Any cancer survivors with the band?!?

[FLbandgirl1985 0]

Hi Everyone!

I've been lurking around here for awhile and I thought I would finally introduce myself.

I've known about gastric banding for a long time and I've always thought it was a great option as far as WLS goes, but I've never considered it personally until a couple of months ago.

Obesity runs in my family and I've been overweight my entire life. My highest weight as an adult was 236 lbs and my lowest adult weight was 179 lbs. Right now I weigh 210 lbs (I'm 5'3).

In 2007 at age 21 I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer - I had surgery to remove one lobe of my thyroid that had a "suspicious" (biopsies had been inconclusive) tumor on it, then after they verified it was cancer they went back in a month later and removed the rest of my thyroid. Then after that I had a special kind of radiation treatment (called radioactive iodine, or I-131). I've had two 6 month follow-ups since my diagnosis and so far they haven't found any recurrent or residual cancer!! The type of thyroid cancer I had was slightly higher risk but my doctor says it still has about a 90% cure rate. It was pretty crappy to go through, but I'm so thankful to be recovered from everything. The whole diagnosis process and then eventual surgery/treatment was so stressful, I had lost about 50 lbs before I went through all that, and then gained it all back during the time I was sick, of course it didn't help at one point that I had no thyroid and they weren't giving me any medication because of the kind of radiation they gave me - at one point my TSH was 48 (normal level is about 0.40 - 4.0) - I could just look at food and gain weight!

After I got better from being sick and got adjusted on the right thyroid medication I was able to lose about 35 lbs on my own through diet/exercise over the course of about a year, but in the last 8 months I've just been going up and down with my weight, really struggling. I have gained back about 10 lbs. I'm really discouraged - I just have been having a lot of trouble controlling my hunger.

I finally realized that I may not be able to do this on my own. I think the lap band could really be the tool I need to get to a healthy weight.

So luckily my health ins. co. covers lap band surgery! I have already been to the seminar, and I'm having my psych eval on Monday. I just need to go meet with the trainer and nutritionist and get my letter from my PCP and I'll be good to go. The insurance lady at my surgeon's office said my ins. co. is one of the easiest as far as approval goes and they don't require a 6 month diet so I'm super excited about that!

I've already been through major surgery so that doesn't scare me, but I am worried about hair loss. I've never had super thick hair and when I was sick and went through all my surgery etc. I definitely had a lot of thinning going on with my hair - and I think it made me more paranoid about Hair loss in general. I feel like I never grew back as much as I lost and so I don't have much to spare, but I know if I keep up my Protein and supplements that should help. My Mom always told me it wasn't noticable, but it's hard not to feel self conscious.

As far as me, I'm 24, single and I live in central Florida, on the east coast. I work as a medical assistant for a cardiology practice and for the most part I love my job. I'm really want to get my weight under control now so that when I hopefully get married some day and have kids I'll be at a healthy weight and not still struggling with all this.

My biggest goal is to be a cancer survivor and an obesity survivor!

Anyway, I just want to see thanks for all the great advice and insight I've already received from you all!

~ Sarah

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Edited September 20, 2009 by FLbandgirl1985

[ThePoolGirl 1]

Welcome and hello. Wow, you've been thru a lot! It sounds like you've done your reseach and it seems like the band will be a great tool for you. As for the hair loss, there are a lot of posts on this forum about it. There are several different supplements people recommend. I haven't had surgery yet so I haven't lost any hair...so far :biggrin:. Do a search on here and I'm sure you'll find lots of suggestions.

My mom had Grave's Disease and used the radioactive iodine but she didn't have cancer. This was many years ago and she went thru many ups and downs with her weight until they got her meds under control. I have hypothyroidism but have been lucky so far...drugs help me.

Best of luck to you! You have a great attitude and you have to be very strong to have gone thru so much at such a young age. I think you're gonna do just fine! :blushing:

[moragged 0]

Hi Sarah

I've been lurking around for a little while round here too! Three years ago at the age of 33 I was diagnosed with uterine cancer which was treated with a hysterectomy. Because it was a very rare type of cancer (uterine adenosarcoma) my surgeon preferred not to do any other chemo/radiation as it was caught early and there wasn't enough data to suggest the benefits would outweight the negatives. So I was lucky to avoid those hair-loss type side effects you experienced, and six monthly check-ups have been all good. I too lost a lot of weight around that time from the stress of it all, but of course gained it all back over time.

I got banded in June. I have noticed a little more hair falls out on the sink after brushing it, but can't notice any difference on my head. Not sure if it takes longer than 3 months to be noticeable though? Others will let you know.

My orthopaedic surgeon was the one who suggested banding as I needed a hip replacement (to treat congenital hip dysplasia) and he was reluctant to perform the surgery due to my weight and the associated risks/complications.

I spent 20 years yo-yo dieting, weight fluctuations of up to 50 pounds, only to wind up heavier than ever. Although my hip would always have failed earlier than most, it's pretty clear my obesity didn't help matters.

Sounds like a cliche but I really wish I could have gotten the weight under control 10 years ago when I was your age. The struggle doesn't get any easier, and the impact on your health just compounds as years go by. I've lost about 50 pounds in the past 3.5 months (even with a total hip replacement surgery last month and being unable to do any activity for the past 5 weeks).

It's not always easy having a band as I'm sure you've gathered. I've been having a lot of trouble eating and even sometimes drinking in the past couple of weeks. I've had all of my small amount of fill (2cc) removed and still having trouble. My surgeon can only put it down to changes in body's Fluid composition following the hip replacement surgery last month, as a barium swallow showed the band has not slipped. All very stressful, but I would do it over again as it's my best chance at reaching/maintaining a healthy weight and avoiding any more health problems.

All I can tell you is I really wish I could have done it at your age and had 10 less years of wear and tear on my body.

All the very best regardless of your decision.

Edited September 20, 2009 by moragged

[FLbandgirl1985 0]

Hi Ladies!

Thank you for the encouragement...I have to admit I am pretty nervous about going forward, I guess it's just the what if's - I know it's the right choice but I can't help feeling a little anxious about the whole thing...I guess my biggest fear is getting the band and then not losing any weight, I know that's not going to happen, but I still have that little fear in my mind.

Moragged - congrats on the weight loss! that is awesome! ESPECIALLY with going through/recovering from your hip surgery! :biggrin:

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

Sarah, I will say that many of us had no hair loss issues. Usually, if you eat at least 60 or more grams of Protein per day you'll be fine. Many take a Biotin supplement as a safeguard. I never took any Biotin intentionally but there is some in the performance Vitamin that I use as my daily supplement. But one way or the other, I've not have any Hair loss. My hair is baby fine, but there is plenty of it and it grows like weeds (more than 1/4 inch a week, consistently).

It's natural to fear that you would be the one the band wouldn't work for. After all, just about everybody who has the band, or thinks about it, has lost and gained weight numerous times!