Are they any Teens out there experiencing any emotional and psychological affects after...

Hey all, My Name is Nicole and I am 20 yrs old, I had the Lap Band when I was 18. Aug 21, 2002. my starting weight was 301 and I am down to 225. Which I am very happy with, Yet also dissapointed. sometimes i feel so discourged about not being at my goal weight almost one year and 4 months out. Everytime I walk by a mirror or a window i always see my old self not what I am today. I feel like my mind is way behind my body. I have a great support system here in vegas, just no one my age. So anybody out there who is going though the same problems please lend me a few words of advice, it just seems that i am always stuggling with everything and anything about my surgery.

Hi Nicole, Well, first off, congrats on losing 75 pounds! I can see that you may be dissapointed, however how are your eating habits? Exercise? The lap band is basically just a portion control system, if you are not eating correctly and exercising, the weight loss will stop and possibly gain will begin. How long have you plateaued? Up your water and protein, and cut out any junk food should you be consuming any. Also, how tall are you? If you are at all interested, you may be eligible for a revision to gastric bypass, which will include the restriction as well as malabsorption which will most likely work in your case. I know of one person who went from lap band to gastric bypass at only 210 pounds, which I thought would be too low. On another note, I'm right there with you on the body image. I've lost 110 pounds and still think I'm fat. I think I will always see myself this way, it does take a good long time for our minds to catch up with our bodies. I also see the skin and feel so unattractive...it's tough sometimes. We're our greatest critic I guess. On the support system, I actually have to say I really have none. I have my friends and family, however no one in the WLS world. I do go to some support groups however everyone is so much older than me I feel left out and no one actually wants to talk to me I guess. I would love to be able to talk to someone about everything. I am struggling with many food issues at the moment, resorting back to old ways, yo-yo diet...ugh. I do love to exercise though. I'll be 20 next month and I'm 10 months out from RNY. Send me an e-mail Good Luck, Natalie

Well I've been told by a couple surgeons when I was looking to do the lap band that I would on average lose only 50% of excess weight. So using the weight planner... since i didn't know your height i put in 5'5" and your starting weight of 301 then 50% of excess weight lost. Guess what it came up with that at that perecentage that your goal weight would be 220. Plus what I have been told is that the Lap band did very well in trials in Europe since Europeans do not snack all day like Americans. So honestly that from a third party point of view the only way the weight is going to come off now is diet, exercise or other type of weight loss surgery.

hey there my name is mandy i live here in vegas two i'll be 20 in november i am going through the process of all this right now really scared just wanted to say hi i hope it all works out for ya if you ever wanna chat my aol name is [email protected] ok anyway bye mandy