I feel ya on the whole contemplating it for a while, i had my first consultation with a dr and he told me to lose 100lbs before he would touch me, so over the course of a year, i did it...just barely mentally, and i go bakc and he tells me to lose another 50, well that killed me, i basically said f*** it all and just ate and ate and ate, then i found another dr that did lap band, i was sold hook line and sinker, i had a consultation with him, he told mei weighed too much for him to touch me... but he knew a dr that would... but he was 2 hours away, i went and saw him and he was straight with me he said hes done ppl my size before but i was EXTREMELY RISKY and i had to get 4365672498756987 tests done, i did it it took me about 6 months of constant calling and checking up and all kinds of good shtuff, but finally i got a date...a week before surgery, my insurance dropped me, i was devistated... i call my doc and he says to call the insurance company and see what they say, so i do, and by the grace of god, they picked me up for my surgery and 2 months after. im sure if its in gods will for you to get this surgery he will give you the patience and send a dr your way. all i can stress is research, do you research and find the best surgery for you, know what you need. _mike openRNY 2/25 623/500/200

That is awesome! I am happy for you! I really do hope you get approved. As i hope everyone does! Maggie i'll be praying for you. keep us updated...And if i sounded mean in my last post i am sorry..once i read it again i thought" that poor girl must think i am mean" i will just add this in on this thread..please pray for me or keep me in your thoughts...my pcp wants to test me for diabetes..he seems to think i have it..just pray my levels come back normal..thanks

Thank you, Megan! Dr. Rodriguez also operated on some of the women my mom knows, and if I were to get the surgery, Methodist would have to be where I'd go due to insurance. I read everything on his website, he seems really involved in his patients, especially their post-op care, I really like that. I will try and get all my insurance information gathered today so I can call the office by tomorrow with the answers to the questions they said I should ask insurance. On a side note, everyone here is so nice!! I don't feel awkward at all the way I did when I submitted my first post. Thank you everyone for making me feel welcome and for understanding what I'm going through, I really appreciate it. Mary

Laura, thank you for your story. It wasn't rambling at all, I could relate to a lot. I am currently on summer break from college, about to go into my junior year, and I was also on atkin's the summer before I started college, I lost 23lbs that way, then as soon as I moved into the dorms, hung out with my roommates and had a meal plan--the atkin's diet just didn't fit into the equation. So I gained most of that back. I also feel like sometimes my weight is an issue as far as my social life is concerned. There have been times when I've been invited to a nightclub and I've turned down the invite because I felt insecure. I haven't joined many organizations partly because of this. As far as my family is concerned, most of my mom's side has weight problems, though they've been critical of me my entire life because they don't want me to suffer like they have. My dad however is a stick. He tends to criticize me and believes that I must be lazy and that's why I'm overweight, I wi**** were that simple. Anyway, I am fairly interested in the lapband procedure because of the same reasons you gave, the idea of malnutrition especially is not appealing at all. I have insurance through my mom's work since I'm a full-time student, she knows people at work that have gotten gastric bypass approval but I'm not sure if they offer lapband as well. As far as comorbidities, I was reading a journal of someones and "exertion after activity", "pain in back", and "depression", are comorbidities? I just thought I had issues. Well anyway, thanks for everything, I'd really like to find out as much as I can and possibly get into the whole psych evaluation/insurance process before school starts. Mary

heheh thank you! lol I LOVE those dancing men! They are so cute.