Nurse Bandsters?

[rkwilliams1013 0]

As a nurse, it was an easy, yet tough decision to finally have lap band surgery. To all the fellow nurses out there, what made you decide to take the step and be banded?

For me, I was always afraid of being the big,fat, woloppy nurse who comes into the room and gives you a shot in the butt. I am currently an orthopaedic surgery nurse and see day in and day out what being heavy does to your joints. I see chronic disease on a daily basis and always want to make sure I stay on the right side of the bed!

[amberlopez05 0]

I am not a nurse yet, but start my first day of nursing school tomorrow. I am really nervous! I wanted to get the band before school started to help boost my self esteem and give me energy to be on my feet all day, which I am sure I will have to deal with.

[Md_bander 3]

Been a nurse for more than 20 years........couldn't do the 12 hour shifts......sore back, knees, feet.......etc. Don't want to be the patient........

[NurseSophie 0]

Going on my 6th year as a nurse....it took me years to get to my lapband decision after much studying and prayer. We had a hand full of other nurses get it and I watched how they did.

Morbid obesity is an awful place to be...never aspired to be there and after many attempts, remained there. Lapband seemed like the tool for me.

I LOVE my lapband. I am very open about it with others and don't mind answering questions. I know that I am working hard to achieve my goals...the lapband is kinda like a security guard....saving me from myself so I don't gain the weight back.

My body hurts way less at the end of the day....my feet, knees, and back.

I do feel like you get a little more trust from your patients when you can stand before them healthy. I feel more confident in the teaching I share with them.

Went from 3X scrubs to L. :-)

[monkeymama 0]

Being a nurse made me certain I did not want a bypass!!!

I don't know if other than that being an RN influenced my decision... just tired of being fat and tired...

[jem123009 0]

After being a nurse in Open Heart Recovery for 5 years, I decided that being fat wasn't what I wanted to be when I got old. There were also personal things like getting kicked off a ride at an amusement park because I was to fat for the safety latch. That was when I hit rock bottom and knew that I had to do something. Now, 8 months later I have lost 35 pounds, gained back 7 and am now down 3. I have had a horrible summer. I was given a 90 day trial period with my doc..... and I totally fell. I went back on JUly 27th and I now have restriction however, the scales are stuck! It is so frustrating to know I have went through so much to be thin yet I am still having the same battle!

[firebug610 0]

I am a surgical tech hoping to be a nurse one day I decided to do the band because I don't want to be the patient that they have to put special attachments on the bed so I will fit. Hoping to have the band done on Nov

[BetsyB 9]

I'm a former ortho RN, too. The last hospital where I worked was pretty much kept afloat by banding---when it was a far more imperfect procedure. When I worked PRN, I often was floated to the bariatric floor.

At the time I weighed about 50 pounds less than my top weight---but was significantly overweight (a viable candidate for banding). Several of the nurses in the hospital had been banded, and were happy with results, as imperfect as they were.

But this was the mid-90s--and today's excellent technique, equipment, and nutritional support (supplements, etc) were not available.

We saw a LOT of patients come back for revisions/reversals. We saw LOTS of complications due to malnutrition--even in the RNs on staff.

And I swore I'd NEVER have WLS. Never, ever, ever.

I did watch the procedure evolve over time--and really, I just woke up one day last year and said, "It's time." I wasn't winning the struggle, and it was just time.

The father and grandfather of a friend of my son's were banded about a year before I was; I knew of their success, and I guess that planted the idea in my mind again. I researched the procedure and the surgical group they used. But really, the decision was made very quickly. Not out of desperation--I wasn't desperate. I was just convinced.

As soon as the idea occurred to me, I knew it was the right decision.

It was the best decision I ever made. (And yes--my joints are a thousand times happier!)

[jaymie 0]

I'm in my 3rd year of nursing school--- I definitely didn't want to be one of those huge nurses that has trouble getting off of their seat when a patient needs something.

[rkwilliams1013 0]

I think as nurses, we tend to "know too much". being a nurse definitely made me not want to do the bypass either! Its nice to know there are so many of us Nurse-Bandsters out there!

And for those of you in nursing school, or soon to be nurses, keep going- nursing school does end eventually!

[Mimilou2004 13]

I really like this thread!!!!! I have been a Nurse since 1969 and my weight kept going up up up and my joint pain did too. I also felt like a poor health care role model and decided the band was worth a try. I knew too much about bypass and no way was I going that route. Sleeve, maybe.

I know what the poster means who said they didn't want to be one of those nurses who didn't want to get up off their seat to take care of the patients.

Good luck to all the students and techs on that journey, too.

Mimi

[rkwilliams1013 0]

I think my best analogy I use for people who don't understand why I want to do this is that being an obese nurse is like educating your patient on smoking cessation right before you go out to smoke one. I feel like my patients (and doctors) would take me more seriously if I could practice what I preach.

[NurseSophie 0]

The one thing I have sincerely noticed is a more positive reaction to me....I have gone from invisible to at least worthy of a "hello! how are you?". (from passing the surgeons in the hallway) A couple of times, I KNOW my jaw has dropped. LOL

[MountainMama 5]

I have been overweight since childhood and always thought I was "healthy" for my size. You would think being a nurse I would have known better,I was just deluding myself. In January I was diagnosed with hypertension and sat there in disbelief. When it finally hit me that I was not "healthy" and that diabetes was just around the corner I needed to do something.

LAP-BAND® has been so helpful already, I know that it is the best decision I could have made.

[jllybean1982 0]

I'm currently an LPN and have been for nine years. I am in my fourth semester (part time) going for my RN. I got this surgery because I was tired of always being afraid that someone would make a comment about my weight. I work with older ppl and they weren't as quiet about telling me how big my butt was or how heavy I was. I went to work today and one of my residents said that I was really getting thin...it was a great feeling!

Good luck on your weight loss journey Rk!!!!