My Story

[jessiecms 1]

Hello everyone! I am glad I found this sight as I now feel like I have one more tool in my box. I am so happy to find a site where people are honest about "failure". The site I usually use (a very well-known one) is very critical of people who struggle. It's basically a site where success stories get together to congratulate one another. Very frustrating!

Anyhow, here's my story in a nutshell (sorry, I know this is going to be long.) I had surgery two years ago, two days before my 35th birthday. I thought I was giving myself the best birthday present ever. At first, I did well and didn't seem to be suffering much in the way of complications, although my GERD never went away (clue #1.) But soon after my first fill, I began experiencing pain at the band site and severe dizziness. One more fill and the nausea started. I had a complete unfill and a scope to see what was up. I had gastritus which cleared up with time, but the pain, nausea, and dizziness didn't go away. My primary care doc decided it was an issue with my vegal nerve being pinched (it's a big nerve that runs from the brain, to the heart, to the stomach.) Before long, the nausea was severe enough that I stopped eating anything but ice cream (it was literally the ONLY thing that would go down and seemed to help a bit.) I also had severe heat sensitivity and couldn't drive due to the constant dizziness. This eventually turned into fainting spells. My surgeon did not believe me or my primary care doc, so would not sever the nerve when he went back in to see what the problem might be.

After my second surgery, everything just got worse. Instead of severing the nerve, the surgeon wrapped more of my stomach around the outside of the band to prevent future slippage. This just pinched the nerve worse. For a solid four months, I was bed-bound and utterly dependent on my husband and other family members. My kids didn't have a mom and I didn't have a life.

Finally, after one hellish week of no sleep, we reached a crisis point and I ended up in the ER. I was all set to just have the damn thing removed when the primary care doc stumbled upon a medicine that soothed the nerve completely.

Now I am nausea free and don't have any other symptoms! Yay, right? Well, during the time I was sick, I lost ten pounds a month (at least) for a total loss of 115 pounds in the first ten months. But when I got better, I started eating again. Now I find myself just as addicted to food as I ever was. I've gained back fifty pounds, but seem to be hovering at the 250 mark so far. At least I've stopped gaining.

I am in weekly therapy and see the primary care guy at least once a month. I need to drag myself into the surgeon's office for a fill, but have a hard time making myself go. I know I'll get a lecture and there's always the possibility of running into the surgeon himself. He and I don't exactly get along after all this.:smile2:

I am here looking for motivation because at this point I feel like giving up. I'm not exercising and I'm eating too much. I try to eat healthfully and don't believe you need as much Protein as the "other" site says you do. I think 100 grms a day is a bit much. So the plan for now is to eat LOTS of fruits and veggies to fill me up with Fiber. We'll see if I can stick with that. Please feel free to kick my butt about the exercise! I have a stationary bike and many videos as well as Wii Fitness, so I have plenty of fun stuff to do. I just need to get off my butt!!

Thanks so much for "listening." It has really helped me focus a bit getting it all down. Glad I'm here now!

[skylily 7]

Hello, I was just browsing back through the old posts and stumbled on yours.

You poor thing, going through all that.

If you're still around this site, how are you doing now?

xox

Hello everyone! I am glad I found this sight as I now feel like I have one more tool in my box. I am so happy to find a site where people are honest about "failure". The site I usually use (a very well-known one) is very critical of people who struggle. It's basically a site where success stories get together to congratulate one another. Very frustrating!

Anyhow, here's my story in a nutshell (sorry, I know this is going to be long.) I had surgery two years ago, two days before my 35th birthday. I thought I was giving myself the best birthday present ever. At first, I did well and didn't seem to be suffering much in the way of complications, although my GERD never went away (clue #1.) But soon after my first fill, I began experiencing pain at the band site and severe dizziness. One more fill and the nausea started. I had a complete unfill and a scope to see what was up. I had gastritus which cleared up with time, but the pain, nausea, and dizziness didn't go away. My primary care doc decided it was an issue with my vegal nerve being pinched (it's a big nerve that runs from the brain, to the heart, to the stomach.) Before long, the nausea was severe enough that I stopped eating anything but ice cream (it was literally the ONLY thing that would go down and seemed to help a bit.) I also had severe heat sensitivity and couldn't drive due to the constant dizziness. This eventually turned into fainting spells. My surgeon did not believe me or my primary care doc, so would not sever the nerve when he went back in to see what the problem might be.

After my second surgery, everything just got worse. Instead of severing the nerve, the surgeon wrapped more of my stomach around the outside of the band to prevent future slippage. This just pinched the nerve worse. For a solid four months, I was bed-bound and utterly dependent on my husband and other family members. My kids didn't have a mom and I didn't have a life.

Finally, after one hellish week of no sleep, we reached a crisis point and I ended up in the ER. I was all set to just have the damn thing removed when the primary care doc stumbled upon a medicine that soothed the nerve completely.

Now I am nausea free and don't have any other symptoms! Yay, right? Well, during the time I was sick, I lost ten pounds a month (at least) for a total loss of 115 pounds in the first ten months. But when I got better, I started eating again. Now I find myself just as addicted to food as I ever was. I've gained back fifty pounds, but seem to be hovering at the 250 mark so far. At least I've stopped gaining.

I am in weekly therapy and see the primary care guy at least once a month. I need to drag myself into the surgeon's office for a fill, but have a hard time making myself go. I know I'll get a lecture and there's always the possibility of running into the surgeon himself. He and I don't exactly get along after all this.:smile2:

I am here looking for motivation because at this point I feel like giving up. I'm not exercising and I'm eating too much. I try to eat healthfully and don't believe you need as much Protein as the "other" site says you do. I think 100 grms a day is a bit much. So the plan for now is to eat LOTS of fruits and veggies to fill me up with Fiber. We'll see if I can stick with that. Please feel free to kick my butt about the exercise! I have a stationary bike and many videos as well as Wii Fitness, so I have plenty of fun stuff to do. I just need to get off my butt!!

Thanks so much for "listening." It has really helped me focus a bit getting it all down. Glad I'm here now!