Nervous excitement. That is a fairly accurate way to desribe how I am feeling today. I received my phone call yesterday informing me I have been approved for the LAP-BAND®. My scheduled surgery date is July 7th, 2 weeks after the last day of school.

Hopefully, when I return in September, I'll have most of the kinks worked out and I'll be looking and feeling much better (physically and emotionally).

I hope and pray I am doing the right thing. I have settled on the LAP-BAND®...

As a teacher, I am naturally curious to learn as much as possible before jumping in and committing myself to something.

I haven't been obese my whole life, but I have been cognizant of my weight since I was about 10 years old. Up to that point, I was always a skinny kid. My mom used to take in the waist of all my pants just to keep them from falling off. I went from being "skinny" to being average, and with the help of my atheletic nature, I pretty much remained "average"...