Kalipso2

cc~ i know exactly how you feel. i, too, have had reservations. i'm 37 years old and have never had surgery. i've never even been in the hospital for anything and YES, i'm scared of the breathing tube too. but not scared enough to NOT suck it up and do whatever i need to do to get healthier and happier. good luck on your journey! kris

man, i haven't heard those words in a LONG time lol thank you for the responses... i'm just so nervous! this is all i've been able to think about for months and finally decided to "go for it" and now i'm afraid the choice will be taken away from me.

my bmi is 37... but it's just a number. my scale tells me i'm overweight. my mirrr tells me i'm overweight. shoot, my own mother told me i'm overweight. i think only thin people say "just diet". if it were THAT easy there would be NO fat people! keep coming here for support!

thank you for sharing your story. it might sound strange but it's almost refreshing to hear of some negativity regarding the surgery. you're such a strong person to go thru this and i can only imagine how much it must have hurt to feel like you were failing! i can't wait to hear happy stories from you now!

ahhh jayme... i feel EXACTLY the same! i didn't chicken out of my consult (yet) but it's not until next week. it did take me awhile to go to a seminar though. i was SO afraid of being judged. i think everyone fears not being able to give up the behavior we all obviously have of overeating. i'm going to be self pay as well and i'm so worried i'm going to be in debt for years and STILL fat. this is such a wonderful place and i'm glad i found it. there is so much support and i hope you feel it too! kris

i know after i have surgery i have to give up diet pepsi and that will be the most difficult thing for me. i once tried giving it up during Lent and lasted 3 days. i'm addicted to the bubbles. i WILL give it up but not until after my surgery!!

I'm pre-band right now and going in for all my testing next week but my doctor is 4 hours away which means i'll be 4 hours away for each fill. How long does a fill take? What is the "standard" time between fills?

i'm not afraid of needles but i AM afraid of the tube down the throat during surgery... i'm almost scared enough that i had almost talked myself out of the surgery. i haven't set a date yet but i'm trying to look past the surgery... at not dwell so much on how i'm going to get there!

i think everyone feels that way before their surgery. i'm not banded yet and i don't have a surgery date but i think about it too. every time i eat something now i wonder if it will be for the last time BUT i'd rather lose weight than have a steak. like Snowbird said, by the time you get done chewing that piece of steak or that piece of bread, the rest of your meal will probably be cold and unappetizing. some people are able to eat smaller quantities of their favorite food... some can't. for me, it will be extremely difficult to give up diet pepsi. i love the carbonation but i'll give it up if it means it will help my (future) band work to it's fullest potential!

just remember... it's SO much easier to make a dress smaller than it is to make a dress bigger!

BiCoastal... I haven't been researching as long as you have but I've found a surgeon and I'm going for all my testing on March 19th. Since I live 4 hours away from the facility I get to do ALL my testing in one day. I don't know how long it will take after that to schedule my surgery. Hopefully not too long!

why is it that the healthcare professionals try to push gastric bypass? do they not think we haven't done any research? i've had a lot of people try to change my mind about being banded. i'm sorry... i don't want a month of recovery. i don't want to worry about leakage into my abdominal cavity. i too would rather a nice, slow and steady weight loss instead of losing 50 pounds in a month and then nothing more!

how exciting!! i wish you the BEST of luck! i'm sure everyone has conflicted feelings. i know i still do.

i've told only a handful of people... friends and family... most are negative. why can't i just diet? do i really want to waste that much money? they just don't understand that i've tried it their way and it hasn't worked. i've found the most encouragement from my brother. i asked him for his help during the process because i will need to stay with him after my surgery because i live 4 hours away from the hospital. tonight he said to me... "some people need some extra help" and i love him for understanding but i have decided NOT to tell anyone else... ever.

my doctor has known about my weight problems and had tried to help by prescribing Meridia at one point. i went in for my annual physical and brought up my interest. she was very supportive and said she'd send over any information that would be needed to the surgeon i choose. now, at my first free seminar, the surgeon admitted he preferred the results of gastric bypass than banding but he knew that banding was more affordable and the recover time better. someone asked him how many bands he had done. his answer was ZERO. i walked out.

After months of research it's time to get the show on the road. I've done a lot of reading here and it's helped me so much! I don't feel so alone anymore. Unfortunately, my insurance doesn't cover the surgery. My first decision was whether to try dieting again or start looking for a great surgeon who doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I checked hospitals close to home. I checked hospitals within a 4 hour drive. I checked hospitals in Mexico. There is just SO much research to do just to find the right doctor. So much that factors into the decision of Mexico or 4 hours away. How will I get filled? Do I pay the extra money for a doctor close to home just for the convenience?? I tried one doctor close to home. I went to his free seminar and listened to him talk about things that I've already read about. After the seminar, I jumped up to talk to the insurance lady. I asked how much the surgery costs for self pay patients. This doctor doesn't take self pay patients. *sigh* back to square one. I finally decided to call a surgeon 4 hours away. He is reasonably priced and he had some good referals. Since I live so far away and he has a lot of patients who live far away, he schedules all the testing during one day. My appointment is Wednesday, March 19th. I'm excited and scared both at the same time. I'm going to drive to my brother's place to spend the night and then drive the last hour the morning of my appointment and drive the 4 hours back home afterwards. I'll meet with the surgeon, the dietician, the cardiologist and the psychiatrist all on the same day. I'm lucky that I don't have to wait the weeks in between like a lot of other people have to. I asked the appointment girl how soon after the testing could I potentially be banded. She said about 3 weeks later. So.. by the middle of April I may be on my way to a healthier new me! ~k

After months of research it's time to get the show on the road. I've done a lot of reading here and it's helped me so much! I don't feel so alone anymore. Unfortunately, my insurance doesn't cover the surgery. My first decision was whether to try dieting again or start looking for a great surgeon who doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I checked hospitals close to home. I checked hospitals within a 4 hour drive. I checked hospitals in Mexico. There is just SO much research to do just to find the right doctor. So much that factors into the decision of Mexico or 4 hours away. How will I get filled? Do I pay the extra money for a doctor close to home just for the convenience?? I tried one doctor close to home. I went to his free seminar and listened to him talk about things that I've already read about. After the seminar, I jumped up to talk to the insurance lady. I asked how much the surgery costs for self pay patients. This doctor doesn't take self pay patients. *sigh* back to square one. I finally decided to call a surgeon 4 hours away. He is reasonably priced and he had some good referals. Since I live so far away and he has a lot of patients who live far away, he schedules all the testing during one day. My appointment is Wednesday, March 19th. I'm excited and scared both at the same time. I'm going to drive to my brother's place to spend the night and then drive the last hour the morning of my appointment and drive the 4 hours back home afterwards. I'll meet with the surgeon, the dietician, the cardiologist and the psychiatrist all on the same day. I'm lucky that I don't have to wait the weeks in between like a lot of other people have to. I asked the appointment girl how soon after the testing could I potentially be banded. She said about 3 weeks later. So.. by the middle of April I may be on my way to a healthier new me! ~k

well, i'm still scared but i also still plan on going ahead with the consults. i caught a glimpse of myself at work in the mirror in the bathroom. my bloated face, the pants stretched so far across my butt, boobs so big i can't see my feet. i'm not happy but i'm still scared. i did think a lot about Mexico but i would have to go alone and i don't think i have that much courage.

i've done tons of research... on the surgery, on the surgeon. i finally narrowed it down and they called me today to set up my consultation and since i live 4 hours away they're doing all the consults in one day... on March 19th... that's like 2 WEEKS AWAY! i asked the girl how soon after the consultation could i have the surgery and she said as soon as 3 weeks!! holy sh!t. i don't know if i'm ready. do i have the strength do follow thru with something? can i learn to view food as fuel instead of happiness? should i try dieting one more time? can i do this on my own without spending $12,000? i know there are SO many of you out there that probably have felt what i'm feeling right now. HOW do i know i'm making the right decision? kris

that sounds like a lot of consults! the surgeon i decided on gets a lot of out of town patients and he schedules all the consults for one day. i go the 19th to get them all out of the way. i decided on the lapband because its less invasive and less down time. GB scares the crap out of me. people have died from that. i don't think anyone has died from a slipped band. i don't have a month to recover. the chance of becoming malnourished scares me too. go with what your heart is telling you.

i'm just so scared because, believe it or not, bulimic at one point. i binge and purge using laxatives. what happens if i continue to binge?

i thought i'd feel excited and happy to get the consultations out of the way and the surgery scheduled but instead i'm bawling my eyes out and i'm so scared i'm gagging. i don't have the support of my family or friends so i'm basically doing this alone. i've told my sister and brother and they just tell me to diet more. i've told a friend who said that $12k is so much money and i could use that for much better things. are they right?

i find this thread SO interesting! i haven't been banded yet but during some of my "dieting phases" i've ordered off the kid's menu without showing any kind of card. if a person wants to eat smaller portions why should they be made to order a full meal? BUT, i plan on getting a card... just in case!

i feel you! i have JUST started the journey of finding a surgeon that i can afford because i'm self pay too. i'm already overwhelmed and just about ready to give up. is the surgery and weight loss really worth the months of stress??? i just don't know...

i'm still in the research phase trying to find a reputable surgeon. i do have a question though. i undersand that you may be able to feel the port but and you feel the actual band inside our stomach... like a foreign object?