AshevilleEddie

Thanks BJean! On a completely different note, I had my 1st appointment at the weight loss center today. I don't have to go through some of the preliminary stuff since I just sat through most of it with DH. Woo hoo! That actually moves my surgery date up by about 3 months. I should be banded by early May at the latest! Most likely (depending on surgeons schedule) mid-April though. I actually see a light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm starting to get excited. BTW, since I've now outed myself as a smart a$$, I thought I'd share my personal e-mail signature: Edina - "Inside of me, sweetie, inside of me, there is a thin person just screaming to get out." Mother - "Just the one, dear?" It's from Ab Fab (Absolutely Fabulous), although I'm not quite Gay enough to actually watch it... ROTFLMFAO!!!

EWWW! Don't even want to think about that one! On another note, now that I've been reading more posts since mine from yesterday, I see that most of you guys aren't any kind of bashers at all. In fact, a lot of you seem to be big fat (but shrinking!) smart a$$e$ like myself! :biggrin1: I'm really glad I found this forum and I promise I'll try not to take everything so seriously from now on...

Hi! I'm a 42-yo male in N FL. I've struggled with my weight most of my life. I'm Type 2 diabetic, have high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol and triglycerides (imagine that!). My DH was banded on Feb 21 and after going through the entire experience with him, I decided it was my time (I had to make sure it wasn't too bad :guess). I've seen my primary care Dr and have my first appointment with the weight loss center tomorrow. I'm a little nervous - I watched my oldest sister live through stomach stapling, only to regain every ounce and more (probably double what she had lost) and I'm pretty much a chicken $%@& when it comes to pain. But if DH can do it, so can I. I appreciate any and all advice/support/encouragement I can get, so feel free to drop me a line. Thanks!

beachgirl, thanks for attempting to allay the fears of this chicken $h!t. I do feel better about things today. I actually had my appointment with the weight loss center earlier today, and I'm even more confident now that this is the right thing for me to do. I should be able to have my surgery anywhere between mid-April to early May. Woo hoo! :clap2: Batty, are you pre-op as well? What hospital?

Actually, you're even closer than you realize. If you take 218 across to 17, then south to 16, come over the Shands Bridge and I'm about 5 minutes or so away!

Hi Batty! I'm just south of Jax, in Northern St Johns County! What part of town are you in? I'm going through the weight loss center on Baymeadows - can't place the proper name this early in the morning (need coffee!!!) - and Dr. Steven Webb is doing the surgery. I'm just starting the process, so I probably won't be banded until late June-early July.

Wow! I'm a new member - just joined tonight - I wound up sitting here reading through most of this thread. I gotta say, there are a lot of strong opinions on both sides. But unless I missed them, I haven't actually seen any posts from Gay or Lesbian folks. So here I am, in all my fabulous gayness! Just kidding! Well, sorta. I really am Gay, but hardly fabulous. I'm just an average, 40-something, divorced fat man raising two teenagers with my DH. For the record, he's also an average, 40-something fat man (although he was banded on 2/21/07 so he's not quite as fat now :mad: ). I am also (gasp!) a born-again Christian. As such, I struggled with my orientation (not preference, that's a load of crap) until my early 30s, when I finally realized that God made me who I am and that was good enough for me. I DID NOT choose to be Gay (who would want to be hated that much?), nor did I "give in to my sinful urges." I've always known I was Gay, even as a small child. Of course at that age, I didn't actually understand that I was Gay, just that I was different. Anyway, the reason I replied to this thread is not to further stir things up, but to let everyone know that there are actually folks like me out there that not only understand, but live both sides of this topic. It is very disurbing to me that people won't just stop bashing each other and let others have their own views and beliefs, rather than trying to force theirs on everyone else. I'm sure I'll get flak from a lot of folks on here, but I just felt I needed to get that off my chest (along with 30 or 40 pounds after I'm banded :biggrin1: )...