I was wondering what finally made you all decide to get the lap-band or any other type of WLS? For me it was a few different factors that just accumulated into "I need to do this N-O-W" type of thing. I don't want to spend one day, week, month, year being this heavy or getting heavier. I was never a "skinny" girl. At my best, I maintained 150-160lbs but on me being 5'7" it looked good. But even at that weight, I never thought I looked good. But fast forward to now, I am 255lbs. and I have the opposite of what some of you all call the "fat mind." Even though you are losing weight, you still consider yourself heavier than you are. I, on the other hand, have "skinny mind, fat body" complex lol. My mind does not want to look at that image in the mirror and really take me for as big as I am. And my reality checks are getting worse...that is why I KNEW I had to do SOMETHING!!!!

1. Photos: omg, biggest reality check ever. I hate seing full bodied pictures of me, even now starting to hate just pictures because my face is getting really chunky.

2. Comments: for example this past xmas, I was at my husband's grandparents house and one of their relatives I never met before started talking about how he was diagnosed with diabetes and he is skinny and then there was a "big, fat lady" (at which point in time he said to me, no offense) that didn't have it and how could that be??? I was appalled, I didn't even know what to say!!! I was so angry, I just sat there pissed off and didn't talk to anyone the rest of the night.

3. I'm a nurse and deal with a growing population of morbidly obese or obese in general people. I see what the co-morbidities of these people do to them on an every day basis and I do NOT want to get there!!!! I am 27 and have hypertension and high cholesterol. Diabetes runs in my family, I don't want it!!! Also, I see younger and younger people having heart attacks and strokes and it scares the **** outta me! I do not want to head down this road and keep getting bigger and bigger and having more health problems at an early age.

So those are my reasons. What are yours?

Of course i am only a wanna b but I made the Decision! now if only everyone else would coperate! The AHA moment for me was when i finally realized that i had secluded myself to a point where i hadnet even talked to my friends in almost a ear, the only interaction with ppl i had was at work and i was even avoiding family get togethers because i am so overweight that i didnt want to be around ppl and it was to uncomfortable for me to wear real clothing anymore. I realized I was at home alone not because i really wanted to be but because I didnt want people to see me in general and i became so depressed and isolated that i didnt even realize i wasnt me anymore. I have always been outgoing and crazy fun up until the last few years. I work in a nursing home and see what happens to ppl who dont take charge of their lives. I recently lost a co-worker who finally lost the struggle with her weight and diabetes and lost her life to a stroke related to the diabetes. She was only 58 and now watching her kids who are my age have to grieve for her and try and get throught this. I made the decision. I havent worked out all the details yet but I refuse to live the rest of my life miserable and overweight! I AM taking charge from now on! I will live a happy healthy full life! and I know I dont have to do it alone! Thats the best part!:thumbdown:

Hey I am a wanna be but soon to be!!!! I have my date set on Monday so I am excited!!!! I think all of these experiences really kinda put up an ugly scrap book in my head, an ugly tape recorder so to speak or maybe not even that, maybe they are a blessing in disguise so that I can finally do something for me and stop wasting more time to just keep being disappointed in myself.

Mine was HBP and diabetes. Plus, I was depressed and feeling older than I should.

Mine was buying that next pants size up. (Again) (And Again)

Mine was looking at the mirror and thinking...did I do this AGAIN??? I had lost a lot of weight (60+ lbs) TWICE before and gained it ALL back and THEN some! I absolutely COULD NOT believe I was back where I started. Then I looked at my young boys and decided I wanted to be the "HOT" mom, not the fat mom that embarasses them when I pick them up at school. I also wanted to see and play with my grandkids whenever they come. But most of all, I wanted it for ME and my HEALTH and my well being. I'm just newly banded but it has already made a huge difference in my life!!

Straw that broke the camel's back??? Watching my husband finally break down in tears and cry because he was so worried about my health, and said it broke his heart to think he would have to wheel me around in a wheelchair someday.

The tragic day when I bought a 3X shirt. Wish I had "got it" at 2X and XL.:biggrin:

I think I had several things that got me here. First, I was always overweight, even as a kid, not a lot, but some, but I felt huge, because I was always the fat girl in school and my mom was petite and skinny when I was little. (Althought looking back, I wasn't nearly as fat as I thought I was!) I weighed about 160-170ish in high school, dropped to 140-150 in college/early marriage but always thought I had to be 120ish to no be "fat" (I'm 5-7). When we had kid#1 I weight 180, and gained 20lbs, 200 with Kid#2, and gained 30ish, then gained maybe 5lbs/year afterwards.

But what really got me started was my DH who had struggled his whole career in the USAF to keep his weight down retired from the AF in 2000 looking totally hot and fit and completely lost control. He gained nearly 200lbs in about 2 yrs and it freaked me out. He was already having some health/stress related problems before his weight gain but the extra weight made everything worse very quickly. I soon realized I had better start taking care of myself because he was putting me on the road to widowhood. (Our kids were just 11 and 6 when he retired, now 20 and 15)

I decided I had to lose weight so there was at least one healthy parent! I also hoped if I lead the way, DH would follow, if not, I still needed to do this for me.

So I tried dieting on my own for a couple of years, but just couldn't seem to lose anything. I finally went into see my doctor for an annual exam and told her my problems and she figured out I had PCOS. Put me on Metforin, BCPs, and Xenical and I dropped 40lbs with diet and exercise over the next year but couldn't seem to get any farther and in researching the PCOS I started reading about people who were having lapbands. So I started researching the surgery. I knew I'd never consider RNY but this looked like it had potential.

So I tried to get approved for surgery and my insurance came back with an approval for RNY but not Lapband. I opted to wait. In the 2 years afterwards I gained back the 40lbs.

Meanwhile my DH's health has continued to worsen, HBP, lots of pains, can't even climb the stairs to bed without being out of breath.

One day last year I got an newletter from Tricare saying they were now paying for Lapband procedures, and I called for an appointment that same week.

While DH would never consider surgery for himself, he was supportive of me (not that I gave him much choice). Got approved, had the surgery, ran into post op complications (the surgeon accidentally perforated or burned my stomach leading to an infection), so she removed the band the next week and I spent 2 weeks in the hospital on antibiotics. DH was terrified he could lose me and I was probably about 24 hrs from being dead when I was admitted to the hospital although we didn't realize it at the time.

I've now spent 6 months recovering and my surgeon thinks I'm ready for another try. I'm scheduled for surgery March 4th. I'm going in to talk to her next week and discuss if she thinks a lapband or a VSG is the best option for me.

Either way, starting next month I'm taking control of my personal health.

On a happy note, my DH who has been super supportive of me even while he lived in denial himself, has finally come to the decision that he has to lose weight. We're going to the educational class for him on Monday to start the process for him to get surgery too. This is a huge step for him because he was always against having surgery, and when mine didn't go smoothly, I though he'd never consider it.

Always

Hunzi

My oldest child died of acute myeloid leukemia on 01/10/2007. He was 13 years old at the time of his death.

His life was stolen from him and here I am wasting mine.

Been researching the band for years. Once I got financially and emotionally stable, I moved forward on getting the band and getting healthy. If he could go through all he did with the kind of tenacity and courage he showed, I can get through this and live a life he will be proud to know about when I see him again.

My oldest child died of acute myeloid leukemia on 01/10/2007. He was 13 years old at the time of his death.

His life was stolen from him and here I am wasting mine.

I am so sorry for your great loss.

gentylwind, Am so sorry for your loss. We have all missed opportunities with our children, family, and friends because our weight ( or related health problems) got in the way. Please don't focus on your losses and the past ; you should always remember your child but focus on the future wins.:thumbup: