Hi everyone, I am so glad I found this site. My name is Dona Cross. I am a married mother of three. My kids are 21, 19 and soon to be 18. Two oldest are sons, youngest a daughter. I am 48 years old and morbidly obese. Morbidly obese sounds horrifying....I thought I was just fat! Anyway, I have been preparing for lap band since January 2008. In September of 2007 I found out that I have diabetes. This didn't come as a surprise to me...my brother and 6 first cousins are diabetic, my grandmother was also. My sons weighed 10lb. 3oz. and 10 lb. 11 oz. at birth. We thought my daughter was tiny; she weighed 8 lbs. 14 oz.! After the diagnosis of diabetes I got serious about my health. I don't want to be one of those old ladies in the nursing home weighing 270 lbs. with no legs having to have overworked and underpaid CNA's taking care of me. So, I went to a lap band seminar, got my doctor's wholehearted approval and started meeting requirements for surgery. I have documented diet and exercise requirements almost done and received a O.K. from my insurance to have the psych. eval. After that, my bariatric clinician will set up my pre-op requirements. I am so excited about this. I have tried not to have unrealistic expectations, but I am looking forward to good health again. I am so happy to have contact with others who are experiencing the same journey. Some of my friends are not as supportive as I would have hoped they would be. They think I should just go to Weight Watchers and the gym and I will be fine. Don't they think I've tried that? I do however have a supportive family and an amazing church family to help me. Anyway, thanks in advance for your support. I'm looking forward to making new friends.