SteveG

I have been fat but healthy my whole life. At the beginning of my lap-band journey, I weighed 380 lbs.  My goal has always to be 150 lighter.  Now that I am getting up in years, I noticed that there are no fat old people.  I never considered a gastric by pass, too risky and the long term health complications are serious.  My wife is an RN and was supportive in my choice for a lap band, the fact of the matter is that she knows a couple of doctors at her hospital who have had lap-bands themselves and have been very pleased with their progress.  When doctors get lap bands...that is good enough for me.  I began by making a phone call to my insurance company Anthem-Blue Cross.  They were gracious and gave me a recommendation to see Dr. Krahn (San Bernardino, CA).  I went to one of his seminars and was quickly convienienced that the lap-band was the tool that was going to help me reach my goal.  From the first seminar until surgery day, was over six months.  It was a long time, but there were numerous tests that had to be performed and the time allowed me to seriously consider the lap-band.  Frankly, I was a little bit anxious about the whole process, especially the surgery, but so far...so good.  Dr. Krahn's put me on a pre-operation diet, and I lost about 15 lbs. in about a month, since the surgery three weeks ago, I have lost another 15 - 18 lbs (depending on what time of day I weigh myself).  Most importantly, I have the support of my family, which has made the process easier on me that expected.It has been three weeks since my surgery and I feel great.  I am careful about what I eat, I get a little exercise, try to drink plenty of fluids and the weight is coming off.  Even though my lap-band has not been "adjusted", I am able to greatly moderate the amount of food that I consume at a meal.  Typically, I drink a 12 oz protein drink for breakfast and sometime lunch, and then I have a bowl of soup (or perhaps some meatballs in manara sauce) for dinner.  I do not eat between meals (it has not been a problem).So far I am very optomistic about my chances of losing my weight and getting to my goal weight of below 250 lbs.  Dr. Krahn is confident that we can do it together.