Lap_dancer

Finding the words to describe a life altering event in your life isn't easy.  Oprah calls them "A-Ha! Moments"  The journey to my band seems long in hindsight but infact was only a year from the beginning to the day of my surgery and finding myself in Colorado for that surgery.   Unlike some individuals, I knew what it was like to be thin. I sometimes think that is harder because you know the feeling of buying off the rack, looking attractive, sliding into a restaurant booth comfortably and buckling up for a flight with no hesitation.  I began putting on weight after having my first child. From there, emotional eating took control and when I was left bedridden to recover from a fall, I ballooned to a whopping 400 pounds. My feet cracked when I got up in the morning. I would get up in phases. Swing my legs over and sit on the edge of the bed. Pull myself up holding on to the bedpost. Slowly I would grab furniture to support myself as I made my way across the room. It was no way to live, I was miserable feeling trapped in my own body.  Everyone has their breakpoint and I was at mine. My doctor mentioned bariatrics several times before his words hit home to me.  I had come in for a check up and he had the talk with me. I wasn't getting younger, I had Type II Diabetes, Sleep Apnea and with my family history of heart disease it was only a matter of time. That was my time to hear those words and be ready for change no matter what.  I left his office and went across the street to the hospital that housed a weight loss center.  The doctor doing the surgeries was doing bypass. I had heard about the Lap Band which appealed to me more because there was no organ cutting. I found myself sitting in a seminar the next evening with a group of people like myself.  I was ready to move forward.At my first doctor's appointment I found out my insurance didn't cover the procedure.  Much to my mind numbing shock, it did not cover ANY weight loss measures.  Aside from the fact that obesity is the cause of many major illnesses, it seemed illogical that insurance wouldn't cover my procedure so I appealed the decision.  Denied. I appealed the decision to the end and then appealed to my state's Insurance Commissioner.  Denied.  I learned a life lesson years ago that sometimes the path we want most for ourselves isn't the path we are destined for.  Whatever reason, this was not meant to be, I took it as that and went into Plan B. We took out a loan against the equity in our home mortgage. Whatever it takes.Shopping for surgery, the freedom to choose who and where is a liberating experience. I began to ask people on Lap Band Talk who a good doctor was and read the many posts on this forum. One doctor's name continued to come up.  Dr. Gerald Kirshenbaum.  He was located in Colorado, another plus. I figured early on that if I was going out of state to have my surgery I wanted to pick a place that was somewhere I would also choose as a vacation destination. When I made the first call, my initial impression was positive. First of all, the woman I spoke to had worked for this doctor for 20 years.  You simply don't find that in medicine. I received an information packet full and when I heard that the doctor had priced his surgery to keep patients from leaving the states and going to other countries, I found what I had at home in my own doctor. Someone who has a heart for healing.  I scheduled my phone conference with Dr. K and on the established time, he phoned me from Colorado, emailed me his Power Point presentation and from the comfort of my home, I had my own seminar, my own doctor one-on-one to methodically explain how the Lap Band works. By the end of the session I was ready to have the band the next day!!!April 15, 2007 my husband and I flew to Denver. Being from Florida the beautiful Rocky Mountains were breathtaking. We found our hotel, got situated and then just went for a drive to soak in the landscape. There is something about the area that to this day soothes me and I love flying out for my follow-up visits because it always feels like a vacation rather than a medical checkup.  April 16th I had my pre-surgical exam and on the 17th of April, I arrived at Parker Medical for my band.  When I woke up from my surgery, I was a bit sore, a whole lot sleepy but filled with the sense that this was it.  This time was the time that would work for me.It's been two years since my surgery. Much has happened in the evolution of my body.  I wish I could say everything was perfect but it isn't.  After losing 77 lbs. I was having persistant pain in my back out of no where.  I just woke up one morning and could barely walk.  Several CT scans and MRI's later it was discovered I had scoliosis in the upper and lower part of my spine as well as compressed vertabraes and bulging discs.  Following that diagnosis came the finding of Fibromyalgia. Sure, there are days when I say to myself "After all you did!!! Now this?" But I'm quickly aware of the fact that I've lost a considerable amount of weight now, what if I didn't have the surgery? What then? So yes, I have pain that I live with and I take loads of pills but I can walk without huffing and puffing.  My Diabetes resolved itself within a matter of months after my Lap Band. My feet don't crack when I walk.  I get up in the morning not in stages but easily at times feeling like I float. I've made some great friends in Colorado. I've made some great memories as well.  I have a new life, a new chance at my future to change it for the better.  What remains is my attitude and how I look at life.  I can say that I see the finish line.  I know it will happen.  I have curves and my body is smaller all over.  There is no price on wellness.  Would I do it all again?  You betcha!