malia26
A new journey I've begun! From band to sleeve
Aug 04, 2009
Ok..my story...to summarize....I started out at 281# as my highest...twice! I lost weight on my own but balooned back up and finally got to a point that I didn't know what to do. I LOVE working out. Even without losing weight, it makes me feel so much better day to day and I think it has really helped to ward off depression. I think my metabolism is that messed up that it takes extremes to lose weight. So my parents actually saw the band commercial on tv and told me about it. I went back and forth with "can I really do that diet" and finally decided, yes, I have to because I'm not getting any smaller without it. Had the band feb. 2007. All went well...fills went well, the weight loss was great. I loved my band!! Lost about 100# in just over a year. I never vomited/PB'd. I didn't keep tight fills. My doc was all about going slow with about .2cc per fill (I had a 4ccband). It's great too that the nutritionist is at ALL the appointments.
I ended up having an "accidental overfill" and I *think* that is what set me up for the trouble of the slip. In about feb 08, I had a fill...was fine..then about 4-6 weeks LATER it kicked in bigtime. You know, you've heard that fills kick in later but I don't think it's true. They kcik in within a week maybe but not a month later! I was much tighter and it was harder to get food down but I could STILL drink and eat fairly normal stuff, but it felt very different. I brushed it off as stress from new hours at work, dating, lack of sleep somedays. Oh boy when I worked 12 hour shifts and was up at 4am...those really did wreak havok on my band! I was tight ALLLLL day long. Very weird, but I knew it and would prepare and just eat mushy stuff those days. So I had tons of excuses why I was "suddenly tight" until it got to the point that one day I could eat and the next it felt like I'd eaten a huge meal when all I had was a sip of water and it was morning and had no food in my stomach. But I'd still tell myself, we'll see how I feel tomorrow and then call the doc if it's not better. Well, it'd get better...so I ignored it too long is the main problem. That's why I say if I can give ONE piece of advice...DO NOT ignore the signals. If you feel tight for more than a few days and it's been weeks since a fill....call the doc. It's more worth to lose that fill and make sure a slip doesn't happen vs. staying tight and causing damage. Anyway, finally got an unfill and I was supposed to have 3.0cc but actually had 3.8!!! YIKES! Took my fill down and a month later started to fill agian, did ok with a few, then ended up a tiny unfill again, then filled again and finally unfilled again. I'd do ok with the fill for about 2-4 weeks and then suddenly it'd be tight again. It was slipping each time I think. We finally did a swallow study and sure enough...slippped. Went in for surgery in Nov. last year to reposition but when the surgeon was in there, there was too much scar tissue and some "suspicous" spots that may have been the beginning of erosion. So out the band came! I was devestated! I figured it'd never happen to me and if I DID get a slip, it'd just get fixed. Not so easy!
Now fast forward.....I've been following my surgeon's NP and the nut monthly and emailing the nut weekly with my eating. I slowly was gaining and was trying my darndest to keep on track, keep up the exercise, the good eating but in reality...my stomach was bigger, I couldn't control how much I ate! I ate healthy for the most part but too big of portions. I finally hit a point that I couldn't PEP talk myself anymore and felt like such a complete failure. I had an AWFUL day at work one day feeling fat and gross and clothes fitting tight and even had someone ask me "when is the little one coming"...saying I'm pregnant! At least they thought I was pregnant and not fat!!! lol....I pretty much ended up giving up. I felt so up and down with my emotions and the weight gain I could feel in my body. In my back, when I tried to run. I LOVE running and havent' done it because those extra # make it hard! I *only* gained about 35# since my band came out in Nov. to July. Not too bad but still, I think only someone who has struggled this struggle can really understand how it feels. 5-10# can feel like 30# to one of us! And that scary thought of, Am I going to get to 281# again????
Finally the surgeon said Yes, lets do the sleeve. Him and his NP definitely agreed that I did so well with the band that I'll do great with the sleeve. My NP actually says this is her "WLS CHOICE" if she were to do it. You can still eat most foods but no where near as much and no fills to bother with and no malabsorption.
7/30/09 surgery day!!
It went ok....I think it took about 2 hours. THere was scar tissue they had to work through from the past surgeries. Both the bariatric surgeons were scrubbed in for me. The pain post op....WAY worse than the band for me. But then I also wasn't pushing my pain pump as much as I should've been I think. And then the nausea...I get awful nausea from surgery. I didn't vomit at least or dry heave even but didn't feel well. I have a drain in and it's scaring me. They showed it to me pre-op and it's on the end of this tubing and the end is about 5 inches long and 2 inches wide....and so when they pull that out hopefully tomowrrow (wed.)...I can't imagine how bad that's going to feel! I'm freaked out! THe inital pain was where my stomach is and the drain sitting next to it. Now my pain is more incisional and where the scar tissue is and the inner inciisons are trying to heal. I'm also having KILLER heart burn. I think my liquid pain medicine makes it worse. I think the heartburn is my biggest complaint right now. Today is day5 post op and am feeling not too bad.. I get tired though. It takes me an hour to clean myself up. Can't shower with the drain so I'm using "pampers baby wipes" to wash myself and my mom washed my hair outside with a kettle of warm water and shampoo of course! I even managed to shave my legs in the running water of the bath tub. I can't wait to take a real shower!
I'm only eating clears...jello, broth, water. I'm trying to get them in as best as I can but it's hard because I need to take meds. 1.carafate in a liquid form to coat the stomach and coat the staple line. 2. liquid pain meds 3. prevacid which dissolves on my tongue. Between the meds and my water/jello/broth. I'm constantly thinking about "when should I take _____?" And it feels tight to drink so I can't take pain medicine and then eat my jello. Feels tight like "band tight" like when I'd eaten enough with the band. The "going down slow and tight" feeling. I think the band greatly prepared and will help me for the sleeve.
So that's me...my story, my update! I'm excited to heal, I can't wait to eat cottge cheese and refried beans and yogurt! My goal weight is about 155 but the surgeon thinks I can definitely get lower than that....sweet!
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About Me
WI
Location
32.1
BMI
Surgery
07/30/2009
Surgery Date
Oct 26, 2006
Member Since
