Hi!

SisterDi · July 21, 2006

My name is Sister Di and I was directed to these forums by a dear friend from another board. I haven't read much yet, I just figured I'd register and then check it all out.

I'm not scheduled for surgery yet. My cardiologist is still working with a colleague of hers to find a surgeon brave enough to take me on. I have just loads of complicated medical conditions that make me any surgeon's nightmare, but we think that we may have found someone to help me with this issue.

I look forward to reading here and getting to know some of you better!

Di

LindaV · July 21, 2006

Hi SisterDi,

Welcome to LBT! This is a great forum to get to know others as well as glean a lot of information about the lap band.

Good luck with finding a surgeon and keep us posted!

Dody · July 21, 2006

My name is Sister Di and I was directed to these forums by a dear friend from another board. I haven't read much yet, I just figured I'd register and then check it all out.
I'm not scheduled for surgery yet. My cardiologist is still working with a colleague of hers to find a surgeon brave enough to take me on. I have just loads of complicated medical conditions that make me any surgeon's nightmare, but we think that we may have found someone to help me with this issue.

I look forward to reading here and getting to know some of you better!

Di

Welcome to the forum. I to had a lot of problems, mostly cardiac related, and needed to jump through lots of hoops to get clearance. I had 5-way-bypass surgery 5 years ago, and lots of dr's. want no part of bypass patients. I am lucky to have a cardiologist and a PCP that thought I was a great candidate for the band and would do even better with my heart if I lost weight. It took me a yr. to get all the tests done from psych to sleep eval to echocs, ekg's, thallium scans, etc., but finally the go ahead and a great surgeon willing to take the chance. I had my surgery on Tuesday and feel great. I've had no gas pains at all and I am not hungry. I had knee surgery just one week before the lap-banding so the walking is kind of an issue, but I'm doing well with it. I also had a carotid artery bruit which held things up as they thought there was a blockage...turned out not to be. Faith kept me going, as I'm sure your's will too. Please keep us posted on your progress. I'm 64-years-0ld and would do this over in a heartbeat and fight just as hard for it

I left the state to get my surgery. I am originally from Idaho but came to Tennessee to have my surgery on Medicare at a Center of Excellence with a surgeon I loved immediately. You didn't say where you were from, but let's hope you find someone just as wonderful....

God Bless,

SisterDi · July 22, 2006

I'm from Illinois, just south of Chicago.

My medical mess is a little different, but then I guess everyone's is, right? For starters, I have a blood clotting disorder called Antiphospholipid Syndrome. I've had multiple pulmonary emboli since I was 23, and have been on coumadin since then. About two years ago, I thought I had laryngitis. Well, it was a little more complicated than that. I have left vocal cord paralysis, and was unable to speak for 18 months. They were unable to find the cause at that time, but I had an implant inserted into the paralyzed cord. During pre-surg testing, they found some abnormalities with my EKG, and I had to be seen by several specialists before I could get released for surgery. I just wanted to speak again!

After that, I held off on seeing any more doctors until the fall. I was just sick of them, and needed a break while my throat healed. When I finally followed up on the abnormal EKG, they found enlarged lymph nodes in my chest, and during a sleep study, they found that I had obstructive sleep apnea and that I also desaturated while lying flat. A subsequent f/u with a pulmonologist and 3 angiograms and many nuclear scans later, they diagnosed me with pulmonary hypertension secondary to sarcoidosis. I'm on oxygen all the time now, and I'm also taking meds for right heart failure.

It's no wonder I'm such a risk for surgery with all of this. And there is more that I haven't even included. I used to work as a CNA before I had to quit in 2003, and I've been on SS disability since then. At that time, I hoped to be approved for WLS of some kind and to get my health back on track. Now, my only goal is to increase the quality of life that I do have left, and to actually live instead of the pathetic excuse for life that I've been creating in the last 3 years.

There are times that I want to just throw a tantrum about how unfair it is that I was "blessed" with all of this. Faith is not a part of my life. It isn't that I don't believe, I'm just not in a good place for that right now. Either way, my relationship with my higher power is and will always be a personal one, and I don't seek that kind of fellowship here. I'm just hoping to learn more about Lap Banding from a patient's perspective. I've already been to a seminar, and I know the stats, etc.

Di

paula · July 22, 2006

Hi Di, WELCOME to LapBandTalk. - Glad you found us.

We're a close knit little group, lots of love and suppot here. Even better - this place has a zillion pages of first hand - band information (good AND bad). Hope you have lots of time for reading.

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