weight loss/ surgery postponed!

Don't know if i spelled that right but here is my question. Have you known any body on board that was preparing for the weight loss surgery and in doing all the steps required lost a good amount of weight so they postponed the surgery?  I will be seeing a dietician as one of my steps and i was just thinking hmmm wonder if i lost weight what the INS Co would say and where is the cut off with a BMI for a lapband?? i know this sounds crazy as i have not been able to lose the weight right along but i have these questions that keep popping up in my head...so has anyone out there ever ran in to this with them selves or know of someone on board that this has happened to?..its like all of a sudden i am saying hay i don't want to slim or get stuck with the side effects of surgery so get on a diet and stay there!...ya i know i am kidding myself....i guess i will watch what i eat and complete my steps and see how much i have lost by Feb which is when i want to have the surgery..  What a tangled web we weave!   where is my angel?

Hi, Well, back in June of 2005 I was fully prepared to have surgery.  I went to my PCP and he wasn't too keen on the idea and we made a bargain.  If I would try it again on my own first and it didn't work again, then he would approve the surgery and we'd go on with it. Wellllll,  you can read all about it in my journal if you are bored, but the long and short of it is that I was able to lose 60 pounds in just around 12 weeks and then I went on to lose another 80 in the following months.  By June of 2006 I had lost 140 pounds.  I have since regained a few of those pesky pounds but I can safely say that I didn't need surgery to do it. If you aren't sure of the surgery why don't you do a little more research.  One of the most amazing boards to read is the WLS Grads board.  There are people on there as much as 7 years out and they talk about how they are doing that far down the road, the good and bad.  It is clear that after the first year or year and a half most people go back to traditional measures to keep their weight down or to lose even more.  Check it out and while you are waiting for your decision it doesn't hurt to do what you are planning on doing and getting healthy for you!!!  Even if you decide to have the surgery later on, you would at least be healthy!

Good luck.

Thanks for sharing that story with me..i have noticed that most people in the end end up doing all the things that we should be doing like exercise following the good eating rules...so in the end its a full circle no easy way out is there....

You are welcome. What the weight loss surgery does is give a quick fix for people who just cannot sustain themselves long enough to shed the pounds.  Every single person on these boards is capable of losing weight on their own.  Christ, they've done it a thousand times.  But most don't stay long enough or follow a lifestyle change long enough to see the end results. Many have to have WLS to save their lives.  Keeping obesity related illnesses at bay is a definite #1 on the top of the charts as to why people need to have their weight down immediately.  Many people have cheered about not having to take diabetes meds, blood pressure meds, you name it.  Others have reported amazing strides in physical mobility after just losing 40 pounds.   There are so many reasons for having this surgery.  I would only attest to a few people in the over 2 years that I've been here who will admit to doing it for vanity alone, or because they just didn't want to work that hard.  Some have come right out and said it.  But those people are few and far between. But yes, you are right, in the end we come full circle.  In the end we are required to do what we need to do to keep our bodies where we brought them.  That is done by hard work and perseverance.  In the end we have to employ that.  It's getting there that is the burden for most people, and why WLS is such a necessary operation these days.  I know that most, if not all, WLS patients would say they wish they could have done it on their own.  In the end, to me, it's a matter of getting there, not how you got there.  If the end result is a healthy and happy body, then everyone is a winner.  The journey there, though, is as much a variable as the people themselves.  Be educated, be aware, don't be blind sided -- and whatever you choose to do will be the right choice for you!

Thank you each of you for responding to my post. Weight loss surgery was never on my list until i developed pulmonary hypertension from sleep apnea due to being to dar fat! I weigh in at 256 and i am about 5ft 5in , i bet if i got down to 200 the slepp apnea would go away and so would the pulmonary hypertension....i am using a c-pack machine and my PH has gotten better but who wants to live on that when the answer is LOSE WEIGHT DUMMIE......well i am going to do my best ...starting bu putting a rubber band around my wrist to remind me if i don't lose weight , ITS Surgery time.....have it on now, day one with my rubber band...do you love it?

How are you doing?  would be interested in knowing about you ph and sleep apnea.  Good luck.  Any words of encouragment would help me.  I have just been diagnosed with ph, but I had the surgery nearly 2 years ago and am near my goal weight.  I'm hoping all of this clears up with the absence of sleep apnea!!  Prayers and love for all! Joanne

In my life, when I have doubts that outweigh benfits about any decision, i don't do it.  If you feel that you can do it the old way, then by all means, give it another shot. On the other hand: As i have noted, often, people wait to get wls when it actually is VERY risky to do so, their poor bodies have been thru the proverbial mill of yo-yo dieting and the dreadful obesity side effects. They hit their heads against the "i can do it myself" wall so much that it was bashed in quite sometime ago. Beyond repair. Especially on the lap band board, I've noted people AFTER surgery often wonder...did i give it enough time...did i try hard enough? This is a question only the individual can answer. In my case, i  knew i tried hard, had a battalion of good habits established and still was gaining weight.  Judging by readings all over this site, this is NOT the case for so many people - they are hard core food addicts/compulsives and NEED to address that issue before they ever consider wls. WLS does NOT fix your head and if you have an unhealthy relationship with nutrition, you better get right with it first. i got rejected for wls and like you, am giving it one more shot.  I so hope that my lessons have been learned and I can treat obesity like the chronic state that it is:  it requires my full attention with little relenting.  Only you can answer this!  search your soul.

Neece i thought you lost a lot of weight all on your own?  unless i was thinking of another post...Even with the band i think there will always be the struggle to stay focused on healthy eating it will never go away. Some of my friends  who are thin even deal with this weight problem...I have one friend that starts monitoring her foods if she goes over 130 pounds..so for most people i think its a life time commitment even with the band...I have another friend who had the other type of surgery 6 years ago and is gainning weight back and thinking of doing the band so i say when does the craziness stop...with 1 surgery , 2 surgeries, i don't have the answer but i really think the answer is in the head...  My husband loves to cook and so do i..Its kind of a hubby we have together...He is about 10 pounds over weight and i am 100, go figure..he knows when to stop....Its a head game...  I have to give you credit for your loss so far...