Gastric Band Blow-up!

This picture is taken from the FDA site.

How overweight would you have to be before you decided to have Lap Band surgery, say if you were 5'6"? Would your weight have to exceed 350 pounds? 300 pounds? 250 pounds? Maybe it's more imaginable to ask if you were 100 pounds overweight, would you decide to get the surgery. Doctors currently have lowered the threshold to 100 pounds overweight, with the candidate most likely suffering from some chronic health issues which are being exacerbated by the extra weight; and most likely the candidate is older, in their 40s and needs a boost because in the next years, their quality of life will be drastically curtailed.

But what if you are in your 20s and extremely overweight, or say morbidly obese? 28 Stone to be exact! Stone is a British weight measurement:  1 stone is equivalent to 14 pounds. What if you were 392 pounds? Can you imagine the ostracism your ungainly fat rolls would receive in America with our stick insect beauties being the heavenly icons of desirability and sexiness? And what if you have  "A PRETTY FACE?" My dear friend! Can we talk? No one in America is looking at a beautiful fat face; especially MEN! especially STRAIGHT men. especially STRAIGHT MEN IN THEIR 20s and 30s who are NOT chubby chasers. England isn't much better, even if Victoria Beckham is taking a stand. Do I need to go ballistic here about cultural standards and folkways STIGMATIZING obesity? Egregious!!! This is a PG blog or I would curse in every language and still not even begin to vent my full disgust at the lack of humanity, grace and decency shown toward overweight women. Sorry, back to Lap Band.

Lap Band is an option to end end the terrors and depressions of diet failure and the enforced rape and seizure of fat cells as the dieter attempts to shrink them. Lap Band softens the excruciating pains of starvation feelings as the cells attenuate and lose their fat. LAP BAND (Please read between the lines if you click on this site to see how the AD is presented; note the pictures are of young people; analyze the emphasis.) promises the glory and beauty of a thin body and the  remarkable joy of what that means in this unforgiving, unrelenting culture. GOOD GOD!!! WHAT MORE COULD A MORBIDLY OBESE WOMAN ASK FOR? (except gastric by-pass...which is more dangerous)

Women are going for Lap Band. As more individuals resort to Lap Band, ruptures and slippages may occur like the one that happened to 25 year old Samantha Haworth from Wasgrave, Coventry, UK (click link). In her own words: "When they opened me up there was no stomach left. It had exploded." (Mail Online) As Genie has discussed, Lap Band is "not a magic bullet," nor is it fool proof safe. There are tremendous downsides. The dangers of doing it should probably exceed the risk of not. Vanity is not an option in this one ladies. Tell the gentleman, either love you for your fat or look the other way.

Or, if you can, devise your own, yes, your very own means of coming up with a lifestyle, yes LIFESTYLE plan you can do for the rest of your life that doesn't involve eating chemicals, processed "foods," etc., but involves you choosing food items that are fresh, local and vibrantly colored, and proteins which are milder, finer and more easily digestible (chicken, fish, etc.) You may also have a gluten allergy that is not helping you to feel full and that is causing you to eat more and gain weight. Check it out.

 Anyway, you don't want your Band to slip and your stomach to explode. In fact, if you can help it, you don't want a band unless it is vitally necessary to your health!