Dobbie C.
2.75 years and counting
Jul 19, 2010
07/19/2010 - I was asked by my surgery center to write about my experience with the lap-band. I just wanted to post it here for the record:My decision to have Lap-band surgery was strictly made from a health point of view. I had always been a very healthy fat person and since my being overweight never seemed to bother my husband, I was relatively resigned to being morbidly obese. It wasn't until I started noticing a significant decline in my health that I became frantic to find a long-term solution to the weight issues that had plagued me for my entire life. I was desperate to find an answer before I literally broke something health-wise (by being so overweight) that I would not be able to fix. My prayers were answered when I decided to have Lap-Band surgery. I could not face doing just another diet again. I've dieted on and off for over 25 years. I've lost 100+ pounds several times only to regain that weight and more. I had to do something to break that cycle, not just because it took a toll on my body to keep loosing and gaining but because emotionally it would break me to have to go down that road of deprivation and self-flagellation only to regain the weight again. The emotional cost of dieting can be even more devastating than the cost to my health. My surgery truly saved me emotionally and physically. I feel healthier now than I did in my thirties and at 45 that is quite an accomplishment. My energy level is off the charts and I have now taken up playing tennis......something that I clearly could not have done at 298 pounds. Lately, I've been following the US soccer team while they have been playing for the World Cup and a realization came over me as I was looking at the players stats. Landon Donovan, who just scored an important goal for the US team (not that you need to know that) weighs 158 pounds. I've lost 163....I carried the equivalent weight of a profession athlete around on my body for many years....and my children wondered why I was so very tired. Heavens, I'd like to see Jillian Michaels (the trainer) from the biggest looser pick up Landon Donovan and run 5 miles.....
This has truly been an exception experience for me and I cannot thank the surgeons (all of them) but more specifically Dr Schwab and the support team @ Surgical Weight Management, Liz and Carla in particular, for the wonderful dedication that they show to all of their patients! They made this journey of mine a success due to their professional abilities and their unwavering support. You could not ask for a better team of people to help you when you undertake a challenge like Lap-Band surgery. A lot of people think Lap-Band surgery is taking the easy way out....but those of us that go down this road know that the band is just that...a band and a tool.....it won't do the work for you. Lap-Band surgery requires that you be participatory in your success by the daily choices you make. You either have to step up to the plate by following the program and band rules or you have to acknowledge that, even with a band in place, it will be just another failed diet attempt. I wasn't willing to go down that road...so I literally worked my butt off to make this a success!
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About Me
Houma, LA
Location
23.1
BMI
Surgery
09/17/2007
Surgery Date
Feb 15, 2007
Member Since
