purplegirl1818

I had mine done when I was just shy of 17, and now im 20.5. never give up. it changes your life in ways youll never think possible. Its worth everything

thats new. Mine totally wouldnt, so i actually started in a study to get it so they would start covering it. Thanks for the heads up, im glad its changing.

I got mine a few months before I turned 17, and Im almost 21 now!

Youre lucky with your stomach virus. Ive had my band just over 3.5 years now and at 1.5 and 2.5 year marks (within 2 days of each other) I got a virus and my stomach swelled shut. I couldnt even swallow my own saliva, and the acid was deadly. I'm glad to hear you could cure it with a prescription, I had to get massive unfills both times.

this picture (the left) was taken about 6 months ago and the right picture was taken 3.5 years ago (thus the left one was taken at my 3 year mark). im on the right in both!

Dude, shes on liquids. You do NOT need to be putting someone down who is just getting started and is obviously already upset that it happened.

Whoa, that, as many people have said before me, is very normal! I went into my 2 week follow-up and my nurse was amazed that I had lost, it isn't normal to lose yet because you have no Fluid, its just like having a normal stomach. For me, I was banded when I was in high school and the first day I could walk correctly (had it done Wednesday, could walk correctly/drive Monday) was the first day of swim season (I was a swimmer) so I had to start getting in shape. But seriously, you are NOT a failure, it is totally normal!

i am doing a term paper and decided to do it on surgery and minors. so any of my fellow minor banded teens, would you do it again?

down about 120!

I am 18 now, and was banded at 16- Aug 2007. Ive now lost about 112ish pounds. I have to agree with some of the other people who have posted, and I understand your concern. I'm not sure if she has the right tools other than the band to lose the weight. But there is a chance that she is using the right tools and eating correctly, and that is even more frustrating. Id be more than willing to chat with her- the program I was banded through made me learn all of the different 'tools' to lose the weight for 6 months before my surgery. Best of luck!

hey did you find anything out? i am currently a student at U of M, and i got a number to the PS they recommend, but may i ask what you found out if anything?

amys my bestie, love her to DEATH. UGH i miss dr browne though. my next visit is nov 7th i think. i was banded at 16 and i just turned 18 yesterday and have lost about 110

i went to a special program for minors, im in a study thats trying to get band legalized for minors

i know ive replyed to this months ago, i was banded in chicago, live in battle creek, but am in ann arbor going to UM lol

i was banded at 16, and ill be 18 in about a month, umm i dont party lol, though i am at one of the BIGGEST party schools, i kinda think my weight helped with that, almst like not being accepted made me mature a lot faster than anyone else and i just dont lol

ive already posted an intro post, but i wrote this to send with my insurence papers. and just so you know, im only 16 and im 99% sure im getting this done and im beyond excited so with out further ado.... From the mere age of eight, I have been struggling with my weight. As a child, around five or six years of age the weight was regarded as "baby fat" and said that I would grow out of it. I remember feeling relief from this, knowing I'd grow out of my weight problem. This in itself should say something. A child in kindergarten or first grade shouldn't have to deal with weight problems, but I did. Upon the third grade, I changed schools. Being "the new kid" didn't have its advantages, giving kids reason to mock and make fun of me. I often came home with a tear stricken face, wishing everything I owned away just to be "normal". I began seeing a nutritionist at the age of eight. Diets were followed by these meetings, but no results were ever shown. Around this same time frame, my doctors already noticed chafing on my inner thighs. Throughout the following years I did a yo-yo diet with my doctors and slim fast plans. I also began competitively swimming at the age of ten; I had always been an avid swimmer because swimming gave me an underwater escape from the harsh words of schoolmates and made me feel better about myself. I had practice every weekday and swam 2-3 hours a day, plus a few hours swimming in various pools and lakes throughout the week. I also competed in a local race that consisted of a 1.13 mile swim across a local lake for the first time when I was ten. Upon the following year, I began a L.A. weight loss program, and saw no results. At this point I was already frustrated with my weight, but I still had the willpower to keep trying. Some of this willpower came from my great grandmother, who had often given encouraging words about my weight loss, and always caring about my health. As cancer took her over, I saw how easy it was for one disease to take over a person's body and rob them of the life they once had. This alone scared me, knowing all the diseases one who is morbidly obese is able to easily acquire. The last time I ever saw my grandmother, we had just said our final goodbyes, and I turned to leave the room. She touched my arm and with a small flicker of her old self in her eyes, said "let's try to get some of that weight off, ok?" I nodded with tear-filled eyes, and exited the room. To this day, I do not know why she chose those words to be her last with me, its just one example of how my obesity has robbed me of special memories. My next weight loss adventure came with Curves. My mother and I went to Curves 3-4 times a week for many months and came to see minimal results. Personally, throughout my curves experience I lost a total of eight pounds, and the following months I lost nothing. I turned back to natural dieting, and just attempting to maintain my weight. In the eighth grade, I began going to weight watchers meetings. I also attended these meetings once a week, and began to see small results, but after about 4-5 months, I still had not reached my 10% body fat loss mark. I avidly followed every rule, not surpassing my points, writing down everything, and yet I still gained 1-2 pounds. Frustrated with the results of this program, and in its financial branch, I started to fade out of the meetings, while still following the plans through out junior high swim season. Upon the end of my eighth grade, I began going to Gold's Gym 3-4 times a week. This consisted of a 15 minute warm up, a work out, and a 15 minute cool down. On the first day I saw my school counselor leaving the gym. About a week later, he called me down to the office and told me that he was proud of me for doing this, and said he'd do whatever he could to help me stick with the program. Throughout the months I again sadly saw no results from this program either. As I began high school, the swimming intensity took one colossal increase. We began by running 1-4 miles a day along with dry land (weightlifting, core work, crunches, pushups etc.) and around 1500 yards a day. As the year continued I lost about 20 pounds in the first month, but quickly regained it for reasons unbeknownst to me. The daily yardage sky rocked to over 10,000 yards during our 'peak week'. We swim up to 4 hours a day during high school swim season. This is one of the most frustrating parts of my weight loss, the intense workouts with no results. After season finished, I swam spring season and did Water polo, and during the summer there is never a day you can't find me in some body of water. In addition to swimming I began taking shakes as a meal substitute. Again no results. The following year, I began taking Meridia, a pill designed to help with weight loss, I lost around 12 pounds, but again gained it back. This trend continued until this past fall, fall 2006. During the first part of swim season we always run. The day we ran the football stadium stairs (this consists of running ¼ of a mile and running up 14 stairs, and back down three times, and repeating this around 4-5 times) I was at the top of the bleachers and couldn't breathe very well, I began to get light headed and returned to the ground. By the time I got back to my coach, I was crying from not being able to breathe, and the frustration that I had that I knew that I could do this but my body wouldn't allow it. In the middle this season I was diagnosed with depression. I knew it was my weight; my whole life has revolved around my weight. At this point I am out of ideas; I'm frustrated with my weight to the point of tears. In my freshman year we went to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio for the national physics day. That year I finally get the backbone to ride the Millennium Force, all of my friends and I got in line. I decided to sit in the chair outside the line to make sure I fit. Well, I didn't. At the age of 14 I couldn't fit on a roller coaster seat. Not just this ride, but many others too. This fact still taunts me, especially because my high school's honors choir is going to Disney this spring, and I am scared that I will lose the Disney experience because of my weight. When I shared my fears with my mother this past January, we decided something needed to be done. After a lifetime of failed diets and gyms, a lifetime of frustration and just wishing on every start that I could be 'normal sized', I am finally taking my first steps toward a healthier lifestyle, and a new me.:mad:

as of today i am one year out!

congrats melissa, i hope 265 means you have lost a lot!

well first of all, dr browne is just kinda weird. i mean, i think he is cool, but i think he is like that with everyone. him and his bow tie! lol but dont be too scared. ill be there on the 10th, too bad were going to miss each other. i wasnt scared until i was headed into the surgery. everyone is amazing there. one of the PT came and visited a few times, and amy and dr browne discharged me the next day. if you want to, tell me when you get your date! i can see if ill be there

yess I do. Amy is my favorite person in the worrrrrrrrrrrrrld

do you go to new hope nikki?

congrats on the loss! i have a friend at the clinic i go to (at UIC... New Hope) she lost 30lbs in one year. i thought to myself that i would be a little discouraged, she looked at me and said "without this band, not only would i weigh 30 more pounds, i would prolly weigh more. this is the first year i have LOST and kept it off. and i am not done yet, just because i am losing slower than others doesnt mean i am NOT losing" i hope that helps a bit

congrats! it will be here before you know it! i remember being just that excited!

im not from chicago, michigan actully. but i was banded at UIC in the New Hope program

we just rock... period :-D