much2gain

Wow.. what a journey so far! Back in 2007 I was a part of research study where I had a nerve stimulator implanted in my hip and very thin wires that run up my back to a nerve at the back of my head. It was thought that stimulating this nerve would decrease appetite and the thought of food. I changed my diet and exercise and lost 150 pounds. My starting weight was 461.8. I'll never forget that number! About a year into it, my dr. moved away and the study "fell apart". She was a great motivation and when she was gone, so was my weight loss. To this day, I think it was me and not the device that lost the weight. I had good support and my learning level of nutrition skyrocketed. But, even though I knew what I needed to do, some things happened in my life and I went right back to emotional eating, gaining back 70 pounds. I couldn't remember how I set my mind the first time around to lose weight. By the time I went to a family reunion in July of 2012, I weighed 386 pounds. I just couldn't do it anymore. The days following my return, I got on the track to Lap Band surgery. I knew that was the direction I wanted to go because I just couldn't cut away parts of my body that God intended me to have. I've read about so many complications and it scares me to this day. I wanted to go into surgery fully knowing it was a tool and I had to work for it. There was a 3 month insurance required time period before my surgery. nutrition appointments, physc consults, etc. I had an awesome Dr.; Dr. Chris Kowalski. I got on track and lost about 50 pounds before my surgery. I learned even more about nutrition and also learned what life was supposed to be like post Lap Band. I had my first surgery on October 30th of 2012. I loved the restriction, I loved that I was still losing weight, I hated that I couldn't get back to exercise for 2 months; I do lots of water aerobics and I heal slowly. I had about 5 fills between October 2012 and June 2013. At my last of those fills, I changed doctors (due to Dr. K's family emergency leave) to Dr. Brice Hamilton and learned that I needed a second surgery. My band wasn't holding a fill. This was good and bad news. Good because I thought I was going crazy. I would have restriction for a day or so and then it would go back to "normal". Good because I pretty much lost all this weight on my own since it only worked for a short time, if at all. (lost about 90 pounds at that time) Bad because I just wanted it all to work. I wanted the restriction. I wanted the tool, dang it! I had my revision in July 2013 and I've had one fill since then. For about a week after my first fill, everything was great. I felt everything I put in my mouth, one cup or less of food seemed like a lot and I was full... then it disappeared again. I have my next fill in about a week. Please God, don't let it still be broken. I've been on a plateau for several months now, eating 1200-1400 calories a day, exercising 4-6 times a week (water aerobics, kayaking, spin class, strength training). I'm very discouraged because I still have 90 pounds to go but then I also look at myself in the mirror and can't wrap my head around the fact that it's really me... so much smaller. --- I'll update when I know more and keep working on my weight loss, with or without a functioning band.

Update 01/03/14:
As my doctor says "I'm an odd bird".. LOL A few months ago, I had an endoscopy done because he thought it had slipped. No slip, thank God, but I'm definitely a rare case. I have 8cc in a 10cc band and feel very little restriction unlike most lapband folks. Most feel a full, tight sensation and can quickly (at 8 of 10) get to the point of not keeping food down. I have a band that whispers to me and a bowel system that screams. If I don't slow down and listen to the whispers, I get a full sensation around my port area and the start of my intestines (yes, I know they are not connected, just general area). I bloat, I feel horrible and can't sleep well at night. When I get fills, the barium looks like a trickling waterfall going through the band. I have no idea how food fits through as smoothly as it does so I just have to listen to the other signals instead. The conversation before the little looksee down my throat to see if it has slipped was enough to scare me straight about overeating. Did you know that if it slips it can cause real damage to your stomach and they can only fix it once? Once! I was in tears because I'd worked so hard for it all to fail. The sleeve and bypass are not an option for me so this is going to work. I think my determination also showed my Dr. how serious I am and he has been much more aggressive with my fills. Again, Thank You God! Now, just 60-80 pounds to go and then major plastic surgery. I'm so ready to shed my old body!!