Reflecting over my journey

May 17, 2009

I feel like being very transparent right now. So, this may end up being a long blog but oh well. So, my journey started probably about 4 years ago. I had decided that wls was for me and I set about trying to get it done. After completing 12 months of supervised diet and seeing a psychologist and nutrition my insurance denied my wls and they also denied my appeal. I left that company about a year or so later and decided that I would see if I could get my new employer to pay for my wls. I started in August and randomly picked insurance ~ I got the same one I had at the old employer but I didn't really research it or anything. I knew that open enrollment was coming since I was working at a benefits administration company (we administered annual enrollment for many fortune 500 companies). Anyway, I started trying to find a way to set my plan in motion. I called the coordinator and asked her which insurance company (of my available choices) would be easier to approve wls. She told me that UHC was pretty easy and I switched during annual enrollment with the purpose of specifically getting my procedure (lap band) covered. My coverage started 1/1/07, I was approved sometime in January for the lap-band and I had the procedure done on 3/5/07. In the beginning everything went great, I was losing like a RNYer, I lost 50lbs within the first 3 months and 80lbs by 6 months. This is when I began to have problems. To make a long story short, my body didn't react well to adjustments. I would swell up WEEKS after a fill with no warning. I can see now that this really started in the beginning but it didn't negatively affect me until about 6 months out. When I got my first fill I didn't feel any restriction. A few weeks later I got the second fill and I had great restriction, what lap-banders like to call the sweet spot. I was there. I was eating very small portions of food and was very satisfied and never hungry. This was perfect I thought. In May, specifically memorial day weekend of 07 I went on a cruise, this was about 2 1/2 months after surgery down almost 50lbs. Now most people EAT on cruises but I stuck to my diet, I would eat a little of this and a little of that at the big sit down dinner, I never had any bread but I did indulge in dessert every night. I would usually opt for the sugar free desserts but not always, I was only eating a few bites anyway. It was on the cruise when things began to go bad for me. I began to feel the stuck feeling for the very first time towards the end of the trip. It was a 7 night cruise. I remember trying to eat turkey for dinner ( I only ate turkey or chicken for protein for the entire trip) the turkey made me sick and I excused myself from the table. I thought I was going to be sick but it stayed down. The next few meals I couldn't eat much maybe 3 bites and that was that. It happened all of a sudden and I didn't know what was wrong really but I didn't get sick on the trip, just felt sick and couldn't eat much toward the end. I should add that this vacation was the first time I ever flew on a plane and it was about a 5 hour plane trip from Chicago to Puerto Rico. When we got ready to fly back I bought a sandwich at the airport and me and my son were sharing it. I got so sick eating that sandwich that I had to find the bag on the plane just in case. It was the worst feeling. When we got home I pb'd for the very first time that night. I called the coordinator the next morning and she said maybe my band tightened due to the flight or the stress about flying. I am terribly afraid of heights and thought this was plausable. She advised me to take it easy over the next few days, liquids only and see what happens. Well, I began to get sick off of liquids and eventually had to come in for a slight unfill. I remember getting into it with my doctor's staff for the 1 and only time. They were trying to make me feel like it was my fault because my last fill was several weeks earlier and this was not a usual situation, it was weird. I spoke with my doctor about their attitude and he must have said something to them because it never happened again. I mean they had me in tears and all I wanted was to be able to be normal again. Anyway, we went on for several months with fills, and unfills until we had to do a complete unfill. What I have since realized is that all of my fills kicked in weeks later so the very first fill had not kicked in by the time I got the second and when they both kicked in it was all too much. Long story short my doctor and I decided that the band needed to come out and I would revise to RNY. I had to fight the insurance all over again for this. I still had UHC who approved my lap-band in weeks with no diet or anything but they denied my revision right off the bat and then they demanded 6 months of diet before I could appeal. We fought and appealled after 3 months and they finally approved. I had my revision to RNY on November 12 2008. I was very sick, I bled out alot and they knew that my gall bladder needed to come out but it was not safe. I had an extremely high heart rate too, I was in the icu for the duration of my hospital stay and at times my heart rate got so high that the machine would beep and people would come running in. I remember them asking me if I had a cardiologist at the hospital, I didn't though. I really think my heart rate was out of control because I was in so much pain, my pain was not being managed like they told me it would be. Anyway, 1 and 1/2 months after my RNY I had my gall bladder removed laproscopically. I should mention that my lap band was done lap and my RNY was done open. I have so many scars now and I am very self conscious about them. Anyway, I started this journey at my highest weight of 328 lbs. Today I am at about 221 lbs. That is right folks, I have lost OVER 100 POUNDS!!! I am really happy about this and very proud of myself. I am still trying to lose another 60-80 lbs but I have time and I feel I will reach my goal. This achievement of losing over 100 lbs is what prompted me to take a look at my entire journey. Sometimes I feel like things are not going how I would like them to but when I take a moment to see where I was and where I am now, I can't help but be happy about all that I have accomplished. I am going to attempt to put some pictures here to reflect my journey.



After revision to RNY ~ my hair fell out pretty bad so I had to cut it, I am in the process of growing it back out now.

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