egrazz

First and foremost, this is not written to offend anyone or upset anyone. I log in daily every morning for motivation. I understand that not everyone is a complete success with the lap band. However, I believe that if they look deep inside and evaluate the situation, they will see that the majority of the time the fault lies within. Of course there will be some where the band simply didn't work, but I believe that is the first excuse people throw when they don't see the weight coming off and staying off as they hope for. We all are different and will all lose weight at different speeds. I'm 17 months post op and have been a slow but steady loser. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want it lose it very fast. But for me, slow and steady seems to be the way my body and the band are working and I'm good with that. Every pound lost is one pound the right direction. However, for the people who say that they hate it...that their doctor lied to them... that they want it taken out and gone...can you do it without it?? If so, why in the world did you get it in the first place? From my experience, this is so much more of a mental journey than a physical one. If you absolutely hate your band and wish you have never done the surgery, that is your decision and I will respect that. However, I just don't want to continually read over and over again that the band failed someone. It is a simple medical device, that is all.

Congrats and lots of luck!!

Congrats and good luck i go see dr on 27th then we set a date.. good luck

I haven't had it done yet, but when I told my mother I was looking into it, she immediately went into negative mode. When I asked her to go online & just read about it (she doesn't know anyone personally that has had it done) she just ignored me. My bestfriend said I don't want to be negative, but.........and then proceeded to say nothing but negative things in a passive/aggressive manner. My husband is suoer supportive, he's my rock!!! My dad was great also. Funny but I knew these 4 important people in my life would react just exactly the way they did. So to tell or not to tell.......it's a personal decision and don't feel bad if you don't tell. What a shame that we feel something so positive is seen by others as negative and the lazy way out. They have not been in our shoes!

Thanks Cocoabean. I carry my weight all over also. I must have alot of elasticity in my skin because even with all the weight i have gained I do not have one stretch mark anywhere.

Same deal here, my company does not have that as an option in their insurance, but in the long run, self pay was much easier, without having to jump through the insurance companies hoops. I just paid and had surgery, no pre op stuff except an ekg and egd which my insurance did cover.

I haven't had it done yet, but when I told my mother I was looking into it, she immediately went into negative mode. When I asked her to go online & just read about it (she doesn't know anyone personally that has had it done) she just ignored me. My bestfriend said I don't want to be negative, but.........and then proceeded to say nothing but negative things in a passive/aggressive manner. My husband is suoer supportive, he's my rock!!! My dad was great also. Funny but I knew these 4 important people in my life would react just exactly the way they did. So to tell or not to tell.......it's a personal decision and don't feel bad if you don't tell. What a shame that we feel something so positive is seen by others as negative and the lazy way out. They have not been in our shoes!

I haven't had the surgery yet, but since I am covered partially by insurance I have to do the 3 months of supervised dieting. I haven't told anyone but my husband and my other care providers (doctors), who I asked to write letters to the insurance for me to help me with approval. I have been struggling with what to say and who to tell, and then I came to an epiphany - for me at least.
When I first started learning about the lapband and reading how it works I noticed the one word that everyone uses - TOOL. This will be a tool for us in the steps we are taking to make our lives healthier. This is not a magic fix-it band, not a you'll-never-crave-chocolate-doughnuts-again band, not a cure for the I-want-some-icecream-now band. It is merely to reduce the AMOUNT that we are allowed to eat at one time.. Everything else is up to us. It will be hard work, especially at first, and I will be consciously making healthier choices and chosing what I eat (already started in January to get ready). Now, if I tell anyone or everyone that I have this band, any steps I've done or long hard road I've gone down or sacrifices I have made will all be lumped into one phrase: "oh, she has the Lapband, no wonder she lost weight so easliy".
It may be petty or feel like I need attention, but if anyone wants to pay attention to my weight and how much I've lost or how much better I look, then I want it to be about ME and about my choices and the hard work I've done to get there. Maybe if someone is curious about the band, or if I feel like they may understand how much work I still had/have to put in, then I may feel the connection and want to tell them about it. For now, I haven't even told my sister (who is one of my best friends) or my mother (who lives with me and my family) or any of my friends.
I am a talker and constantly give TMI to my friends and family, and this has been hard for me not to say anything and gab on and on about it. But I know once I open that dialog up I can't take it back. So I found this website, and I found a place where I can talk about it and feel like everyone understands.
This is a very personal decision and it's hard to decide what to do. Good luck with your decision.
~Kelly <3

I am self pay and have borrowed and got a loan to get this. I have said this before and think that if my car went dead and was unfixable I would have to get a new car right? So u r worth it for ur body.so u can have a functional healthy body that u can take care of for a long time. Or u can keep trying to get the lemon of diets doing this and that and ur body still stresses because of the up and down in weight shifts! Don't think about it twice! U r worth it. And I know I am too..

My fattest area was my stomach and it still is . I don't "need" plastic surgery but if I wanted a model perfect body (which even models don't have) then I would NEED it. I have what all my friends refer to as a balcony! It is something that they all have too. Some have a small balcony, others have a huge verandah! I think it is perfectly normal as you age especially when you have been cut trans abdominally for something such as a C Section or hysterectomy.
I also do not have any stretchmarks. I didn't get any through either of my pregnancies and I haven't got any now. I think genetics plays a huge part in these.

I haven't had it done yet, but when I told my mother I was looking into it, she immediately went into negative mode. When I asked her to go online & just read about it (she doesn't know anyone personally that has had it done) she just ignored me. My bestfriend said I don't want to be negative, but.........and then proceeded to say nothing but negative things in a passive/aggressive manner. My husband is suoer supportive, he's my rock!!! My dad was great also. Funny but I knew these 4 important people in my life would react just exactly the way they did. So to tell or not to tell.......it's a personal decision and don't feel bad if you don't tell. What a shame that we feel something so positive is seen by others as negative and the lazy way out. They have not been in our shoes!

Am I the first male to comment??...
I can not understand why people cheat.. especially when have built a family and a foundation.
I would LOVE to have another partner.... I have 3 girls and I lost my wife to cancer at age 38... I'm still on my own and it wretches me when I hear stories like yours... cancer is a horrible disease but I stuck with her to the end... NOTHING comes before your family!
Dump and go on and you wil find someone.....

My story is I eat less and exercise more...its the truth! The rest is seriously no ones business.

I told and tell everyone who will listen to me. It is my accountability. Wanna feel my port? LOL
But seriously, it is a very personal decision and you should tell or not tell based on YOU.

I can't eat breads or red meats. I've also given up soft drinks. But....I can eat any fruit and vegetables, love my chicken, fish and turkey.

I eat everything...just not too much of anything! seriously there is nothing I cant eat but I eat very small meals...

i would not worry about the food part of it - even the foods that eventually you know do not agree with your band - can be hit or miss depending on the amount of ccs in your band, the time of day, your time of month, etc. Even then, you can still eat them you just may have a little pain from eating them (your choice if you want to take a few bites bad enough). Literally, the biggest thing you will notice is not so much what you can eat but how much of it you can eat - and it's far less than you previously ate - WHEN you hit restriction which may not be until 1-5 months after surgery depending on how quickly your surgeon is willing to add ccs to your band.

It really comes down to the individual and how their band responds to them. Not to avoid the question but is something you will have to discover for yourself.
But know this, your eating habits and quantities will definitely change, for the better IMO.

Well good luck with all your tests but please dont hate on the cheaters...we all got to the point of needing weight loss surgery for the same reason...we cheat on diets! Also wait to pass judgement until you have walked a mile (a year?!) in our (banded) moccasins!