Good luck to you on your surgery. Keep us posted.

Good luck. I also started at 215 and I am 5'4" so I was squeezin into a size 16 and most people wouldn't have screamed bariatric surgery either! LOL! But I had never kept weight off and in fact lost it and gained more each time over a period of 20 years. One day I just said well everything I have done so far has not worked so I have to do something different. I had to self pay or gain weight (no way) so I did and its the best money I ever spent. I had my band 5/09 so it has been a very slow process for me. Mainly because I had it down in LA and it takes me at east 5 hours to get there etc etc...the point is I was not filled enough.Anyway I went to a doc in Santa Barbara for a fill (only 1.5 hour drive) in October and have been losing nearly a pound a week with NO effort ever since. I really dont exercise but sometimes I treadmill and listen to my audiobooks. I can only eat very tiny meals and I am really never hungry...I have 12 pounds to go to normal BMI at 145 pounds...YOU WILL DO GREAT!!!!

I started at 208. I have chronic back pain from back surgery I had 13 years ago. I have high blood pressure, an underactive thyroid, depression, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea for which I have to use a CPAP machine to breath at night, spinal stenosis and I am 55 years old. I have no metabolism what-so-ever. My doctor suggested band surgery because she wants me to lose weight so I can eliviate all of what is wrong with me. We don't have to be 400 lbs. This is for all of us tha tare overweight. At 5'1" at 208 lbs. I am considered obese. Therefore, something has to be done to help my over-all health and I am sure you need it as well. Don't be concerned what other people think. You are doing this for you and that is all that counts. Good Luck with your surgery. You should be excited. Do not let others make you feel bad about your surgery. People told me right to my face, "you are not over weight and you are doing this because this is the easy way out". Well, they dont go through what I have been through and I really don't care anyway. I am doing this for me and I pray that I can lose the weight I need to so I will be healthier and can play and enjoy my grandchildren.