DebHart71

I am going to be 40 in November (2011) and I have been overweight my entire life.  I look back on pictures and no matter what age I am I am always bigger then everyone else my age.  I am now a single mom of a lovely 3+ year old daughter and she is currently at a healthy weight.  I am unable to do the things I want to do with her and I don't want her growing up knowing that Mamma was unable to do things with her and having her feel she really missed out on a lot of quality time with me.  Also, I have heard that daughters are more apt to be overweight if their mother is so I want to get this corrected as quickly as possible; I don't want her living her life the way I have had to live mine.  My joints are not as great as they should be for someone my age, I have high cholesterol, I had gestational diabetes and I have a family history of diabetes.  I want to be around to play with my grandchildren.
Okay, it is not all altruistic.  I want to find out what it is like to live life as a thin person.  I want to see how others treat me as a thin person.  I want to shop in the "normal" sizes!  I have never experienced any of this and I think it is high time that changed.
I went to my brand new doctor in July of 2010 and told her that I wanted the LapBand procedure and I had in hand a list of requirements for both the doctor and for me.  It took over a year to accomplish but I lost a little over 10% of my starting weight, took a weight managment class, had psychological counseling and took another small class that my surgeon required before surgery.  It took about two weeks for the approval to come through from my insurance company but I am now scheduled to be banded on October 17, 2011.  I am actually having the RealizeBand put in by Dr. Crooms at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.  I am posting on this site because there is not much traffic on the RealizeBand site yet.  The only difference is the name brand of the band.  I am looking forward to my journey!!  Woohoo!