Hello all :willy_nilly: my name is Kayla, I'm 20 years old, a junior in college, and I'm from Minnesota! I just joined this website figuring it would be good for me to have others to talk to who are going through similar situations and so far I think it's really cool!

I've always been a chubby kid growing up and just became used to it. I got made fun of a little bit but not as bad as some people, I figure it was just the 'average' amount if that makes sense. Growing up I never really let my weight bother me but the few times that I heard some of the mean things that people would say it really hurt my feelings and made me hate my body. After experiencing my bullying I became the 'funny girl'. I've always been very outgoing and very social but it's like I started performing for people so that even though I was overweight people would like me because I could make them laugh. For most of my life that worked alright. I always had tons of friends, never had a problem getting boyfriends, I did all the fun high school things, so I never felt that my weight held me back much since it was something that I had for as long as I could remember.

About 3 weeks before my sweet sixteen I got the news that my aunt was murdered by her husband. My aunt was like a second mother to me so it was a very traumatic experience. I think that was a big trigger for more weight gain along with being sexually abused my sophomore year in high school and being diagnosed with depression in 9th grade. I was always over weight but I didn't look fat I just didn't fit into size 2 jeans. When all of those things happened I really started packing on the pounds. I saw a therapist for all my problems and I'm very proud to say that I'm doing so much better but food was my comfort and I was just never able to really let that go which is how I got to my highest at 281 pounds.

In October of 2008 I went to my first doctor appointment to learn about the weight loss surgery option and began doing all my pre-surgery requirements. After I completed like 5/6 of the requirements I changed my mind on the surgery because I began to lose weight on my own and thought it was somewhat easy. I was able to drop 25 pounds in like a month and a half. Then the weight loss haulted and I gained about 7 of the pounds back. It is very hard being on a diet and making it to the gym 4 times a week while going to college and working as well. When I realized that our insurance would pay for all of my surgery I reconsidered the surgery and have a surgery planned for Monday, January 4th, 2010.

I feel so blessed for all of my family and friends who are in my life and supporting me through this time. I also feel very blessed to be given the opprotunity to have surgery in the first place! I've never felt that my life was terrible or not fun or that I've missed out on anything but as I've gotten a little older I'm starting to figure out things that I want to try but could be difficult because of my weight. Last February I was diagnosed with PolyCystic Ovary Syndrom (PCOS) and was told that it will be very hard for me to get pregnant in the future unless I lose weight and I'll most likely still need fertility drugs even after some weight is lost. Even at 20 and not desiring children anytime soon, one of my dreams is to be a mother and I want to figure out things now to make that dream possible. I also think that this surgery will give me more self confidence and overall happiness in my life that I lost about 5 years ago.

I hope you all enjoyed reading my 'story' as I have enjoyed reading yours! I also look forward to getting in touch with people since the people I have talked to so far have just been wonderful!

Happy holidays everyone & God bless!

missKAYLA

I'm getting banded January 4th too!!! We should keep in touch to support each other and compare stories!

yeah that would be really great! are you nervous at all? i have 2 doctor appointments tomorrow for the surgery i just can't believe how soon it is! it's only like, 23 days away or something? i'm so excited!

hey missKayla...where in Minnesota are you from?

I'm from Fargo,ND and I got the band the summer after my freshman year of college. It really is hard to lose weight during college but it is possible lol. I love my band.

Right now I am not nervous, but everytime I go to the surgeon's office for an appointment, I get super nervous because I never know what to expect and my blood pressure has been sky high each time they checked it. My last appointment was on Thursday and my surgeon listened to my lungs and he said he knew I was nervous because my heart was pounding so hard! I know on the day of surgery though, I will probably be a crazy mess and will probably be crying like a baby until they put me under. This will be my first surgery so I just hope that they give something to calm me down as soon as I get there.

I am starting to go through some second guessing, though, which is normal. One day I'm excited, the next I'm saying "What am I doing?" I am just trying not to think too much about it right now and just have faith that I know I am doing the right thing for me.

Ok I would doubt your experience could be much differen than mine. My actual surgery was only 30 min! I was really nervous too, since it was my first surgery. I got there at 6am and waited until about 11am. There were 2 or 3 other surgeries before mine. They had me stay in my room, no food or liquids. They did have me hooked up to an IV though. They put compression socks on, and had a little machine that squeezed my ankles so there weren't blood clots. About 2 or 3 nurses came to take me down to the prep room. They put a hair cap on me and wheeled me down. When I was here they took my blood pressure, etc. Then they injected this stuff into my IV and I said bye to my mom and I passed out! When I woke up I was so confused lol. I thought the surgery was over, but really that was just to calm me down and to put me to sleep, when I woke up they were wheeling me into the OR. They lifted me onto the operaing table and nurses were putting warm blankets around me. (I was still really out of it and tired, not at all nervous amazingly) Then I remember looking behind me and a nurse was putting this milky-white stuff into my IV and I don't even remember if they had me count but the last thing I remember was my doctor holding my hand telling me not to worry.

Next thing I knew, the nurses in the post-op room were waking me up. I didn't feel any pain or anything. After that it's a blur for the next hour or so. But they took me back to my room where my mom and b/f were waiting and put the machine back on my ankles. I think they gave me koolaid to drink and eventually I had to stand, then I had to walk to the door of the room, and then I had to walk down the hall. I didn't feel any pain and walked to the end of the hall on my first try up.

After surgery my stomach...rather my abs sorta hurt and I was so freaked out about ripping something so I was always sure to get help getting up and down from a sitting position. But that only lasted a week. I didn't take ANY of my pain meds and I was fine. To date I have lost about 100 lbs and am only 20 from goal. I was nervous and I had many times when I doubted the band and myself--I thought that maybe I'd be one of the few it didn't work for, etc. But the band has given me back my life. Just keep that goal in mind and you'll be fine. I hope your surgery goes well...

oh wow blackcherry, thanks for sharing that with me! like i said i'm really not nervous i'm just excited! any nervousness i do get once in a while is normal i think! Mary: i'm from brooklyn park, minnesota but i go to school in mankato! i still have like 6 lbs to lose for surgery and i've been food journaling & everything but haven't been able to work out since it's been so cold & we had a blizzarD! so i'm guessing i'll have to go on like a liquid diet to get my weight lost :/

I am scheduled for Jan 4 too. I go through ups and downs of being nervous and being confident. For me it seems like it is taking forever for my surgery to come. Glad though I am having time to learn about it. Good luck to you all.