Hello, I'm new on the site but really excited to be here. I'm a big girl. I've been a big girl most of my life. The only time I haven't been a big girl were the times when I went on diets and was briefly successful but soon gained all the weight (plus some) back. I have several friends that had lapband surgery several years ago and I wanted the surgery so bad but my husband was so against it. The primary reason (aside from the fact that he said we couldn't afford it) was that all but one of my friends never lost more than just a few pounds and gained it all back plus some. Recently the one that was actually successful, had to have her band removed because it had slipped and she couldn't get ANYTHING (even water) into her stomach. When her surgeon removed her band he did a sleeve on her. She tells me she has never felt better. I started talking to my husband about the sleeve and doing research on my own. I've seen tons of really positive video blogs (I think they call them vlogs) and testimonials and very few negative ones. I found a local surgeon that had a seminar this past week and I registered and attended. After that I knew, without any question I wanted the sleeve. I scheduled my one on one with the surgeon and went to that yesterday. I left the surgeon's office with a surgery date! November 1, 2011, is the day I get the victory over this weight. I'm SO EXCITED!! I know full well that the surgery is NOT a magic bullet. I knew that I will have to work just as hard at this as I have ever worked at any other diet but this time, when I lose the weight I will NEVER see it again. I feel like I've just won the lottery! I start my pre-op diet on 10/18 so if anyone has any tips on making it or my recovery easier I welcome that advise. Thank you all for being my support team. This forum is wonderful and I know all of you will be very encouraging for me.