Let me tell you - now being on the other side of being banded and opting initially to only tell one soul (my boyfriend) which he supported my decision from the get go.

After being banded I came back and told 3 more people - my two nieces and my mom. I'm not very good at keeping secrets from my family and I had felt bad about lying and saying I went to San Diego for some "conference" so I came clean to them.

Surprisingly - no negative reaction from anyone and no negative comments since. My biggest concern was telling my mother and because she's been against everything from my tattoos, my breast augmentation and now figured she'd be against my lapband. I told her thought - bottom line - I don't want to struggle with my weight for the rest of my life. And her response - I don't blame you - as she has struggled with her weight and I think that if her heart was in better condition she would opt for the same surgery.

She's now excited for me seeing me lose weight and I'm glad I told her.

On the other hand. outside of my family I probably woudn't tell anyone else cause really - it's none of their business. So you get lapband. If you feel safe, if you feel like it's the tool you need to lose weight then who's opinion really matters?

I've been "skinny" before but I've also been fat so I'd never discourage someone that is trying to better their health and their life. I told my mom it was either this lapband or I was going to have some more major plastic surgery done which would have been more major then the lap band procedure.

I pretty much kept my band a secret too until recently. The problem with the band is that you can only keep it a secret for so long. After this last fill I pretty much had to let some of my immediate co-workers know since there are chubaka sounds coming up my esophagus and out the pie hole, burping, and such. I have not had any negative feedback whatsoever. I have recently joined facebook and have decided NOT to mention my band on there at all even though half of my friends know. The problem is that I have extended family members who I perceive as being very judgemental. My grandmother's 100 is in July and we are having a family reunion. My job is going to be to do my best to avoid eating around them as much as possible OR decide if I want to to the hot liquid thing before eating. I still am struggling with the eating out part - and that is the part that gives me away and that will be the part that gives your secret away. How in the heck am I going to explain to my relatives why I choose to eat a white castle (there are NO white castles in california ) with a knife and a fork, cut it into tiny pieces, and proceed to chew it very slowly AND only order 2 of them????? Seriously, I can SAY that I am trying to practice healthy eating habits BUT this is white castle, casual dining, vacation, once every couple of years sort of thing!