tbear63

I'm Donna and I'm new here. I has an appt with a surgeon in 2 weeks. I weigh 285 with a 48.9 BMI. My primary care dr has been talking to me about the lapband, as well as my pain management dr and my lung dr. My primary care and pain dr have had a conference call with a bariatric dr about me so maybe I will get approved. We never know about insurance companies though. They can be fickle. I used to be over 300lbs, on oxygen, and in a power wheelchair most of the time. My mom died a few years ago and my sister (who was my best friend) died suddenly this year. It has spurred me into not wanting to have my kids and grandkids bury me and go thru this pain so I have been putting alot of energy into getting more active. I'm off oxygen now and only in my chair about 1/3 of the time but depending on pain levels. I am having a horrible time losing the weight. I have tried to diet on my own, pills my doctor gave me, personal trainer, dietician, etc and nothings working. I have the usual pains of morbidly obesity: asthma, diabetes, hypertension, severe osteoarthritis and degenerative disease and I have had a mild heart attack in my past. My family history is strong for massive fatal heart attacks so my doctors are really helping me work on this. My kids, however, are totally against it. They say if I find the motivation to do all of the pre-op dieting and the post-op then why can't I just find the discipline to do it without the band?? I hope to be one of these success stories some day that I am finding on this forum.

Hello Angela, Thanks for the support. Last summer my primary care doctor and I have been trying different things like diet suppressants, diabetes medicine that speeds up metabolism, physical therapy, etc....My ortho doctor also has me doing PT and also did a medial branch block to help with the pain in my facet joints also switching meds around so we have been actively trying things for about 6-7 months now. My mobility issues have been a huge factor also. So all of my doctors including my cardiologist are on board saying this has gotta happen. They wanted to see if I was serious about change but since my sis died so suddenly I knew I had to change my life drastically so I am out of my power chair alot more and trying to be more active swimming and stuff but the drawback is I have to load up on 2 Vicodin, 1 Flexeril, and 3 Lidoderm patches just in order to be on my feet for a few hours (like going to a meeting, church, etc). I've been trying everything they suggest so they talked to a bariatric dr if I would be a candidate and he said absolutely but I go on THursday (Jan 3) for my consult. Wish me luck! I'm trusting God to help me make the right decisions about it. I'm nervous about it!

I know that's gotta be scary! When we read all of those precautions and warnings and stuff I know I always just briefly scan it because I never think it would happen to me so I'm sorry that happened to you. What a shocker. Keep us posted as to what the doctor says now about it. Try to keep your spirits up, maybe it will be all smooth sailing from here out!

I know it must be extremely frustrating to have to feel like we gotta jump thru hoops to get things approved. I'm fixing to have to start doing that as I see my surgeon for the first time next week. Good luck to you!

Thank you for that information. I also have a hernia and they said that when they do the lapband they would correct it. So that may hurt more. I'm used to pain so that doesn't scare me . I'm most scared about being able to be disciplined.