Every picture tells a story so whats yours???????

Hey All, I am looking for a pen pal. Someone who is on this journey too and can understand what i'm going thru. Don't get me wrong everyone I know has been soooo understanding but they just don't fully know or understand our situations. My friends and family stuck by me the whole 19 months I was in the hospital. That meant so much to me.Durng my hospital stay my dad died and last month my brother died. Those two were my biggest supporters. when get discouraged have to just think of them.I had my surgery Sept 16,, 2003 and came home finally May 11, 2005. In Feb. 2005 I had a revision. It made me wonder why I had it then in the first place. Since the begnning I have lost 153 lbs. What I need is a good plastic surgeon and to stop watching surgeries on Dr. 90210. That will be enough to scare you, especially if you were like me and had complications. I look forward to hearing the stories you wll tell me. Cant't wait. suhaila

Hi Suhaila, I'm sorry to here you had complications, they most of been severe to be hospitized for so long! I hope things are going better now. I am 9 months post-op and had no complications at all, so I guess I was very lucky. I have lost 112lbs so far and I am very close to my goal weight. I to will need PS too, but have a year and three months to go before I can even think about it. But everyone say I look great! and i can say I feel great! I know what you mean about having someone to talk to that has been through it, family and friends are great, but sometimes they just don't get it!So I'm here for you when you need to talk and I'll be your pen/pal! I look forward to getting to know you better, until next time, Take care!

I have the same problem. When I first started researching I was all for lap band, the thought of cutting and attaching terrified me. But, the more and more research I do I really want the lap rny, that is the one I'm going for. I also have tricare and the fact that they only cover rny did influence my decision, if I don't get covered I will pay out of pocket for lap band.

I (started this thread) decided to do lap-band...went to Mexico to Dr. Ortiz....don't regret it at all. As of today I am 11 days out from surgery and have lost 15 lbs. I think the deciding factor for me was that my BMI was not that high to begin with. I also had already had breast lift and tummy tuck and thought this route of losing slower would help me not have to have revisions.

Hi Colleen, I am schedule to have surgery with Dr. Ortiz, next Tuesday, July 11th. I will be flying to Mexico on Monday and will be returning back home late Friday Night. So far so good, I have liked everyone I've talked to so far. They haven't hessitated to answer any of my questions, even the silly ones. I will post my experience when I return home. I made this very same post myself when I was investigating. I found my best source of information was from emailing previous Patients and just asking them this same question. I did this for a couple of Surgeons I was interested in and received a number of very helpful emails. You can also find comments from previous patients at: http://obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/forums/?ID=TR-998392569 I hope that helps. Warmest Regards, Lehigh Barbie