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About this blog

Follow me through my Journey of the Lap-Band. I am starting this blog a little late seeing as I have already finished my 6month diet required by insurance but I figured now is better than ever. So Enjoy!!:

Entries in this blog

 

Been along time since last post so this is for Feb 1st-Now

Okay since I last blogged I was getting back from being in terrible pain and the emergency room from the pain pump that was in me. Now that it has been resolved I got sick about a 2 weeks ago and I had it coming out both ends. I think there was a slight bug going around here where I live cause everyone I work with has been sick. I moved out of my parents house on the 12th of Feb. and it has been great since. I live on the third floor now and I guess the upside is I get good leg exercise the bad part i'm out of breath when I get to the top. lol What can you do right? So I have been eating more than I am supposed to because I feel no restriction and I have been feeling hungry I try not to but I mean I can't starve. So I went to get my fill yesterday my 10cc band to a 6.4 cc. I am feeling a bit restriction I am on fluids right now so I haven't eaten any actual food yet so we will see a few days from now how it is. On another note I haven't been exercising too much besides up and down the stairs here and moving so I signed up for a taekwondo class and had my first class today. I plan to do twice a week. That is probably all I can handle it is intense and great workout. Plus you learn self defense what more do you need right. It's an hour class and the most I have worked out in a few years. So I am proud to say they kicked my ass in that class. But I made it through the whole thing without passing out. Thanks for reading. Goodnight.
brenpren07

brenpren07

1
 

January 28th, 2010 (2 days-PostOp)

So tuesday I had my surgery I got to the hospital a little earlier than they told me cause I had nothing to do that day so I figured I just go ahead and check in. Well I ended up having the surgery 30 min earlier than scheduled. My mom took a few pictures of me in my gown as before pictures. So Igot out of surgery and was feeling okay just a bit groggy and a little pain not too much. I did the swallow test which was disgusting....I laid back down and upstairs I went. They gave me some Iv Fluids a little medicine cup of ice water and some Jello and broth. I didn;t feel to hungry but I ate the popsicle they gave me. WEll at least half of it. So I was like when do I leave or am I staying overnight because my respirations were dropping to like 10 and 8, They said well once everything is stable and your blood pressure is okay and you go pee you can leave. So everything was stable and then they said well you haven't peed yet. We need you to before you can leave. Since I had a catheter placed in me at surgery time I guess they wanted to make sure I was flowing properly. So After about 7 hrs of waiting to pee I did it. So I got to go home yesterday morning at 3am. So I get home and I'm sore but not extremely hurting. I can't lay down though cause it hurts when I try to. SO I kind of sit laying on my bed all morning long. Well when I try to go to sleep again last night after being in agonizing pain during the late day I mean like every time I breathe it feels like someone is stabbing me. It hurts so bad. I tried to lay down but I couldn't breathe and I tried to sit/laying on the bed and couldn't breathe so I slept in a big chair all night long. I was still hurting but it was better than the bed. SO this morning I wake up and walk a little and got short of breath so I stopped. I tried to call my Doctor and left a message with his nurse but no return call yet.....SO now I am just waiting it is about 900am and there office is open but it keeps going to voice-mail. This sucks right now I need some stronger pain medicine or something. I have this numbing medicine that isn't numbing anything cause I feel it all. Other than that I have hydrocodone and Gas-X strips which neither is doing anything for me at this point.. It hurt mostly around my lung area and where the port is but now it hurts there and my shoulder area. I know a lot of people say that is gas pain but I think mine is more of swelling pain. So check out my before pictures along with my scar pictures I'll be posting them in about 10minutes. Ans thanks for reading.....:thumbup:
brenpren07

brenpren07

3
 

Late entry January 28th-January 31st

Ok so since I last posted on thursday morning a lot has happened. I got a call back from the Doctor's nurse about me being in pain and all and she said I need to go directly to the emergency room if I am having that type of pain. My worst fear was that they were going to have to remove the band. Well I got there and they did xrays and blood work and everything came back fine. I don't see why though cause every time they laid me down I burst out in tears because I was gasping for air. So it was time for my pain pump to be removed. The one that was supposed to be lower the pain around my stomach area. Well I thought that it was the problem all along and turns out I was right. The moment he removed it I took a deep breathe and was soooo relieved. I don't see why though it hurt so much. So i went home and did normal things as opposed to before. That night I slept on my back which I couldn't do before and it felt good. So friday I cleaned my room and walked the treadmill about 45 mintues on and off. Saturday I didn't do much and my pain was eased to a minimum where I haven't needed to take my pain medicine. Sunday night I had to go to work and work 7p-7a as a unit secretary. I made it through the night but I was in pain because of my bra was sitting on my incision. Also every time I walked it was like my port was jiggling I think it was because of the fat. So today has been good I picked up a couple things for my apartment and have been out a lot and in minimum pain. The one thing or two things I hate right now is yawning and sneezing they make you hurt so bad to where you kinda hesitate before doing it. Most of my coughing pains are away just a few happen on very deep inhalations. I will post a separate post on Protein bars and drinks I just tried that are good.
brenpren07

brenpren07

2
 

Change of Plans!! *January 25th, 2010*

Well I woke up this morning ready to go in for surgery when @ 730am the hospital I was going to have my surgery at calls and says I won't be having surgery today and that I need to call the Doc's office and reschedule. :sad: I was upset. I had everything ready and was prepared now I have to do it all over again. I called and they didn't tell me why it was canceled or when exactly my surgery will be when I called but that it might be either th 26th @ 2p or the 27th at 3p. They have to get it in before insurance ends on the 30th otherwise I can't have the surgery done until I come up with funds.... She said she would call back with the specifics.
brenpren07

brenpren07

1
 

January 20th, 2010

So I went in today @ 1000 and went to the obesity center to ask what I needed to do as far as registering and getting my time and prescription elixir. She told me to go to preregistration which I did and they told me I needed to have some labs done so I went to the lab and she took my blood to test for clotting and stuff for anesthesia purposes. Well she busted my vein and now I have a huge bruise looks like I was man handled or something. So I went back to the doctor in the same building and they gave me my prescription and finally a time for surgery. It's @ 0945 and then she said I will have a 2 week post op visit and then six weeks after surgery my first fill. Yay!! Im so excited!!:sad::w00t:
brenpren07

brenpren07

1
 

^January 25th, 2010^ New Date and Time....

So she didn't call back (the dietitian) withing the 2hrs like she said so I called her around 12pm and asked when it was going to be and why it was canceled. She said it will be for sure the 26th at 2p which is great! I asked why it was canceled and it seems from what my mom says since she works there and what the lady told me, that he was in philly and didn't make it back in time, that he attend a game this weekend and missed a flight. All that matters is I have a new date and time and so far it isn't canceled. YEAH!!! :thumbup:So I have to be NPO again after 2am so 12 hrs with no food great!(sarcasim):sad:
brenpren07

brenpren07

1
 

January 20th, 2010

So after about 1hr of being home the Doc's office calls and it's my dietitian Irene. She tells me my surgery was pushed back an hour. I thought for some reason it was going to be cancelled. I was relieved. So Monday @ 1045 I will be admitted for surgery.:sad:
brenpren07

brenpren07

1
 

January 24th, 2010

So the 21st-23rd was hard just waiting for tomorrow. I went out and bout some protein stuff and chewables for after surgery just getting prepared so I don't have to worry about it later. I got the 12 pk. Alpine Punch Isopure 40g Protein, and the 42g Protein New Whey Shots. I also got the liquid daily vitamin, chewable calcium citrate, and chewable iron w/vitamin C. So I think I am ill prepared.:drool: Well, Friday I cleaned up my room to keep me occupied and donated a lot of clothing out of my closet(never worn) and my drawers to a New Beginnings Center in Garland. I figured now is better than never I mean after a while I won't need them anyway not like I need them now too. So later that night I went to the drive-in theater in Ennis, Tx. and had seen Legion/Daybreakers, both good movies we got home around 1230am so I went straight to sleep. On Saturday I went with my brothers girlfriend to look for Apartments cause i'm moving out at the end of this month. (I live with my parents now):wink2: So I kept busy with that and found a place which I need to go in Monday before surgery and place a deposit. I went to work later that night at 7p-7a and the day went by fast. So here I am today I went to sleep when I got home this a.m. @ 0830 and slept until 2p.m. I woke up at lunch and chatted with the fam and then was surfing the net for a while. I was supposed to go to work and after a while of contemplating whether or not to I decided to not. I called-in and said not coming in cause I have surgery tomorrow. So, that will make my night longer now until the morning. I have been nervously eating and going to be NPO at midnight until 1045 in the morning. I am going to do some homework and then go to sleep around 11p.m. I have all my stuff packed (like a day surgery bag) for tomorrow. 11 hrs and counting left 'til surgery. So I guess this is it for my post today. Gnite everybody!!!:sad::biggrin:
brenpren07

brenpren07

1
 

January 19th-, 2010

Hello everyone my name is Brenda P. I am 20 yrs old and live in Dallas, Texas. I am trying to have the lap-band®® done. I have been researching and looking to do this since 2006. My parents, when I first approached them with the idea back then was very objective to the idea of me having the surgery at 16yrs old. Really it was only my Dad coming up with excuses why I am not overweight and how everyone has self-confident issues. So I left that at that and was determined to self finance it myself and disregard what he said. I mean he doesn't know what I go through everyday and my life in my shoes so how can he say it's okay for em to be fat? I mean seriously!! So that brings me to why I am writing this blog in August 2009 after I turned 20 I decided I am no longer my parents concern and a teenager I can make decisions without asking them first now. So I read into my insurance and whether or not they did cover the procedure. As it turned out they didn't. At the time I was on my father's insurance being a student and all so I then started to look into my mom's insurance at her work and if they covered the procedure. Luckily she just changed jobs and now works at a Bariatric Hospital. Lucky Me right! So I convince her to let me be on her insurance because my dad's insurance doesn't cover certain things. I didn't automatically tell her what for. So she was like yes u can open enrollment is coming up. So there starts the "Insurance Journey". I'm sure if you have been through the process and had the band you know all about that. I checked with the insurance company to see what doctor's were available to me and what were my choices as far as what I can have done and the fees and all that great stuff. Turn out I could only have it done at that hospital Dallas Renaissance Hospital and Dr. Michael Green Jr. was the only surgeon choice I had. So now that my Doctor was narrowed down to one I scheduled an appointment to check him out more like a group session meeting first then an appointment. He talked very well and although young he has a wide base knowledge of what he is doing and is very confident in his work. He has done the surgery over 100 times and from what I hear from the patients of his at the hospital he does a wonderful job. So I was sold to him be my Surgeon. After the appointment with him I had to schedule my first appointment of what would be 6 dietitian appointments. I had labs and chest x-rays done the following week after the initial appoint. and then was the dietitian appoint. I was kind of knowing what to expect when I went there because I had researched this thing for 3yrs and knew all complications, risk, habits that need to be changed, etc. So I weighed in first it was 260lbs first weigh in. I went over my eating habits and what I need to do to fix them. I had to end up taking supplements because I was iron, vitamin D, and slightly calcium dificient. So after 5 months of that I find out my Insurance is going to be changing at the end of Janauary. Well my last Diet Appointment is the 12th of January so I have from then until the end of January to get approved becuase my insurance the company is switching to does cover Bariatric Surgery!!! Isn't that just perfect timing. Well afterwards they spoke to the HR department and had them call the insurance directly to see if there was anything they can do about getting the approval process going and expedited to have a verdict by the end of the week for me. Well they didn't have one by the end of the week so I had to wait until this week to see if something would happen. Well I had called them to see if they heard anything yesterday and they said no but they sent an e-mail about getting an update and if I can go ahead and come in Tuesday morning to get the surgery scheduled in case my insurance is approved that way it is done the same month before my insurance ends so it can cover the surgery . So I went in today and spoke to the doctor about what to expect after the surgery, my past 6 months of diet visits, and just talking about general surgery stuff and I signed a consent for the surgery. So he said they were going to go ahead and plan the surgery for Monday the 25th of January and if we hear from the Insurance Company we will call you and let you know if your approved or not. Well of course me being ancy and not being able to wait for them to do it I asked them for a name and number and I called them to see what my status was the first time they transferred me to the lady I got a voice-mail and the second time I called someone answered and they said they would see where she was and then they told me well they just finished the meeting about your case and it looks like everything is good. Meaning I'm APPROVED!!!! YAY!!! I called my doctor and told the lady what they told me and they should be receiving a paper saying Ye or Ne and to let me know. SO like 5 min. afterward they call me an say yes I am having the surgery and it is going to be MONDAY!!!. I don't know what time yet I have to go in tomorrow and do pre-registration and all that good paperwork and get a time but it is Monday the 25th.!!! I will update tomorrow........:confused::thumbup::thumbup::wink2::thumbup::thumbup:
brenpren07

brenpren07

3
 

Isn't this Ironic ( January 24th, 2010)

Well I was about to exit out of the website and I went to my page and looked at my join date and it was exactly one year from when my surgery is going to be. I thought that was pretty cool!!! That just kinda confirms for me that I am making the absolute right decision......Good Luck Everyone!!!!!:sad:
brenpren07

brenpren07

1
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