am I making the right decision

What a great point Cindy!!!
I had to get to the point that I didn't care what others thought either!!!  It has to be for ourselves, no body else.

Hi Wendy,
Let me guess, your sister does not struggle with her weight? It is your decision and only yours!
I have surgery scheduled also for July 25 and I can't wait.
I have struggled with my weight since I was a child and have not even told my brother yet. He thinks he knows all about dieting (he only lost a lot of weight once, and now put some back on)
I would just avoid talking to her about it till you have some deep thoughts about it.
PS, my son does not want me to have it either, even though he is struggling with being overweight also,but too bad mommy is not getting any younger , I will be 57 in October. Wish I had done this 15 years ago!

It has been a great encouragement to me to have so many people respond. I have decided that this is what I need, and what I want, and whether or not the family excepts it, well, I'll have to learn to deal with the negativity. Thank you so much, to all who have spoken here, it's comforting to know that I'm not alone, and maybe I'm not such a failure after all ...

It is true a lot of banders don't loose ALL the weight. But a lot of banders don't GAIN back ALL the weight either! Most of us that have been big all of our life are just looking to be normal. Most of us don't care that we aren't skinny. We just simply fit in and can go shopping in normal stores. The band helps but is only the tool it is 100% up to the person to use the tool however they feel fit. The complications are very minimal compared to the other surgeries 1-10 years outs.
If it were me I'd tell your sister I'd love to do her workout plan along with the help of my tool.

I think your sister is a jackass, and a uninformed one at that. You shouldn't allow her to talk to you this way at all. I mean come on....who the hell does she think she is ?
Tell her that you have done the research and that if she wants to discuss this with you, then she can come back after she has put in the same amount of hours that you have.

I wouldn't advise anyone in my family to not have WLS if I couldn't come to the table fully informed.

My opinion would be NO, you are NOT making the right decision......but not for the reasons stated by your sister. The band is a very iffy thing. Works for some. Doesn't work long term for MOST! Of course when we all get banded we think if we follow the "band rules" we will be one of the lucky ones. Does NOT always work that way unfortunately. After 16 fills in 14 months I never got restriction like is advertised by the band manufacturers/band mills. So in my case.........$15,000 completely WASTED. :-(

Please visit the revision forum and see what most are revising FROM. After all............there has to be a reason why so many bandsters would want to put theirselves through the pain and expense of yet another WLS, right???

And please read the ASMBS statement about the band:

ASMBS Band Gets Low Marks

Tell your sister until she walks in our shoes , she needs to shut-up, because I have seen what my son-in-law has done and it is anything but EASY. I will be having my surgery in Aug. and yes I get scared to death and then I think why I am doing this. Tell your sister to do her program and keep her opinions to herself, do this for YOU and if by some chance you get side tracked along the way, the only one who has to deal with that is you. Good Luck. Stay Strong.

Wendy, I had my lap band plication on June 28, 2011. It was the best decision I have made in my 51 years. I have lost 14 pounds so far. I look forward to losing so much more weight and relieving myself of taking three blood pressure pills daily.

The decision to have the surgery should be what you want and not what others think you need.

Be blessed! Chevella