LAGORDITA
I have struggled with my weight since I turned 17 years old. I found how one day my size 8 jeans were tight on me and I didn't know how or when it happened. I decided that day on my way to 12th grade that I needed to lose some weight before graduation. I started to exercise and eat less and lost the weight. Graduation now over I decided to go to work instead of going to college and I joined the workforce as a clerk for Morgan Stanley. I suddenly started gaining weight and getting headaches. My menstrual cycle was non existent and the doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong with me I was 19. An MRI showed a tumor covering my pituitary gland and surgery was scheduled to remove it. I the girl with the curvaceous Puerto Rican body who never wore anything but a size 8 was now size 16. Surgery went well, the doctor told me that I was going to have problems having a baby. In 1997 I married my Junior High School friend. Two months later I started to feel sick and I was petrified that the tumor was back. i went in for some blood work and 3 days later my brother who works at the lab I went to called me to tell me that I was 1 week pregnant. Me? are you sure? YES, you are and I am going to be an uncle! That was 8 years ago and I have a beautiful daughter. My miracle baby!
Now I am 257 pounds of lazyness and depression. This band is my last resort. I have tried everything and anything but nothing has worked for me. Many people tell me that it all takes time and dedication, that I have to be committed to losing weight. Am I not committed enough? who knows. But this band is what I need, right now.
I went online and researched RNY, but in reading the description and the many side effects I chickened out. Then I heard about the Lap-Band and on February 3rd, 2007 I went to the seminar. I received a packet of information and a lot of encouragement. I started taking the exams I needed to do and was half way done by the beginning of April. Then I started to become wary of the surgery itself and the fear of not waking up from the anesthesia. I received a call from Dr. Macura's office in late May that they had not received my pulmonary results. I said that I was not going to go through the surgery and they said okay. But after I hung up I thought about what would happen if I did not make a change. Should I try Weight Watchers again? Maybe join the gym one more time? No Daira, that will not work!
I called Dr. Macura's office and reboarded the surgery wagon. I went to the endoscopy super scared and nervous. I was so nervous that they had to put me under to get the scope into my stomach. Then came the 2 weeks of antibiotics for the H.Pylori bacteria (which freaked me out to no end). On June 7th, 2007 I got the call that my insurance would pay for the surgery. I was scheduled for July 9th, 2007 at 7:30am. WOW, was that a moment of freakiness!!
On June 24th, I started on liquids, that was so hard for me that I wanted to cry everyday. I cheated so many times that I called the surgeon's office to cancel the surgery. But the nutritionist told me that it was no big deal that I should stick to liquids from then on. I had 4 days before surgery.
On July 8th I was a total wreck, I went to the garden and weeded the whole thing! From corner to corner and I was still super nervous. I did not sleep that night, I woke my husband up at 4:00am on July 9th and by 4:30am we were out of the house and on our way to the hospital. When we got there I almost came back home but my husband said that I was doing this because I jumped through so many hoops to get here and he was not going to let me back out.
Dr. Macura and Dr. Sherwinter came to see me in pre-op and explained to my husband and myself what would happen. He told my hubby that the surgery for both the hernia and the band would go fast and I would be out in no time. I was wheeled in for surgery at 7:00am and I was strapped in the bed and given something to relax me. "Breathe deeply Daira" I was knocked.
I woke up with the tube still down my throat all panicked. I was then wheeled to my room where my husband was waiting. I cried when I saw him, I was so afraid that I would not see his handsome face again. He called my daughter who was staying with my parents and I told her that I was okay. She was crying and my heart was breaking because I missed her so much.
I spent 3 days in the hospital because during surgery I had a partial lung collapse. On July 12th I was discharged to come home. I had to hold a pillow on my stomach all the way home to keep the seatbelt from rubbing on my incisions. My hubby said that I looked like a Carebear! The pillow was a flower with a heart in the center, LOL.
So, the first few days at home were hard because the incisions hurt so much. After 3 days upstairs in the apartment I started to walk outside 3 times a day. I went back to work on July 23rd, and that was about right. I got up from my desk and walked around the block twice a day.
I am now 7 months out and 30 pounds lighter (12 pounds before surgery). I wish it was more and that depresses me sometimes. But I chose this surgery for a reason and that is health. I know there are many days ahead of me that I will feel the need to cry and regret but the more I work my band and trust in God the less hard it becomes!
