i made the decision last year to have the surgery. my husband lost his insurance and i had to wait for his new insurance to kick in... now i am back to pre op testing. In the mean time while waiting for insurance... i joined a gym and lost over 30 lbs.., which is great. My best friend was totally against the surgery and tells me all the tme how glad she is that i am not doing the surgery. Little does she know i have decided to do it. More for the reason of keeping it off and maintaining. I have alot of people around me that will think its a cop out or the easy way out... How are you all handling this???

If you were taking the easy way out, you wouldn't have to have a psych consult, nutrition consult, surgical consult (in some cases cardiac consult--I work for cardiologists and have scheduled people for pre-bariatric cardiac evaluations many times). You would get no follow-up care, either from the surgeon or dietician, there would be no group support, nothing. Piece of cake. Just show up at the hospital and slam/bam/thank you ma'am!

The lapband is a tool, nothing more. It is not a magic, quick-fix pill. It requires a serious commitment on your part to eat healthy and to exercise. One of my favorite quotes from one of the books I bought (The Lapband Solution or The Lapband Companion) is "The band is not around your lips; it is around your stomach. It cannot keep food out of your mouth; only you can do that."

I have a former coworker who had the surgery. She wanted to cut the amount of crap she ate. She didn't want to stop eating crap, just the amount. She did no followup, except with the surgeon, didn't follow up with the dietician, didn't go to group support, and didn't exercise. She lost a total of 20 pounds. The band only helps curtail portion size; the rest is up to you.

Good luck on your journey. I would not even bother telling those who reacted negatively before. Tell those who will be supportive.