My name is Daren, I am 42, married to an awesome man who is my rock. Together we have 4 daughters who are 15, 6, 5 and 3.

I began my journey towards the lap band about a year ago. A friend of mine who was my doctor (sadly our insurance changed so he is no longer my physician) suggested that I think about a bariatric procedure of some kind. I have been overweight since the onset of puberty though I was amongst the fortunate few who was never teased about my weight, well not from other kids, but my mother had no problem pointing it out every chance she got. I remember being 13 and weighing in at about 130 pounds...and it just continued up from there.

My six year old daughter is the only "genetic" child I was fortunate to give birth to (the others are of my heart, no my body) and when I went for my first prenatal exam I weighed in at 234. Did I mention that I stand a mere 5'4"? I worked very hard while I was pregnant to not gain weight and was unfortunate to gain 29 lbs the last 12 weeks that I was pregnant. My friend chewed me out every visit reminding me that since I was diabetic (gestational at that point) with every pound I gained I was endagering the baby that took my 16 years to concieve. I swore to him I wasn't doing ANYTHING I was not supposed to be doing and I was even exercising...something completely unheard of for me! I tried to no avail to convince him that it was all water and baby. Seldom in a large womans lifetime is she believed to not be overeating...but I honestly was NOT. I was validated the day after she was born and stepped on the scale outside of my room and showed him that literally overnight I had lost 35 lbs! I really was all water. Thankfully she weighed in at a mere 6lbs 13 ounces...so I was mightly proud.

I was warned that because I was a gestational diabetic that if I did not lost a significant amount of weight I would likely become a type 2 diabetic in the next 5 years. I decided since I could lose weight while pregnant I could do it when I wasn't. I didn't take into consideration that I had lost my mother a mere 9 months previous to my daughters birth (you do the math...she was a gift if I ever saw one!!!) postpartum depression and how cut off you are when you go from a full time working woman to a stay at home mom all of a sudden. I am a VERY social person and didn't realize until I was sitting on my kitchen floor in tears sobbing that I was totally and completely depressed. I worked on that and with the help of modern medicine, found some relief from the crying jags but continued to decline as I discovered over the next few years that I also had fibromyalgia. This coupled with depression, untreated sleep apnea made life a living hell. I got treatment for the sleep apnea and hoped that it would relieve all of my symptoms...sadly I was mistaken in this hope. I still have fibromyalgia and in March of this year discovered that I had type 2 diabetes. I weighed in at a whopping 273 pounds (9 more than the day I walked into the hospital to give birth to my daughter...youch!) and decided that it was time for a life change.

I started researching and discovered that many of the life changes required for the lap band I had already accomplished without even knowing anything about the lapband. I stopped drinking soda when I got pregnant and aside from an ocassional one here and there never really developed the taste for them again. I used to be the pasta queen but stopped altogether when I was pregnant and never really missed it so I figured I didn't like it nearly as much as I thought I did. I started working on some exercising, though with fibromyalgia, it is difficult...but I have discovered that the Wii is an incredible invention and that coupled with the Wii fit software, I exercise far more regularly now than I have ever done so before...and the kids get to play with me so it fun for the whole family.

I just finished a 14 week class with Kaiser on Healthy Lifestyles and have finished most of the pre-surgery requirements for their program. I was told I had to lose a total of 20 pounds from my initial weigh in at their orientation (259) and am happy to say that I am only 1 pound away from the goal weight. I want to take it down an extra 10 just as a cushion since every single scale that I get on says something different!!! With luck and some pushiness on my part I am hoping to be banded before the end of the year!!!

My six year old asked me if I would still look like her mommy when I was "skinny" and I told her that I would be the new and improved healthy versions of mommy. My 15 year old promises to share her clothes with me (and steal mine) when we are the same size...can't wait for that!!!

Anyway, that's where I am at right now...

Daren

hey whatever happened? did you have it done?how are you doing? I am just starting my journey with kaiser adn went to my first orientation meeting. am interested to know how you did.