Darrel S.
The journey began for me in the summer of 2006. Early one Sunday morning, I encountered and old friend at church. We had not visited one-another in quite some time. Over the past year, he had undergone Gastric Bypass surgery. While he looked and felt great, I did not. I was overweight, short of breath, hypertensive, had lower back pain, and had recently been diagnosed as a borderline diabetic. I suddenly knew that I had to do something, but Gastric Bypass was out of the question. With embarrassment lurking inside, on the way home, I expressed too my wife how I truly felt. To my surprise it wasn’t portrayed as a weakness, but as strength for having the courage to do something about it. She instantly pledged her support, and thus my journey began.
I am a 49 year old married man of two (27 & 29). I also have one step-daughter (27) from my current marriage, and 4 grandchildren. Although for the past 15 years I’ve been overweight, I never considered surgical intervention. Not once. I’m medium height, and until the past few years I have always “carried the weight pretty well”: I’m proportionate, don’t carry too much weight in the middle, and have a typical ex-jock build; large shoulders, arms, and legs. Honestly, I don’t know why I’m considering surgery now. I just know that something has to change. The man in the mirror (Majestic Tribal Chief that I am), is no longer satisfied with the guy looking back. Perhaps the death of my mother and father is forcing me to confront and address some personal issues that I’ve conveniently chosen to ignore. I’ve created a life, but I would not say that I’m happy with myself. So, I pray and ask myself, am I ready to claim happiness? What if it means letting people go, and changing my circumstances? Can I do it? Can I possibly consider putting myself first? I mean, this is who I am, right? Either you accept and love me for who I am, or you don’t? Right? My God, what if the clichés are true? What if I have to learn to accept and love myself first? Can I do it? Let’s see . . .
Why Lap-band?
The realities of my excess weight are forcing me to consider surgical intervention. The day that my wife and I married, I weighed about 210 pounds. Some where along the way I had gained 133 pounds. When I finally weighed in at the Weight Loss Surgical Center, for the very first time, it dawned on me that I was about to tip the scale at 343 pounds. Where had I been my whole life? You don’t get to 343 pounds overnight. No matter how tall you are, or how well proportioned you think you are, 343 pounds is 343 pounds. So here I am. Why Lap-band?
I initially heard about the procedure in 2003. A co-worker was one of the first patients in our area to have the procedure. Through her, I learned some Lap-band basics: less invasive, shorter recovery, fewer complications. As soon as I put my name on the waiting lists, I began the arduous research process. On the internet, I found piles of research results, testimonials, and ad-hoc information. I read government reports, physician articles (pros and cons), and manufacture findings. I collected a lot of data.
I got the call in June 2006. My consultation was scheduled for 6/14/2006. The appointment was uneventful. I was not overly impressed with Dr Taricina. He answered all of my questions (I had a list), but did not offer much. I guess I was expecting him to convince me that this was the right thing to do. I told him right away that I was not interested in Gastric Bypass. He felt that I was a good band candidate, so I watched an Inamed produced video that concentrated on the procedure, risks, and side effects.
After the video, I met with the nutritionist who provided supplementary details. Specifically, she talked about aftercare: diet, exercise, lifestyle changes. She educated me about what to expect regarding hunger, initial weight loss, etc. She was great. Dr Taricina talked about the procedure, and his nurse talked about the real stuff. I needed that. By the end of the appointment, I still was not sure I wanted to do this. I prayed about it, and my answer was Matthew 17:20. There would be no mountains.
Insurance and Approval Process
I must tell you that I’ve worked for a major insurance company. I did not take that for granted and did my homework. Just as I researched the band, I researched my companies WLS policies. I knew the contract language, and that under certain circumstances my company considered the band to be experimental. There were specific lap-band restrictions. In fact, they would not routinely approve them without an extensive array of prerequisites. I read everyday about the struggle many people have attempting to get insurance approval. As such, I elected not to put myself through the disappointment of be disapproved and decided to pay out of pocket. This reduced the amount of time I’d have to weight for the procedure.
Surgery
I returned to the doctor on 8/17/06 to schedule surgery. I GOT A DATE: 10/17/06. Four months from the initial consultation to a surgery date.
I completed my psychological evaluation and interview early. No pre-op diet was required. A few days before surgery, I went to the hospital for blood work and an EKG. Everything looked great. All I had to do was show up on the 17th.
Surgery Day:
My best friend & wife Faye accompanied me to the hospital. Unlike me, Faye has never suffered from obesity. She was 100% on board with my decision. She felt that hard work would yield results, but it never seemed to be permanent for me. She was right. Like many of us, I had some success with several diets. Just not long term success. This time I wanted treatment: Long term treatment. No more Atkins band-aids, Weight Watchers gauze pads and Slim Fast antibiotic ointment to treat a terminal disease. I digress. Let me get back on point. Faye supported me anyway and never left my side. As I waited to be wheeled into surgery, we cut jokes, and did our usual kissy-kissy, touchy-touchy thing. There was much love in the room, understood and unspoken.
I didn’t feel too bad when I woke up, but I felt like crap later on that night. I didn’t have a fever, but could not shake the anesthetic. My surgery was at 7:30 a.m. I was moved back to pre-op immediately after it was finished. Two hours later, I was released. But before release, I felt sick too my stomach. I was not in pain, just sick. One of the nurses placed an alcohol pad over my nose, and eventually the nausea sub-sided. The next morning, I returned too the hospital for a barium x-ray. As soon as I sipped the barium, I knew I could eat. I didn’t throw it up, but I could drink much. It took several horrendous minutes of torture to get enough barium down in order for the technician to get a good picture. The result: The band was positioned perfectly around my stomach.
Post surgical diet and weight loss
For the first 10 - 12 days, I pretty much followed the post-surgical eating plan to the letter. For the first time, I was 100% disciplined about following a diet and did not try to manipulate the plan. But between the 10th or 12th day, I was HUNGRY! I started eating soft things slowly and I took all of the lessons to heart: eat slow, put your fork or spoon down between bites, take 20 minutes to eat, stop when you feel full. I did this on liquidsl, and it worked for me. I was on full liquids for the first 10 – 12 days, followed by soft “mushies” for almost a whole week, followed by slowly re-introducing solids to my plan. It was a long 4 - 6 weeks. By the time of my follow up visit, I had lost 23 pounds.
7 December 2006 – 1st Fill
I had my first fill (4.5cc), under Fluoroscopy. I expected this fill to really do something, but it didn’t. I knew after Thanksgiving that it was time. I could eat as much as before the surgery. Initially for about one week I had restriction, but it eventually went away. Dispite it being the holiday season, I maintained my pre-surgical weight loss during this period.
18 January 2007 – 2nd Fill
The second fill was done on-time - six weeks, and again under Fluoroscopy. It was noted @ weigh-in that I had actually gained 2 pounds – not good. I received .5cc extra. During this period, I really didn’t have a lot of restriction. I wanted to loose weight, but not too fast. I knew going in that Lap-band results were much slower than Gastric Bypass. I wanted a more natural rate of loss. To personalize my experience, I named my band Mrs. J, for Mrs. Jones. Remember, Billy Paul - me and Mrs. Jones? Anyway, I spent this period bonding with Mrs. Jones, and I quickly learned that it was she and not I, who were in control. She began teaching me how to work the tool.
22 March 2007 – 3rd Fill
Thus far between the January and March fills I have had the most difficulty dealing with Mrs. J, and loosing weight. The band’s restriction has varied, and Mrs. J frequently let’s me know it. I’m working very hard to develop a proper eating technique, and how to monitor everything that passes my lips. I knew immediately after receiving this fill, my world was about to change. After this fill, liquids went down much slower. Each swallow took 5 – 10 seconds to go down. If I attempted to drink more than one or two swallows, I instantly felt the restriction. The first few times that it happen, I finally felt what real restriction was all about. This lasted for the first 6 – 10 days. Mornings are tighter than in the afternoon. Cold liquids seem to make me tighter almost instantly. Warm too hot liquids react oppositely, especially in the AM.
Depending on what I eat, can also be a challenge. I tolerate chopped or soft, juicy, meat like hamburger, baked or stewed chicken with sauces, juicy sausage, and all types of fish except dry salmon. I’ve found dryer meats like roasted pork, barbequed chicken, pork neck-bones, baked ham, rib-eye steak, beef roast, corned beef, and salmon, very hard to handle without sauces, gravies, eating VERY slowly, and chewing VERY well.
I really have to pay close attention to everything I let enter my mouth. When you’re not eating alone, this can be very hard. One of my greatest challenges have become eating in the presence of others. I’ve become very conscious of how I eat. Even though no ones is actually watching how I eat, the restriction makes me feel as though all eyes are on me. Time spent in-between bites can seem to last forever. In-between bites, I try hard to find all sorts of things to occupying time less conspicuously.
16 April 2007 – update
Nearly four weeks have passed since my last fill. Knock on wood, so far so good. I still have pretty good restriction. However it greatly depends on what I eat, to maintain the restriction. I’m still learning how to work my band. Last night for the first time this fill, I tried to eat a grilled Rib-eye steak. It tasted so good, and I tried hard to cut it into small pieces – eating it slowly. Just when I thought I was out of the woods, I relaxed and was satisfied. But it’s flavor was so good, I went back for another bite. That was a big mistake. Mrs. J didn’t cause much pain, but she did make it know that I had eaten too much. For about 5 – 10 minutes I felt very uncomfortable. I’ve had similar feelings before, but this time it wouldn’t go away. Yeap! You guessed it, it came back up (PB). Instant relief! By eating my meat first, I followed the band rule. But I over did it. I weighed in this morning. Somehow, I’d lost another 3 pounds (305) since last week. Slowly but surely I’m getting there.
