Debba
I was approaching my 50th birthday, laying on the couch, feeling sorry for myself when I had one of Oprah's Ah-Ha moments! I was watching a commercial for Ross Dress for Less, advertising their dress sale. I was thinking how cute the dresses were, but of course not in a size 22! Then it suddenly clicked - I don't HAVE to be a size 22. It's up to me to do something. Not that I haven't tried a billion times before. I'm a lifetime member of Weight Watchers, I've done Jenny Craig, LA Weightloss, Atkins, Southbeach, Slimfast, etc, etc, etc. I lost weight on all of them, only to gain it right back and more. I needed something more. I had heard about the Lapband, did some research on the internet, but was still unsure. My stepson had WLS about 10 years ago - Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (VBG). He lost over 100 lbs. but had many problems along the way. They no longer do that surgery, it's replacement bascially being the Lapband. I liked the band because it didn't involve re-routing my "plumbing" and I wouldn't have the nutritional issues the other surgeries would invoke. One afternoon my two girlfriends and I were having lunch and discussing our weight issues. I brought up the fact that I had been researching the Lapband but was still skeptical. One of my friends then starting spouting all of these facts about the band, what it was made of, all of the statistics, etc. Little did I know, she had already had the surgery - that's how non-invasive it was. The only one who knew about it was her husband! I figured it out months later, when I saw her again and saw the tremendous weight loss. I put two and two together and figured out that she actually had the surgery. I immediately contacted her surgeon's office and the rest is history. One month after my 50th birthday I had my Lapband surgery and it was the best birthday present ever! I'm just about 1 year post-op now, I'm 70 lbs. down, and I'm ready for the next Ross Dress for Less dress sale. I'm getting me a cute dress - in a size 14!!
