weight. 17 days after I got married in Jan 1995, my husband was in the Army and had to go to Korea for a hardship tour. I was down to 124 lbs when he got home in Feb '06. I was wearing a size 3 or 5 in most things. When I was pregnant with my first son, I gained 179 lbs during pregnancy. After I had him in 6/97, I got back to a size 14...then I had my second son..haven't been able to lose the weight. I did recently have half of my thyroid removed and lost about 25 lbs. I'm 5'5" and weigh about 223.

I knew that I didn't want the gastric bypass surgery and decided to make an appt to have the lapband. My appt with the dr is on Tuesday, Nov 4th.

Now that I have been reading the posts here...I don't think I want to have the surgery. I want more than anything to be the weight I was when gary came home from Korea....but I don't know if I can go through with the surgery.

Any advice, comments, suggestions???

You need to do whats right for you. As for the surgery, its really not that big of a deal.

I completely understand how you feel, my advice is to just research & read all you can on it. Then do what you feel is right for you. Surgery isn't for everyone. I am scheduled for lap band on Nov.25th, just went to my dietician appt., which was quite an awakening. No food in the beginning, pretty much liquids & baby style food....LOL!

I started to ask myself do I really wanna do this? But, I know I will benefit in the long run from it all, & will be able to eat normal food eventually - just in proper portions.

Good luck & God bless!

Mommyof5 - I'm not sure you can eat all of the normal foods again. If you read the posts here you will see that bread, pasta, rice, beef are not well tolerated by many. Carbonated beverages are forbidden. You have to be ready to eliminate these foods forever if necessary.

well, yes I know that...I just meant solids can come back in, will not have to live on pureed food 4ever.

kjn4evr69, what was it exactly that you read here that scared you off so much? Was it the pre-op diet or the post-op diet, or the different kind of problems people can have sometimes? Any and all of those things can be very scary, but they aren't good reasons for backing out before you start.... You absolutely must do your research and then search your heart and soul for what you are willing to do to be the person you envision in your head. if you can't justify doing what we do, then you shouldn't. Your happiness and well being is the only thing that should matter here. I'm just really sorry if something we said made you stop... I, for one, am very happy that I got the LB even though I have had my share of problems... I've lost 51 pounds so far and that gives me all the encouragement I need right now to go for 50 more and hopfully more after that..... I feel for you because I remember all the emotional punishment I put myself through before I made my decision. I wish I could make it easier for you, but I can't..... I do wish you good luck and promise that if you should decide to go ahead with LB we'll be here to talk to anytime... Julie

I don't know if I can deal without not having Diet Coke! A friend of mine had the gastric bypass surgery about a year ago and she is now able to drink diet drinks. I thought you couldn't drink diet sodas after a gastric bypass either!

It's not really what anyone has said...it's just reading about the problems people have had, etc.

I thought you couldn't have carbonated beverages but you can. I was told to wait at least 6 months after being banded which I have done. I can have carbonated beverages now but I choose to only have very limited amounts. Im not that into having to have sodas. I am lucky I like water.

my name is bob, I started researching LB about a year ago. I do not have it yet but am considering it. The reason im writing is because my dr. told me i can drink soda but he does not recomend it because its high in sugar and diet is not good for you either. As far as the band goes there is no problem other than the fact that you need nutrition because you eat alot less and soda has no nutritonal value. this may vary by dr. I have attended seminars at three pittsburgh hospitals adn read on this sght for about a year now

Everyone is different...I've two weeks post-op and haven't had any problems, except for a little gas pain the day after surgery. I agree that you need to do all the research you can and then make the choice for yourself. Basically is the surgery a better option then any health problems you now have or will develope?

pre-op and the surgery itself was a piece of cake (yummy lol)... for me it's the post-op that has been hard.

you don't realize how addicted you are to food until it's taken away.

now don't get me wrong... i would SO do this all over again but it's been the most difficult thing i've ever done.

i can have carbonated sodas although i think that's part of the reason i've stopped losing recently. i can't have any bread or ground meat... no more pizza, no more burgers. my stomach just won't tolerate them anymore no matter how many times i've tried.

the hardest part for me is deciding whether to listen to my stomach or my head. if i listen to my head that's telling me to eat, eat and eat... well, i end up throwing up but if i listen to my stomach i end up depressed.

i still try to binge occasionally when i'm upset. the most recent was last week and i ordered a small double cheese and pepperoni pizza. i figured i'd eat 2 or 3 pieces and go throw up. i couldn't even finish one piece and i swear i threw up more than i ate.

anyway, my point is that you have to be 110% sure you can do this. this is literally a lifestyle change. yes, i can still eat real food but i'm limited as to what i can eat. yes, it's strange only being able to eat 1/2 cup of food... not even an entire kid's meal. yes, it's hard to remember not to drink right before, during or after eating.

BUT... i went from a size 16 to a size 10 (i'm still aiming for the size 6!). i get compliments DAILY. i feel so much healthier that i can't even describe. i'm even training for a 5k race.

i made a lifetime committment to myself and there will always be the negatives along with the positives.