Obesity Discussion Forums

[Big John]

Sorry I haven't posted for so long, but I thought I'd like to share some good news. After several weeks of tests & my paperwork being tied up in my Dr's office , I've finally been approved for lapband surgery. I go in for my pre-op tests & consultations on 3/26 & I'll be scheduled for surgery at that point. I am really excited about this & can't wait to get started with my new lifestyle. Big John

[Chrisydj]

Wow! That is cool. I'm glad you got approved. I cant get approved. My weight doesnt affect my health bad enough. Keep us up to date on this.

[Obesity Discussion]

Congratulations!! I hope that surgery is able to give you everything you ever wanted and more!!!

[FINE]

Congrats and I hope you keep us posted

[MikeB]

Man I would really look at taking a year learning how to eat/exercise correctly before falling back on any type of surgery. I know several people who have had surgeries and they drop big pounds and they put it right back on again due to the inability to learn how to control their weight on their on and relying on a crutch. I hope you the best of luck but you can easily do this on your own w/o surgery. Opening up your body just exposes you to too many germs/infections and the risks outweigh the gain in my opinion.

[jacqueline]

Great news! I am so happy for you. May the procedure go smoothly, and the pounds drop off. Can't wait to hear about the results. Good luck!

[Big John]

Thanks everybody for your replies.

MikeB- I've had 45 years to learn to eat/exercise. I've lost in excess or 100lbs three times in my life the latter 5 years ago with 187lbs. lost only to gain back 130 of it. I've been on every diet that you've ever heard of & a few of my own you haven't heard of. I've never had any kind of surgery before & that's why I did a lot of extensive research on the lapband before making my decision. The surgery is done laproscopically with small incisions & long narrow tools & the least invasive of all weight loss surgeries. With all the co-morbidities involved with my obesity I stand a much greater risk without the surgery than with it. I disagree whole-heartedly with the concept of the lapband being regarded as a crutch, it's a tool that you have to work with in order to be successful. Good luck to all of you. BIGJOHN

[Chrisydj]

I agree with you both, big john and mikeb. The surgery for some people is a tool and for others it would be a crutch. You just have to make sure you are prepared to eat right and exercise for the rest of your life. Just like with "diets". They work while you are on them but as soon as you go back to your old habits you will gain it all back and usually more. I think it is amazing that you lost so much weight that many times. It makes me curious as to why you werent able to keep it off.

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by Big John

Thanks everybody for your replies.

MikeB- I've had 45 years to learn to eat/exercise. I've lost in excess or 100lbs three times in my life the latter 5 years ago with 187lbs. lost only to gain back 130 of it. I've been on every diet that you've ever heard of & a few of my own you haven't heard of. I've never had any kind of surgery before & that's why I did a lot of extensive research on the lapband before making my decision. The surgery is done laproscopically with small incisions & long narrow tools & the least invasive of all weight loss surgeries. With all the co-morbidities involved with my obesity I stand a much greater risk without the surgery than with it. I disagree whole-heartedly with the concept of the lapband being regarded as a crutch, it's a tool that you have to work with in order to be successful. Good luck to all of you. BIGJOHN

John the problem here is you think of it as a diet, that doesn't work. You've also not completely controlled your ability to eat correctly and to learn to exercise daily. I promise you that you can learn to eat and exercise and lose the weight w/o surgery. The key is I'm not on a diet, I eat a specific way every day with an occasional cheat day but most days I eat veggies & meat.
Eat to live don't live to eat.
Remember that you can stretch your stomach out with lapband just as much as gastric bypass. A friend of mine/co-worker who paid over $20K for his gastric bypass went from 440 down to 250 and is now back to 350. How does he do it? Well he eats a 2lb back of M&M's every day plus whatever else he eats for the day. If you constantly graze on high fat/sugar foods you can put the weight on no matter how small your stomach.
I beg you not to get the surgery and instead to start tracking your calories and exercising daily, build muscle, lose fat and be HEALTHY!

[D-Nuck]

After you get the lapband just like the stomach staple surgery, don't you have to diet and exercise for it to be successful????

[D-Nuck]

Originally Posted by MikeB

John the problem here is you think of it as a diet, that doesn't work. You've also not completely controlled your ability to eat correctly and to learn to exercise daily. I promise you that you can learn to eat and exercise and lose the weight w/o surgery. The key is I'm not on a diet, I eat a specific way every day with an occasional cheat day but most days I eat veggies & meat.
Eat to live don't live to eat.
Remember that you can stretch your stomach out with lapband just as much as gastric bypass. A friend of mine/co-worker who paid over $20K for his gastric bypass went from 440 down to 250 and is now back to 350. How does he do it? Well he eats a 2lb back of M&M's every day plus whatever else he eats for the day. If you constantly graze on high fat/sugar foods you can put the weight on no matter how small your stomach.
I beg you not to get the surgery and instead to start tracking your calories and exercising daily, build muscle, lose fat and be HEALTHY!

+1

[Big John]

Well I spent 10 hours in the hospital with consultations & tests & received a surgery date of April 23rd. I learned I'm going to be one of the first patients to receive the new Realize band at this hospital. I'm looking forward to getting this ball rolling. JohnC