My long journey! Banded....long term.... now gone and onto my sleeve!

[burnsun 27]

Long journey..... so similair to so many of yours over weight since about an hour after my first period started....(.later diagnosed with PCOS at age 26) . Dieted my way for years and lost well over 600 lbs total my whole life! :cursing:

Currently I am a stay at home mother with eight children (5 adopted special needs children with down syndrome and one with autism too)

I decided on the band when I was pregnant with my first biological child..... right about the time Carnie Wilson had had her bypass. I was not interested in the bypass and malabsorption thing. I was 330 lbs before I got pregnant...... I delivered on July 4th 03 at 270 lbs. (I am a puker)

I wasn't worried about it if I ever got pregnant again..... this was a huge fluke (or so I thought) I have sever PCOS and throw about 1 egg a year and all that crap.... we had tried all kinds of fertility stuff for almost 10 years before and no luck ever even making and egg. I had been about 5 months pregnant before we even realized (I thought I was dying of ovarian cancer when I went to the doctor.....:juggle:

So she was born (self pay here cause I could not get insurance on me and when I finally did I never bought maternity 19K later) I had a wonderful happy and health daughter albiet huge!

I started saving again. Got my band 7 / 27 /04 from Dr. Ortiz in Mexico......all went great and awesome for 18 months..... got my first fill in Mexico 6 weeks later..... only one fill ever till unfill on 12/05 for three weeks because

one morning I woke up to puking..... realized I was pregnant.... but lost the little one (I actually have five losses to date with the two live ones since band....another PCOS side effect.....some sufferes can not stay pregnant) my band tightened up and I could do or eat nothing...... even after I miscarried it would not open..... it was so bad and the only time my us follow up doctor could see me was the same day as one of my adopted girls with DS open heart procedures. I went to get an unfill while she was in recovery..... firt time i could eat or sleep in 9 weeks since getting pregnant.

I went back in Feb and got about half the fill I had before cause I had been at goal for several months...... just wanted to stay there. Went through another pregnancy.....same issue....unfilled when I saw a heart beat......... I never got another fill...... alll yearly endoscopies fine and all check with swallow fine and I stayed between 150 - 165 when not pregnant. Though any time I got pregnant came the nausea and vomiting and worse!

I adopted three more children in the time we had the band,.....heck I felt so good and could keep up with a small army by then! Got pregnant again last June..... this time the heart beat stayed and so dod the baby. THough I never really felt good about this one or did I ever feel good after he clamped my stomach down! No fill to remove....... bad doc and I and OB decided we would wait it out...... I would keep drinking my food as necessary and eat if I could...... well this worked for the most part.... though three times I had to go get fluids at the hospital......

Band doc was convinced all wa s well with the band...... the one xray I was able to talk into at six months said....all fine...... I was puking so long after eating solids they were coming up digested..... so everyone was sure there was no problem..... I was on zorfan ....it would occasionally fix it.....most times I just felt so nauseous I could die! I gained 15 lbs, but In Novemeber one night I puked so hard I thought I was going to die....I lay down in the bathroom and cried ! From that point my five year old girl would make sure I had baggies or cups to puke in..... it happen 12- 15 times a day,

The hospitalized me for 5 days to stop contractions and then I went on home IV therapy and zorfan pump...... all medical involved still want tme to wait it out....couldn't be the band....... I am still puke digested food..... Water goes through.... I JUST PUKE!. Sometime after thanks giving I stopped eating solids.....liquids were easier to puke.......bad on my point...... I lost some weight.... but no one was worried.... I started to swell on and off in my ankles,,,,,,again all blamed on pregnancy and my age! (geriatric pregnancy:ohmy: I was told):confused1:

Well on December 19th I was at the orthapedic doctor with a few of my children to check their growth and how their orthotics were doing when he accidentilly hit my belly..... I almost fell to the ground in pain...... it hurt so bad..... he freaked and wanted to get me admitied right then (course he is at the children's hospital)..... he called my ob's office ...I had just seen his partner that morning and commented about how it hurt and was ignored....my ob out for vacation. They had me go in for observations...... took the kids home, got a sitter and husband and by the time I got there I was having contractions every three minutes . They got them stopped and decided since I was dehydrated again (surprise....it was now going to be 24 hour IV and we were going to increase zorfan and I was going to get an endoscopy if they couldn't stop it. Every on all involved still sure it was just pregnancy......I wanted to believe them..... I listened..... I SHOULD NOT HAVE!!!

Got to go home for CHristmas.....but I could no longer walk and I am swellling from all the IV......it is going into third space.... not me! We go back when the contractions come back...... my doctor send me to the big hospital not our little one cause I am diallating.....where the NICU is..... they send me home after 12 hours.....again just pregnancy.....no issues.

Well I finally talk them into the endoscopy....cause they all think I have an ulcer or cancer or something.....band still looks fine on xray....... get endoscopy...... NOT FINE....though the place feeding tube through the band........... STILL PUKING MIND YOU ALL THIS TIME.....band is around middle of stomach..... slipped since x ray the week before ...... not working! Still puking with the feeding tube (by the way this was the best method of birth controll I ever had!) I have contractions on and off.... they are trying to stop this and keep us both alive till I deliver...... we get a TPN line in.....I still puke even if I eat or drink nothing...... and I am still swelling!!!!!

I need potassium (the most pain I have ever had from a drug in IV twice daily) I am at the point of having a heart attack due to the fact my body will not absorb anything and I have no potassium or no Protein now! We do this dance for 10 days...... i finally give up..... I ask and have my husband start calling all bariatric and or other surgeons around..... finally find one who will operate....cause I know I am going to die if we don't I can not do this for ten more weeks!

We transfer hospitals, get a new OB....get evaluated....do another funny xray....... band has now strangulated my stomach...... IT MUST COME OUT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! Doctor wants to do it that after noon.....we all then realize no one gave the baby the shots for his lungs...... I have to hold on two more days..... I talk them out of the TPN line and NG tube..... I finally almost quit puking! Get my shots and wait...... still having contractions on and off.....

The plan was to take the band at 3 pm and watch me for 3 hours and send me back to anti partum for a few days and hopefully send me home. Well Emerson had quit participating by this point...... our surgery got postponed till 11 pm on the 7th due to OR needed for accident! We switched anesthesiologist and I am sure we got to much verisaid...... the operation for the band removal went grat....stomach was not dead.....they were worried there might have been issues babby ok. In recovery and awake at 11:30. On my way back to my floor (still prgnant at 12:45) they tell mt husband and he goes for some food and coffee!

In the elevator! The labor nurse who had been by my side since 3 asked me if I though I was having contractions...... I said... I have a pain med...how would I know....she asked over her walkie talkie phone for permission to take me to L&D.... they doctors said no....we were just fine when she left..... time is over for the danger to baby...... WELL THANK GOD SHE DIDN"T LISTEN!

We went to L & D and with in 4 minutes of being in room we were on our way back to OR for emergency c section...... they actually started before I was completely anesthetized..... the beds got locked to gether and it was a mess and I remember the same nurse holding something that wasn't the baby..... (I do not want to know what it was....) then I fell asleep.....

Emerson was born at 1:08, he was here almost 45 minutes before they could find my husband! His apgars were 1 & 1 and then at 10 minutes he extubated himself! And he went off to the NICU and I went off to recover.

I woke up about 9 am the next morning.............. with a c section scar too! Not really happy!!!! None of this was working out the way I had planned!

I was now about 238 lb almost 50 lbs of water weight..... besides the surgeries I could not even move my legs past each other they were swollen that far up!

We went home without Emerson five days later. He stayed at the nicu for 8 more weeks and still has a few issues with being early.... heart monitor and apnea monitor. He may get a pace maker if it doesn't go away in the next 8 months. It is a lot less than it was..... but not that much

We had a lot off issues.... but the first thing I wanted to eat was a PICKLE!!!!! I loved pickels and always pbed on them....so we quit eating them!!!! It was the best pickle I ever ate.

I am back around the 200 mark and am doing great I just do not want to get any bigger and would prefer to be back at 150.....so we are going to get sleeved. Doctor here who took out my band thinks this is great idea and I hope that this surgery goes better than my last:thumbup:

My VSG is scheduled for june 22 09.

thanks for reading so long......

....and the best compliment I ever received was when one of my daughters therapists told me I was such a nice person for letting my husband keep pictures up of his "first" wife. Not many people were that understanding! :confused1: SO I guess I really did look different!

I was an original memeber of lapband talk in 2003 /04 and posted for years.... hoping to enjoy this new forum

Edited May 31, 2009 by burnsun

[Elisabethsew 50]

WOW. You certainly went through hell but I'm glad that you, your baby, and the family are all well and happy. You should be commended for being able to keep any weight off given the nightmare you went through.

Congratulations on getting a date for the sleeve. You'll find it's nothing like the band and in your case, that's life saving.

[mp8btpc 33]

Thank you so much for sharing you seem to be a strong gal with a heart of gold. Best wishes on the sleeve I think your gonna do great. Keep us posted we will be here for ya!

[SParkle 4]

Welcome - what a story!! I wish you luck with your sleeve - keep posting to let us know how you get on with it all - I really hope its a lot easie rthan what you have been through!!

Kathy

[Maddie 9]

Welcome. Such a long road, but you sound like you are ready for the next step. Gotta tell you I love the "1st first pic thing" LOL. Best of luck to you.