gphillips
My story in not much different than a lot of other obese people's...at age 51 my weight had gotten up to 348 lbs. I was miserable, sleep apnea with a machine a night, in alot of pain with my back, knees and my feet felt like every bone in them was broken. I also had high blood pressure, high cholesterol (on medication for these), and looking at diabetes and heart problems in my near future. Already had had one heart catherization.
So in Feb 2007, I started seriously checking into Lapband surgery. A friend had it done and everything had gone great and she had lost her weight. She had Dr. Aceves in Mexico do her surgery a year earlier.
My doctor said he would do everything he could do to help me have the surgery as he thought I was a good candidate with my health problems to have it done. And he was great, wrote letters and called my insurance company, which would not pay anything to help me have this surgery, it was just not one of the options picked for coverage by my husband's employer as part of our healthcare plan. They did not pay for anything weight loss related. My doctor even called a hospital in Dallas that is a teaching hospital to see if they would do it for the same price as I was going to pay to have it done in Mexico. They were not interested. My doctor did not want me to go to Mexico to have this done, but when it came down to it I had no choice, at the time to have it done here I was looking at around $15,000.00 and in Mexico - $8200.00 and Mexico had been doing them since 1991 and they only started doing them here in the United States in 2001. And Dr. Aceves had alot of experience performing the surgery.
My husband got a great Christmas bonus and wanted me to have the surgery done. It was not quite enough to pay for the surgery and we had planned to put the rest on a credit card, but my mom said she would pitch in and pay the rest. God love her, she has been so supportive through all of this.
So I talked with my friend some more and found out she knew and was related to some others that had gone to Mexico to have thier surgery and everyone was doing fine. She assured me that the hospital was very clean, many spoke english and in fact was taken better care of there than in some United States hospitals she had been in.
I started out by going online with my computer. Looked up Dr. Aceves-Mexico Lapband. Found his website. www.mexicalibariatriccenter.com. Read everything I could there sent them an email saying I was interested - and it took off!
I was able to do everything online through them, fill out questionaires about my health, do all my studies and pass these cute little informative presentations about the surgery, diet afterwords, and aftercare, so the office knew I was ready and well informed about everything. My surgery date was set for March 5, 2007. My husband and I flew into San Diego, CA - the office had a van meet us at the airport and drive us 2 hours to Almater Hospital in Mexicali. It was a beautiful drive as I had not been in that area of the country. The hospital was very proficient in doing the pretest for the surgery next day (EKG, Xray, blood work) then Ernesto (van driver) took us to the hotel, we met up with others there for the surgery walked around town and found a resturant to have our last meal for a while, enjoyed ourselves then went back to the hotel. Which was very nice by the way, beautiful pool and landscaping.
We were going to pay for extra days at the hotel for my husband while I was in the hospital, but it was more than 6 miles from the hospital, not something he could walk back and forth for visiting, so he went with me to the hospital. They had no problem with that. I had a private room (all are) with a couch he stayed on.
Ernesto picked us up next morning, took us to the hospital where they took us to our rooms, got us ready for surgery, took me off to surgery. Took very good care of me for 3 days, drove us back to the airport and My new life had begun!
I had to find a local doctor for the fills. I found Dr. Stewart in Denton, TX and because I had my chart from the hospital and the xrays and lab work and had a name brand band (at the time Inamed) he agreed to be my aftercare doctor. I paid for a year upfront.
It has been the most amazing year, the weight was just falling off! I was buying clothes (garage sales, Goodwill) all the time because my sizes were dropping so fast.
At first hunger was not a problem because of the internal swelling from having the surgery, but as you heal and the swelling goes down (about 2 weeks) and you still have 2 more weeks of clear liquids, it was getting tough. This is the time most refer to as "bandster hell" . But I got through it, with support from my daughter and my husband encouraging me.
Then it was learning how to make my "tool" , or band work for me, instead of against me. I had to do my part. Eat the right way, and the right amounts. Chew my food extremely well, no drinking with my meals, etc. Be aggressive in going for my fills. It was not always easy. Did I cheat? Yes, occassionally, but my band was always there; waiting for me to work with it.
Amazing things were happening, I no longer needed to take medication for high blood pressure and cholesterol. I WAS OFF ALL MY MEDICATIONS !! How great is that. I could now bend over to tie my shoes without breathing hard. I had to pull my seat forward to drive the car (I kept accusing someone of moving it back) but it was me losing the butt! I was able to walk and walk, the family had a hard time keeping up with me at the State Fair this last time, instead of the other way around. The year before I had to get a wheelchair at the fair. Seeing how proud my kids and my husband are of me. I substitue teach and the kids at school were noticing, all of them. And the best part, I no longer am looking at diabetes and heart trouble in my near future! I no longer have sleep apnea and do not need the machine and mask at night.
At age 51, I did not go into fthis for beauty and a hot body. I had this done to save my life, not only has it given me my life back, but the quality of my life is just getting better and better. For the first time ever, I feel normal, like everyone else. In the way I look, eat, participate in activities. The knee pain, foot pain all of it is gone. Of course it has helped my looks, I am very fortunate (and totally amazed) that my skin has tightened up way more than I expected it to at my age. I have to give thanks to God for that, I prayed about it alot and that is the only reason I can see that it did.
Oh, reading back over this I see I have forgotten to mention I have lost 150 pounds in the first year. My fill doctor just wanted me to get below 200 pounds. I have! I am no longer considered MORBIDLY OBESE. I am still obese, but not morbidly. That has been on my chart for longer than I can remember. My goal is to get to 175 lbs or so and see what I think when I get there.
But I do know , if I don't lose another pound I am soooo glad I had this done and would do it all over again. (But I won't have to because my band is with me for life!)
My husband just got a motorcycle (gas prices and all) and took me for a ride last Sunday, it was great. No, I don't intend to become a "motorcycle mama", but I could not have even considered doing that a year ago. My husband probably wouldn't have even asked a year ago. We used to ride when we were first dating over 25 years ago!
I love my band for giving back my health.
About Me
Before & After
rollover to see after photo
