I've been doing the required steps for the last 6 months to get the band and it looks as though it will be my turn very soon to have surgery. I just got done sending a private message to a friend I've met on this board who had the band done by the same doctor. I wanted to share part of it with all of you and get your input as well.

I'm a little irritated right now. I went to a group appointment yesterday. Which went very well by the way. The doc was VERY nice and explained all the procedures very well. It was funny too because the dvd he had to show us wasn't working so he had to try and draw pictures of all the procedures. Anyway, he started with banding and talked for a short period on that - I asked him about complications and he briefly explained slippage and eroding. Then he gets into the bypass and goes on and on with the drawings and explanations about how it's done and all the different complications that could occur (don't get me wrong - he was very clear and I'm glad he did spend as much time as he did) but this whole time I'm thinking to myself "this is exactly why I don't want the bypass! Why can't you people see that!?"

Ok...LOL...Let me start over here. I got irritated before the appointment. When I checked in yesterday, there were a couple of ladies from the required classes I was attending that spotted me and waved, so when I finished paying my co-pay, I went and sat near them. After talking for a few minutes, one of them asked me which procedure I was doing. I said I was leaning more towards the band. One gal shook her head and said "oh, I wouldn't get the band" and looked at the other lady who's eyes started to bulge out while saying "I'd never get the band! You'd have to go in for adjustments for the rest of your life!" All I wanted to do at that moment was poke her eyes back into her head! But, because I am a non-confrontation type of person - I just gave her a thin lipped partial smile and said "well, I really don't like the idea of having things cut away and re-routed." Ugh!

I really understand that banding isn't for everyone, and that's fine. I understand that for medical reasons, bypass is definitely a better option for a lot of people. But I am not one of those people. I don't need to lose the weight fast, I don't have medical problems caused by excess weight that requires me to lose it by the time I wake up tomorrow! I'm just sick and tired of always being fat, my back aches, can't sleep well, can't enjoy activities with family and just simply want to be healthy!

While I was at the group appointment. The doc also said that the band success rate has always done very well in Australia but they haven't figured out why it isn't doing well here. I don't know anyone personally from Australia, but as far as Americans - do you think it could be the fact that we like to have everything in abundance??

Sorry for the long post - I just didn't like the fact that I walked away from the meeting second guessing my decision for lap band. I'll discuss it further with the surgeon when we meet one on one.

That's how I got fat too. I wasnt my normal, everyday diet that made me fat, that was pretty good. It was the post diet gluttony that piled on the pounds. Every diet would end in a new high, maybe only 3 or 4lb but over the years, that adds up. Then when I *DID* hit a stage in life where its very easy to gain - post pregnancy - that took me into previously unchartered territory - OBESITY.

I sometimes feel like I'm bashing my head on a brick wall in here - I have to stop and remember that some people actually like the organisation, ritual and routine of a diet. I know my mother loves it, she lives that way all the time. But for the rest, I just want to scream YOU DONT HAVE TO PUT YOURSELF THROUGH THIS.

I think it really pays to be highly sceptical of current and fashionable dietary advice too - and that goes for both the traditional food pyramid that still dominates here and the high Protein low carb advice. You just cant believe everything you see and read. I dont know if anyone saw the other thread Free Nutrition Advice but I reported it because here was a licenced nutritionist with NO idea about basic human physiology, giving advice that was plain incorrect about how the body metabolises its foods. How can you even rely on the professionals if they dont even understand such simple stuff as how human digestion works?

That's why I think moderation is the only safe way to go. Not too much or too little of ANYTHING.

Same for me to many ups and downs in dieting!! In fact I moved to Europe after I got married and could not eat much and lost 50 pounds pretty quick. I was the thinnest I have ever been and unhealthy. I just couldn't eat European food I didn't like it and it didn't agree with me. Than I come back to the states and can eat again and gained it all back and more in a matter of weeks. Add a baby to the mix and it was over. I think that year of stavation and living off tea and bread really messed with my health.