Greg M.

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Everything went really well.  Dr. Curry was great and so was the staff.  My procedure was done at the surgery center...so much better than the hospital.  I had immediate attention to every need.  I waited less than 2 minutes for every request; pain medicine, fluids, walk to the bathroom, everything. 

Because I only have ~ 65 pounds to lose, I asked Dr. Curry to not pull too tight on the bougie gauge, and he honored my request with a smile.  He also fixed a rather larger hiatal hernia and said that should fix or significantly reduce my reflux and heartburn.  Maybe I will actually be able to get off the PPI's and H2 blockers.
 
So I'm sipping and walking and feeling fine.  Merry Christmas everyone and Happy Holidays!

I couldn't stand John...I wanted Antone to win in the worst way.  Oh well!  Every time that I watch the Biggest Loser, it inspires me and I think why can't I do that? 

Today is my last day before my presurgery liquid diet, my last supper so to speak.  We're having our Christmas party at work and it's always over the top with amazing food.  Several of us started work together right out of college and now we're all in our mid fifties, with 50's aches and pains, and 50's weight gain. 

I have struggled with my weight since I was 10 years old and it makes me sad to think of how much life I have missed because of it.  Facing my 4th bariatric surgery is a bit overwhelming.  I hate to put my family through this again. 

Exercise is not my stumbling block.  I have done step aerobics since it was invented and faithfully work hard 3 or 4 times a week for an hour each class.  Fast food and junk food is not my issue, I rarely eat that stuff.  My issue is simply too much good food.  My wife and I are both pretty good cooks and we love to try new recipes and make good food with lots of big flavors.  I hope to still do that after surgery but concentrate on making that perfect bite just like you see on Food Network or with French cooking.  If you watch thin people, many of them eat very good, very rich food...they just don't eat that much of it and they don't eat all day long.  I'm hoping to get to that point. 

Thanks to everyone on the board for sharing their stories, it's been helpful to read about the good, the bad and the ugly.  I'm praying that I can sneak by under the radar and avoid the leaks, strictures, reflux, vagus nerve damage and the like. 

Banded on 12/11/08.  Slipped and repaired on 6/16/09.  Slipped again and removed on 8/13/09.  Now I'm scheduled for the sleeve on 12/22/11 with Trace Curry.  Praying and keeping my fingers crossed that this one will do it for me.

Since my band was removed on August 3, 2009 I have been struggling to maintain my weight loss.  August was no problem, I felt like my band was still in place and did very well.  Along came September and with the falling temperatures came increasing appetite...an extra bite here and there added up quickly and the pounds started coming back on.  To date I have regained 15 lbs. which is huge for my 5'5" frame.  I am beginning to have sugar issues again but have remained faithful to my exercise regiment.  That is my saving grace.  I feel as though I have leveled off for now, so I am making a conscious effort to whittle away at the 15 extra pounds.

If you look at my ticker and profile you will see that I lost my band after only 7 months.  I experienced two slips prior to the removal.  I know that everyone is different and many docs have different procedures but here is my advice for new people...go very slow with your fills.  I can't prove it but I believe that getting filled too quickly caused both of my slips, leading to the loss of my band.  It is VERY difficult to control my weight and diabetes without my tool and I can't tell you how much I miss it.

I understand the feeling of urgency to get filled after surgery and start losing, but the tissue they sew the band with takes a long time to heal and lay down scar tissue.  I believe that both my doctor and I rushed the fills, especially after the first revision.  I had 2 small fills in less than a month after the revision surgery.  It may have just been a coincidence but I don't think so. 

Please, please don't rush your fills and try to get by on as little fill as possible.  You should have the band for the rest of your life, so another month or two or three won't make any difference in the long run.  I wish everyone great success.  Remember, even without restriction you have more restriction than with no band at all.  Believe me.

Following a slip revision on 6/16, I have been slowly refilling.  Got a fill on 7/27 and was doing fine with a slight restriction (4cc in my 9cc Realize).  Thursday 7/30, I was eating breakfast and only half way through felt very tight so I stopped eating and commented to my wife that the last fill was really kicking in and I was just going to take soup for lunch.  Only ate about a half cup of soup and felt tight again so I stopped.  At 2:00 I left work feeling very uncomfortable and I was calling 911 from home at 3:30. 

I had to wait in the ER until 11:00PM before a surgeon was available to decompress the band.  This was the longest most painful time I ever experienced.  They were giving me morphine and it didn't touch the pain.  Got admitted and spent all weekend on Dilaudid. 

On Monday my band was removed and I got home on Tuesday afternoon.  The surgeon said there was no good tissue to put stitches in so he couldn't reposition the band. 

So here I am after researching the VSG for a year, being denied by insurance because it is "experimental" and settling for the band.  I was never excited about having an implant and all the adjustments.  Because I was determined to put my diabetes into remission, I worked the band as best I could and was very successful, but after three surgeries, I'm full of scars and on my own again with plain old diet and exercise.

I just hope and pray that the good habits that I developed with my band will carry me through and I can continue down the road I'm on now.

Well I had my slipped band surgically repaired.  I was in the hospital overnight but this revision wasn't nearly as painful as the original surgery.  I was back to work and the gym after only one week and on vacation boating and tubing with the family after two and a half weeks.  Here is a picture of me and my two boys on the boat  at Dale Hollow Lake on the Kentucky/Tennessee boarder.  We had an amazing time.  What to you think about the new scars covered in sunscreen?  The doc apologized for not being able to use my original incision site because I had lost too much weight.  Never thought I would be happy to hear such a thing :)

Off and on I have had problems that couldn't be explained by the most common explanations...eating too much, too fast, not chewing thoroughly, drinking with meals, or eating foods that are troublesome.  I brought these concerns to my surgeon and he said, "let's get an upper GI and figure out what's going on."  Sure enough, the band has slipped down on my stomach.  The liquid pools above the band even with a total unfill, so I have to be sliced open once again.   My scars were just beginning to fade (except for the port scar) and here we go again.

I am scheduled to sign the papers on 6/12/09 and probably have the revision next week.  On top of that bad news, I just found out that our weight loss center is closing on July 17, 2009, everyone will have to find another doctor.  We all love Dr. Rodriguez :(

Following is a letter from my PCP.

Dear Greg:
I reviewed your recent laboratory studies.  The total cholesterol is 135.  This value is excellent.  The long-term diabetic study was 5.2.  This value is low indicating that you probably no longer have diabetes.  The risk in this situation is that you would take medication that would force your sugar even lower.  Please be careful with this.  Your kidney function is still slightly reduced, but has improved since your last study.  I am quite pleased with all of the testing.  Congratulations!
Sincerely,
Dr. _

He also cut my blood medication in half.  Putting my diabetes into remission has always been my #1 goal during this journey and I'm excited to actually achieve that goal.  I'm more dedicated than ever to continue on this journey.

Well I've gone 5 weeks with no fill at all and still managed to lose 4 pounds.  I'm so jazzed!  I'm over half way to my goal and starting to believe I can actually make it.  I don't think I ever really believed that before.  I feel so much better and my diabetes is almost completely in remission.  This was always my main goal, looking better and fitting into clothes was secondary.  So if anyone tells you that the band won't cure your diabetes, it's not true.  Of course you must follow the rules, eat right and most importantly, get plenty of exercise...vigorous exercise.