I am 28 years old and having the LAP-BAND® Surgery 8/6/10. I started the journey on 5/20/10 by going to a consultation and meeting the surgeon. I was simply curious about the procedure, but sooo nervous too. I was scared to call my insurance company to see if they covered it, so I let the Dr. Office do it. Boy was I shocked when I got approved! I did all my preop testing and appointments. I was fortunate my INS didn't require a 6 month pre-op diet or even a diet history.
My doctor is Dr. David C. Johson from Arizona Weight Loss Solutions in Phoenix, AZ. I am currently on my hi-protien preop diet in preperation for the surgery. It hasn't been too bad, I like protein and haven't seemed to miss the carbs (too much anyway).
The reason I decided to do this surgery is that when I was 27, I was diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia which is cancer of the blood. I went through 10 intense months of chemo treatments, lost all my hair, was incredibly sick, had a few complications, but made it through and am alive and healthy as a horse today! My oncologist has given the OK for me to undergo this procedure.
So, with a new outlook on life I want to be as healthy as possible and live a long life (not to mention wear cuter clothes too!).
So...the countdown is on to 8/6/10...
I am home from the hospital and offically banded! It was a lot smoother than I expected. I prepared for the worst, but hoped for the best and it really turned out to be no big deal. It really wasn't bad at all. I woke up from the anesthia really easily, I was up and walking around 2 hours after recovery, in fact a few of the nurses couldn't believe it and said they were amazed that I was already walking. I have 5 inscions, and 4 are pretty tiny. The doctored covered them with a clear glue like substance, no stiches or steri strips. I was able to take a shower 24 hours afterwards. But was told not to scrub the area. Not like I would have wanted to anyway!!
I had a lot of gas in my chest and shoulder areas, and it killed but I had read countless posts that its best to walk walk walk after surgery and that is SOO true, every time I would finish walking around the ward, I would let out a burp and started to gradually felt better each time.
I had originally thought that it was going to be an outpatient procedure, in fact when the hospital called to confirm it a few days earlier they said it was outpatient as well. Well when I got there yesterday morning at 7:30am to register the nurse told me the doc wanted me to stay inpatient for insurance purposes (I guess he gets reimbursed for more of the procedure that way.) I was pissed at first, since I didn't plan or pack for an overnight stay. I had absolutely nothing with me but my ID and insurance card and chapstick. But I agreed, knowing that I have lots of expereince in hospitals, it does give a feeling of comfort knowing that with the push of a button a nurse will come and bring me some gooooood drugs. :thumbup:
I didn't have tons of pain but kept getting the pain killers, and I would highly reccommend that. I had some of the best sleep I've ever had last night. Like floating on a cloud The pain wasn't bad, I just more so just felt uncomfortable and "tight". But nothing I couldn't bare, mosting gettnig up and laying down is the toughest. But it's been less than 48 hours since surgery and I feel fine. I've been up and down a few sets of stairs, and probably circled the ward about 15 times no problem.
So, now I'm home. I'm not hungry really. But my stomach is gurgling. It's an odd sensation....I thought I was going to be on an all liquid diet this week, but they gave me pudding and yogurt and milk which is great. (Better than broth!). So, I think I will do ok. I have all day tomoorrow to rest as well (Sunday) and then I plan to go back to work Monday instead of Tuesday. I don't think I'll have a problem.
Oh but does anyone else have to give themselves self injections daily post-op for 10 days of a blood thinner?? I found out I had to do this and it freaked me out!! My first one is tomorrow.
I am now about 3 months out and have had 2 fills so far and am down a total of almost 30lbs. Currently, I have very little, if any, restriction. I have felt "stuck" twice, but just letting time pass the food went through. The first time I was eating a sandwich with doughy bread, which I rarely do, when it happened. I think I was eating too fast and/or took too big of a bite. The other time I was eating shredded potatoes with egg.
I have not lost any weight for the past 6 weeks. I have pretty much maintained. But I don’t complain or get mad though, because I know why I haven't lost weight. I can eat whatever I want, and I will be honest, sometimes I still do. Although, I do take smaller bites and chew very very thoroughly. It will be GREAT to have restriction. Looking forward to that day.
During my visit for my second fill last Thursday, the doctor couldn't get into my port very easily so he rescheduled for the fill to be done under flouro a few days later. Turns out my port is a bit tilted upward, though not flipped, and is still usable. It was pretty cool to see my port on the x-ray machine. So, as of my 2nd fill I am at 4cc's. He said that now that he knows the positioning, he can probably do future fills w/o the flouro. The first few fills he didn't give me lidocaine and the fill needle didn't bother me much. This last time under flouro he did give me a shot of lidocaine first before the fill needle, and that actually burned and felt worse than the fills needle alone. Next time, I'm going to tell him not to bother with local anesthesia. LOL.
I know it's been a few weeks since I posted. I have just recently moved AND had an out of town visitor for a week so little to no time to come online. I am going to be 3 weeks out tomorrow. I saw my doc 1 week post op and he gave me the go ahead for mushies. About a week after that I moved myself to soft regular foods (chewing thourghly) and now am on to regular food. I haven't had any problems. The "suggested" diet was just way too slow for me. I kind of feel guilty about moving forward to quickly, but I chew my food very well, and use my teeth as a blender so everything is "pureed" before going down (gross, sorry). I have not had any problems, everything goes down really smoothly.
I have been working out for an hour about 4 times a week(treadmill and elliptical) and feel fabulous. I am really happy with my weight loss, about 20 lbs so far and my clothes are feeling looser.
Waiting to get my 1st fill next week though, and boy do I need it! I feel that if I let myself go, I would be able to eat just like I used to at this point. I have zero restriction, which I know won't come until the first fill. I am in a weird point right now. I am on to regular foods, with no restriction. What does that mean? Yeah...weight gain. At one point I gained about 3 pounds. That really freaked me out. But I was able to curb my eating and get it back off. But it was a reality check. I need a fill. That is what this whole LAP-BAND® thing is all about right? Being able to limit what we can consume.
