Debra M.
A new year and more victories in store for me!
Jan 02, 2009
Ok. Guess I'm not very good at updating these posts. Here's a summary of the past 12 months.Surgery in December 2007 and recovery went very well. I'm grateful to have a surgery twin, Therese, to share all the experiences of our first fills, support groups, and clothes with. Weight loss for me was quite rapid those first few months, and thankfully Tanja gave me all of her "big" clothes so I could be stylish without spending much money.
In the spring and early summer I couldn't believe how much energy I had to ride my bike, take walks without my feet hurting, and play on playground equipment with my niece and nephew. Remember the summer of $4.00 gas? Well, I was on a mission to ride my bike everywhere in town from the library to the grocery store. It was actually quite fun.
You know all those "extremely rare" complications that can happen with the band? Well...
My band slipped in July 2008. Once I asked someone how to know if the band had slipped, and she said "Oh, you'll know." Well, she was right. I was in SO much pain and couldn't keep anything down. Unfortunately, I was up in Grand Forks, ND, when all this happened and stubbornly drove myself back to Minneapolis to see my surgeon. (Big mistake.) I am thankful for Lucy who sat up all night with me in the emergency room at HCMC. In the morning, my surgeon, Dr. Lederer, gave me a complete unfill, and the pain was gone. I was scheduled for a revision in August. In order to prevent gaining weight while I had no restriction, I exercised twice each day for an hour. In a way, it was good reinforcement that I am really benefitting from having my band "tool" because I was not able to control my portion sizes without it.
During the revision in August 2008, the old band was removed, and I was updated to the new AP band. So, recovery was just like the original surgery, except not as scary because I knew what to expect. Thank you to Lucy and Ann who took care of me on surgery day and after! Unfortunately, I developed a hematoma around the incision for the port. So, that meant having the incision re-opened and cleaned out. I pleaded to have a "MAC" instead of general anesthesia for this procedure, and I felt so much better after it was done. Thank you, Julie, for driving me down to HCMC at the last minute.
So, would I have weight loss surgery again if I know I would have all these complications? ABSOLUTELY! When I compare the energy I have now with how I felt last year at this time, I am amazed. I hadn't realized how much I had given up over the years while I was gaining all that weight. Now I can do things that are so much fun: sliding down a slide, swinging on a swing, climbing 105 steps to the top of a water slide too many times to count in one day, jogging 5K without stopping, having incredible lung capacity for playing flute, swimming a mile, waking up each morning without any aches or pains, sleeping soundly at night without sleep apnea or deafening snoring, running (literally) up to the copy machine between classes to make copies. Perhaps the most exciting things I've gained this past year has been confidence, self-respect, and a great appreciation for all my family and friends who encourage me with words and/or how they live their lives.
I am truly blessed and can't wait to see what 2009 has in store for me. I've lost over half of my excess weight. Who knows, maybe I'll have reached goal weight by 2010 and have tons of new activities to add to my "can do" list!
