zilgirl2012

I have struggled with my weight for the past 18 years. i gained with each pregnancy and from nursing the babies and never lost it all, so it just accumulated over the years. I had a heart attack 10 yrs ago at the age of 39. After that, I became very serious and lost most of my excess wt. Due to an unforseen complication following a heart catherterization in 2007, i lost the ability to run or walk long distances and quickly began to wt. back on. It has been an uphill battle ever since. My wt. prior to surgery was 278# and that is not my heaviest. In Jan. 2008 I weighed 298.
I began considering having Lap Band surgery in 2007, but did not have support from my husband. Since then, I have met several people with great success stories and I divorced my husband. I became very serious about having the surgery this past July. I discussed it with my cardiologist and he thought is was a great idea as his sister had the procedure in Dec. 2010 with great results. However, I could not get my internist on board. He was adamant about me losing wt. but wanted me to do it through exercise and modifying my diet- he said as long as I lost 1# a month he was satisfied. Due to his lack of support I found a new internist who is a wonderful person and great support.
The way everything was working out, I was planning to have surgery the end of April or first of May. I received a call from Dr. Miles' (bariatric surgeon) surgery scheduler on April 2nd saying that I had been approved. She proceeded to tell me that they had a cancellation for the 10th and did I want the slot. I jumped at it. I was on full liquids until the 9th and then clears until surgery. During that week, I had second thoughts many times. Even the morning of surgery I considered backing out but my best friend wouldn't let me. He has been a wonderful support and encouragment for me. I had the surgery around 11 a.m. on April 10th. Dr. Miles found a large hiatal hernia during the procedure which surprised both of us because I've never had any symptoms. He repaired that along with placing the band. Before discharge from outpatient that afternoon I had a barium swallow to ascertain if my opening was large enough. There was some swelling above the band due to the hernia repair, but because I'm an RN and I begged- LOL- he let me come home. I have had no problems with swallowing or with nausea. The worst pain is where the port is placed- I don't even know the other puncture sites are there. Liquids for 3 days have not been bad as you drink hourly and I have yet to be hungry. I am looking forward to full liquids tomorrow and hope I do as well as I have with clears.
I wish I had done this in 2007 when I first started considering it and I would be a lot healthier.