Who me, have WLS? Not a chance in you know where...

That was my initial reaction when I first encountered the Band. My previous secondary experiences with RNY (bypass) surgery, was not positive. I'd had an online friend who passed away after her surgery and died 18 months later. She'd been one of the unlucky folks who did not go to a bariatric surgeon. I've also known several people who've had incredible difficulties. What? I wasn't so big that surgery would even be an option... my BMI was 54.5. When my cousin started talking about it to my sister and me, it was my sister, not me who was interested. I did, however, discuss the issue with my primary. He was all for having this done. He liked the Band due to it's flexibility, the rate at which people lost and thought it would be a good option for me. After this appointment, he had provided me a couple of names of surgeons he was aware of. I could not get into Dr. Chua's office in a timely manner, Dr. Regan's office and the Froedtert program were limited to RNY surgery. I located a clinic and noticed they were in my network. I chose Bariatric Insititute of Wisconsin (BIW) and got an appointment in 2 weeks. I did not know any of the doctors, so I let their first "available" appointment give me the doc. At that time they waived the "Seminar" requirement. They sent me a questionnaire that I ultimately scanned into the computer and typed all of my responses because they were going to be long ones. I wanted to make sure I would be accepted. In this two-week period, after listening to my cousin and her journey and some of the changes she had to make... I decided to get a head start... so I eliminated chips and severely reduced my Mountain Dew intake. Within a month I lost 20 lbs. I also found a couple of support groups and started attending as well as joining several online groups.