Newbie and lots of help/advise needed. All comments welcomed

[mattz 0]

Greetings everyone;

Im sure you probably have heard this billion times, but I know I am at the right place and I need all the help and advise that I can get. I won't get offended so any and all comments are welcomed. First of, like to say hi to everyone and wanted to thank everyone in advance for all your help/advise.

Here it is: I'm turning 26 years old next month. I am now considered obese. I am 5"3 and 248lbs. My depression and not caring for myself has brought me to this point. I am ready for a change. I want to go out and be able to go up to those beautiful ladies and ask them to dance and not be reminded in the back my head "no don't go because I am a fat ass." I want to start going shopping for a change and love to do it.

So, I guess here is what I am struggling with. I have a job, but only get paid $9/hr. I don't have insurance and when I did they said they don't accept that insurance. So I need good advise for Dr's in Los Angeles area (West Los Angeles) I am definitly scared, but I guess the financial part of it is what bothers me the most. I've tried dieting but just cant stick to it, nor can I stick with going to the gym (just lasy, no other excuses)

I guess I want to know if you guys suggest that I go on and get this done? Also because of my financial problems, I've heard after I get banded and loose the weight, my stomach flabs will not go away and I will need to go get another surgery to get the excess skin out, is this true??

I also take care of my elderly parents, so I need to know how long of a downtime there is. I have billion other questions, but ofcourse when I came to write this my brain just froze. Anyway like I said any help is appreciated. I am new to this (1st day) so please help, my faith is in your hands.

Thanks for reading, hope to be of help one day to you!

Matt

[losinandlovin 2]

Wow, do you have your hands full. As far as for finacial reasons Matt no one can tell you what you need to do. I can share with you a few facts that may help you to decide what to do.

For Me - This gave me hope that I could lose and so far it has. I had decided I would just have to be large all my life. Then I heard about Lap Band. Changed my life

I will tell you stress is not good for the band. As I was going thorugh divorce, the band closed up on me. So I paid to get a fill , then paid to have it removed. That hit the pocket book hard. I had to wait 5 more months before I felt I was secure enough to not have to do that again. Stress goes after every part of us, and the band is no exception to that rule.

Don't do this for the lovely ladies, don't do it for others to accept you, do it for you. If you do it for any other reason and it not work out as fast as you think it should you will blame them and fall away from the plan. BUT if you do it for you, putting you first for a change, it is for the right reason. Ladies or not, clothes or not, you will have succeeded. THIS IS ALL ABOUT YOU NOW> If done correctly and if you abide by the doctors orders every step you will not need a second surgery, you will not be depressed, you will have the ladies and you will need new clothes. The greatest joy for me was giving away tons of bags of clothes that were to big. I have much few clothes now, but i am still losing and need to save. So as long as you shop smart, take hand me downs, and mix and match, you will do well.

You will need to do some exercise but the motivation for me was different because I say the huge changes, so it was not like OH YUCK, I have turned into OH BOY!!!

Down time a few days at best.

I have become a health freak cheerleader. I write a motivational email each week to send out to work to help people make good healthy choices. I am your girl. So when you are down, when your depression is getting the best of you, let me know and I will lift you up. THe first sight I was on provided that to me and I am "Paying It Forward". I want you to succeed and you can succeed. Don't go into it blind, but I can highly recommend it. Consider all aspects and you decide what the next step is for you. It may require looking for a surgeon that will take your insurance. It may require looking at your budget to see if there is any thing else you can cut, it may require a second job until the surgery is paid for, but all of that is up to you. If you are looking for someone to tell you they have had this done, had struggles, but would do it all again in a minute. that is me.

Best of luck and let's chat!!

[Navywif99 0]

I would try an find a Dr. that takes your insurance or call your insurance an see if they even have bariatric surgery coverage an if they do ask for a list of Dr.s that are covered. There are a few loans out there as well. Surgery Loans an care credit I think those are the names. You might consider the gastric sleeve if your not into doing the lap band maintenace. Good Luck!