MaryfromMI

Today marks 3 years ago today that I have been banded. I cannot believe how much has changed in 3 short years. Even though I would love for my weight loss to be more, I know for an absolute fact that I would not be where I am today without the band. It's even a little scary to think about where my life would be. In the 3 years since I have been banded I have graduated college, became a RN, moved from the country to the big city, and have a life that at one time I only wished I had. All I need is a good man!!! lol, that is another story in and of itself. But I just wanted to share with everyone my post that I put on my facebook page today and hope this can give a little hope if someone is struggling or need reinforcing of how much of a life changer the band is: January 4, 2010-I made a decision to stop simply existing and start living. I made a choice to change my life. Up until that point, I had been too scared of judgment and other people's opinions to take any risks or have any fun. On this day... 3 years ago, as cheesy as it sounds, was the first day of the rest of my life. 2012 was the most fun year I have ever had and only hope 2013 can come somewhere close. Today is a day that I Celebrate not how far I have left to go, but how far I have come

The only people who know that I had surgery are my parents and I had my surgery a year and a half ago. First, I did not want any sort of judgement from anyone and second, I didn't want to be a "posterchild" for weight loss surgery and be labeled as a "success" or "failure." My brother just got married last month and it was an opportunity for a lot of people to see how much weight I lost because I wore a very form-fitting bridesmaid dress, so I received a lot of questions about how I did it. I didn't lie to anyone, I simply said I watch what I eat which is completely true. It has been easy to keep this secret, except when I get a stuck episode in front of people. I just go to the bathroom and wait for the pain to stop, lol.

I started losing my hair about 9 months post op and it was due to the stress on my body from the surgery even though I never really felt the stress. Initially I related my hair loss to stopping my birth control pills and I had my thyroid, hormones, and everything in between checked before I ended up at my dermatologist where he decided it was most likely the stress and shock of going through surgery. The bad thing about it is that I had very fine hair to begin with so my hair loss was starting to get noticable. I would have clumps of hair fall out in the shower everyday. My dermatologist has me on aldactone right now which helps prevent hair loss, I take biotin vitamins, and I am also on rogaine. I still have more hair fall out everyday than the average person but I do believe it has slowed down and I do notice some regrowth, so I think things are starting to turn around.

I feel like I have a lot going for me. I'm 23 years old, a nurse, have my own apartment, car, pay my own bills. I have lost 50+ lbs since my surgery and have more confidence now than I have ever had in my life. I do get more attention from guys, but they all seem to be douchebags or at least 20 years older than me (No, really, the majority of attention I get is from older guys and I don't really know why that is). I have been told by so many people to not go looking for boyfriend material in a bar, but I don't know where else to go! I just feel really lonely and feel like I am at a good place in my life and want to share all these new experiences I am having with somebody. So does anyone have any advice as to where I can meet a good, decent guy?

I actually just wrote something like this in my journal not so long ago and when I saw this post I decided to share them. Some are small and may seem insignificant to some but the small ones are things I never thought would happen to me! Some changes since my surgery: 1. Not having a "X" in front of my shirt size-I even wear size medium scrub pants! 2. Being able to wrap my hand around my wrist (I have always had huge wrists, couldn't even wear watches without extenders). 3. (Goes along with #2)-Can fit my watch strap comfortably in the second hole. 4. Can wear shoes without the "W" behind the size and can wear high heels!. 5. Not needing a plus-size graduation gown when I graduated from nursing school. 6. Seeing with my own eyes that I have collarbones without having to shrug my shoulders to see them (For a while I wasn't even sure I had collarbones because they were nonexistant)!! 7. My double-chin is almost gone! It still peeks out in some pictures, which I don't like, but I can now take pictures and not have to worry about sticking my chin out so the double chin goes away. 8. I can button up a pair of size 12 jeans! 9. I am getting attention from the opposite sex, which has never AND I REPEAT NEVER has happened before! It is almost strange to me because I do not know how to act at all. 10. My brother is getting married in June and I am really really close to thinking I am going to look beautiful on that day.

Stepped on the scale this week and it read 195.4!!! I had been at 203-206 for so long and 199 was just staring at me on the scale mocking me for so long and I finally am on the other side of 200! I am so excited :-) I feel like my body has been at a stand-still for a long time too, but this week I noticed my stomach looked a little smaller, so I tried on my American Eagle size 12 goal jeans and they are a little bit looser than the last time I put them on. Hopefully in a week or two I will finally be able to wear them in public!

I know how you are feeling and I see that we are close to the same age so I can really relate and to this day, the only people who know that I had surgery are my parents. I remember the day I sat both of them down and told them that I needed to change my life because I saw the road I was headed down. I thought they were going to try to talk me out of it, but they actually did the complete opposite and were proud that I decided to make such a big decision. They saw my struggles and how hard I had tried to lose weight before, so they saw the surgery as a good thing. I did have to educate them though about everything related to the surgery.

I don't think being on your TOM would be a factor in whether or not you get a catheter, because it's dealing with 2 different holes (if you know what I mean,lol). It is up to your doctor and what protocol they go by. I had a catheter in after my surgery because my doctor makes it mandatory to stay overnight at the hospital but I got it taken out that day because I was up walking around 15 minutes after being back in my room. I made sure to ask my surgeon about the catheter before hand so I wouldn't be surprised when I woke up from surgery.

I also have BCBS and my first doctor visit with my PCP to get my referral was August 21, 2009, and my surgery date was January 4, 2010, so it was a little over 4 months. I did not have to do a supervised diet because BCBS of MI allows the 6 month diet to be waived if your BMI is over 40, and mine was.

The only people that know that I had surgery are my parents. I haven't told anyone else about it because I really don't think it is anyone else's business to know and I also do want any negativity coming my way. Sometimes I want to tell everyone because I think it would be easier that way now. For example, I know it looks strange when I get up in the middle of a meal when family is over to go in the bathroom because I am stuck and I am sometimes in there for 10+ minutes. Because I am scared of getting stuck when I am around other people, I just don't eat much during those meals, and people have started to notice because they have made comments to me that I don't eat anything. I just don't want to be the "staple" or prototype for lap-band® failure or success for the people around me and I don't want to be judged for the choices I made. I also don't want my surgery to be seen as taking the "easy" way out, because it has been anything but easy and I have done all the work! So when people ask me what I have done to lose the weight, I just tell them I changed my diet and exercise BECAUSE IT'S TRUE!

I am slowly coming to the realization that I will never hit my "sweet spot," and here's why: I have 7.75cc in my 10cc band. I have "restriction" in the AM and early afternoon, meaning I get stuck very easy with any food that has any sort of substance. All I can really eat at those times is soggy Cereal (which I like so it doesn't bother me) and mushy foods like pudding and applesauce. My band is looser in the evening, but I do get stuck if I don't chew well, which is usually my first bite. The problem I am having is that I am not hungry for around 4 hours like I am supposed to be, but I can eat WAY more than 1 cup of food, and I never really feel full or "satisfied." I am either able to eat way too much or I get stuck on the first bite, I have no in between. I find that I only get a "full" feeling sooner if I eat some sort of carb, like bread, which I try to stay from anyway. For example, today for lunch, I ate a taco, and wasn't able to eat the whole thing, because with about 4 bites left, I was "full," but I also got stuck on the first bite because of the taco shell. But for dinner tonight, I had a piece of fish, 1/2 a baked potato, and about 5 pieces of asparagus and I could have ate so much more! I'll admit that for dinner I have even been able to eat a whole hamburger, and not feel full unless I eat the whole thing! I shouldn't be able to even eat a bite of a hamburger with all that bread, let alone the whole thing! I just feel like I have no other options because I know I don't need another fill because I get stuck too much as it is already, I probably actually need a little unfill, and I don't know what to do. My weight loss has also come to a complete standstill as well. Has anyone encountered this, especially having so much Fluid in my band and still being able to eat so much?