Date of Surgery: October 26, 2009 (my "re-birth day")

Pre-op weight: 288

Current weight: 208

weight goal: 150

Pre-op health issues:

sleep apnea

asthma

high cholesterol

joint pain

difficulty walking, needed cane often

shortness of breath

had surgery on both knees due to torn cartilages from excessive weight

back surgery was recommended

I could not walk more than 1 1/2 blocks before I was out of breath, and experienced severe lower back pain that made me cry and stop in my tracks. My doctor was adamant that I had to have back surgery, saying it was not related to my weight. I needed numerous cortisone shots to relieve the pain. The back doctor told me I had to have back surgery if I wanted to be able to walk without pain - "I SAID NO". I wanted to see if the pain would subside if I lost some weight, AND IT DID!

I no longer walk with a cane. I can walk many blocks without shortness of breath and WITHOUT PAIN.

Dr. George Fielding of the NYU Program for Surgical Weight Loss and his staff saved my life. There are two other wonderful doctors at NYU, Christine J. Ren Fielding (his wife) and Marina Kurian. Although I was confident that any of these three doctors would do a good job, I chose Dr. Fielding for several reasons. First, he had the LAP-BAND® surgery himself, and I felt he would really know what I was going through, and that he would really understand my feelings. Second, he is an Aussie, and I love his accent (LOL) - I love to hear him talk, so I ask him a lot of silly questions just to hear him talk in that Australian accent.

I have had five fills so far - I skipped one month because my band was still very tight, and I knew they would tell me I did not need a fill - and I would still have to pay the co-pay. I saved myself a $40.00 co-pay (lol).

I am going in for my 6th filling today, May 13, 2010.

The only thing I hate about their office is that their scale always shows me three pounds heavier than my home scale! So I always ask if I can bring in my scale with me but after laughing at me, they tell me I can't do it (Grrrrr).

I was told by Gaspar, one of the Nurse-Practitioners, that I should write an article for their newsletter about the type of exercising I do to help with the weight loss. I do lots of home exercising by using things commonly found at home, such as lifting weights (liquid laundry detergent), etc! I am thinking about doing that, but I also thought about starting this blog to have a shared support system.

In this blog, hopefully you will find many helpful tools, such as:

1. healthy recipes, called recipe of the day

2. types of exercises

3. activities

4. ability to share your thoughts and feelings

http://life-after-lap-band®.blogspot.com/

:thumbup::thumbup: