My story

[queenlil09 1]

Hey all,

I'm new here to the forums, although I had my surgery 5 years ago. When I had my surgery, I didn't know there were online communities like this to go to for support, so it's nice to see now. I don't know anybody else with the band, so I've pretty much gone through this journey on my own. It's interesting reading the posts here and being able to relate to what everyone is going through.

I decided to have surgery 5 years ago when I was 21. I was almost 450 lbs. I know, wow. I think most people at the size I was at choose the gastric bypass, but I felt like it was too extreme and invasive for me. I do not regret my decision at all. I feel like I have had much more control over my weight loss, and while it probably took longer than it would have with a bypass, I felt like it was at a healthier pace for me.

I never really had any problems until a little over a year ago. I started getting really bad and had trouble keeping food down at times. 3 times over the past year I have had blockage and have had to get my bad completely unfilled to clear it, followed by a refill about a week later. I have been really frustrated lately because this seems to be my surgeon's only solution and he isn't giving me any feedback or info on why this might be happening. My eating habits haven't changed and I'm really careful about chewing. I've really gotten to the point with my surgeon where I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall and have decided to seek a second opinion.

I had made an appointment to see another doctor who was recommended to me. My appointment was scheduled for this last Thursday, the 9th. Before I was able to see him, I actually had another blockage problem over the weekend. Needless to say, I ended up in the ER on the 4th of July because I couldn't even keep Water down and I was severely dehydrated. I spend 12 and 1/2 hours in the ER with people who had no idea what they were doing. All the while, without my knowledge, my new doctor had been trying to get me transfered over to another hospital where he could treat me. To make a long story short, I finally got transfered and got an unfill. They kept me overnight in the hospital because I was so dehydrated and they wanted to have me on an IV.

I have spent the last week with no Fluid in my band. I saw my new doctor on Thursday and we decided to leave the fluid out for a while to give my band a break because the area around it is probably inflamed. He also said that I'm probably really malnourished and have bad Vitamin deficiencies. He ordered some tests to try and figure out what's going on.

Overall, I'm really pleased with my new doctor. He actually sits down and TALKS to me and LISTENS. Something I never experienced with my other doctor. I have gained a bit of water weight since the unfill, but it is starting to come back off. I anticipate I will probably gain a bit during this time with no fill, but I know it's just temporary and I'm trying not to let myself get too frustrated.

The important thing is that I am feeling a million times better. I didn't realize in what bad shape I was until I started feeling better. I guess hindsight is really 20/20. I realize now how weak and tired I was all the time. I was so low on energy and I see that now. I was completely unhealthy.

I'm glad I've lost all this weight, but I'm now most concerned with getting genuinely healthy and feeling good :-) I'm trying to look at this a small setback in my journey.

I look forward to getting to know some of you and hear your stories.

Thanks for listening guys!

[*susan* 1,709]

Hi there, and welcome. Goodness, you are a beautiful girl and have achieved amazing results with the band.

I had great results the first year I had mine. Then, like you, I started having problems. My surgeon was wonderful and we tried everything, but after two years of misery we both agreed that for whatever reason, my body had just developed an intolerance to the band. That is why I revised to the sleeve.

I hope you are able to find success with your new doctor. It helps having one who cares and will actually listen to and talk with you to help resolve your issues. I am keeping my fingers crossed for your continued success with the band.