It's been quiet here for several days, but life has not been quiet in the least. I spent Thursday thru Sunday on my feet in an Expo with little sleep. My sweetie and bestie kept me company (and sane) through the weekend. Food-wise, it was a mixture of healthful planning (packing lunches & snacks) and pure gluttony. Now that I'm finally rested enough, I feel like I can get back to business here. I have my monthly appointment with my gastro doctor tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to that to see what my weight loss is since last appointment. It should be at least a couple pounds, I think. I'm not obsessing over numbers, just trying to keep focused on progress. Any progress is good progress no matter how big or small. Think of it as a trajectory, not a velocity and that's where I'm trying to keep my mindset - it helps with the self-judging and sanity for sure!
So more on the gastro doctor. Those closest to me know that I had the Lap Band surgery in late 2008. So far I can still say it was the wisest decision I've made. I progressed nicely, lost weight, didn't have any issues, and was trucking along nicely for the first couple years. Then my surgeon decided to sell his practice, my favorite member of his group left for a better environment to work in (post-sale), and things just went down hill from there. I didn't like the new people so I just quit going. Bad decision. Over the months/years, my band managed to slip out of place and it was causing me lots of issues. I couldn't sleep laying down or I'd aspirate stomach acid/fluids. I had lots of acid reflux. Sometimes I couldn't drink fluids because even they wouldn't go down. Enough was enough, so I started calling around to find a new bariatric surgeon to take me on for after-care. It was a lot harder than I expected. A couple places I called wouldn't take patients from my surgeon (and offered no explanation). One guy was retiring, so he wasn't taking new patients. I finally tracked down a local office that would take me, but then they needed a copy of my original op report. That took over a month to get because it was archived, but once I got that, I was able to get in and have my initial consultation and barium swallow/imaging to see just how bad things were. It was bad. My Lap Band was nearly 90 degrees out of alignment and acting as an obstruction which is why I had problems with liquids as well as solids. The first step was to remove all the fluid from my band to see if it would right itself. I felt the improvement immediately, and unfortunately I was completely unrestricted for food consumption. In the 8 weeks between that appointment and my follow up, I gained around 20 pounds. I felt horrible, I was beating myself up, and I knew I just didn't have the gumption to do anything about it. At my follow up, the surgeon added some fluid back to my band, and we went forward to see how that worked. A month later, no issues, but I still gained weight. About 6 more pounds. A little more fluid was added, and off I went for another month to see how things went. I was finally feeling a little restriction. I couldn't eat as much, but I wasn't having any issues. But then I got sick - a cold, which turned into an upper respiratory infection ... three weeks I was sick, so when I went back for my follow up this last time, they decided not to do anything because I'd just spent the last 3 of my 4 weeks sick, on meds, my whole body was cranky. I was OK with that. I think I could stand to have a little more fluid added to the band, but we'll see what the doc says tomorrow. The band, plus my efforts to pay attention to what I eat as well as get back to making the majority of what I eat myself rather than packaged/prepared foods or dining out. I feel physically better when I do this anyway.
If you're thinking about bariatric surgery and want a more detailed account of my experience and my thoughts about it, let me know. I'll be happy to share. It's a hard decision to make and it's not the right decision for everyone, but the more information you have, the better!
So more on the gastro doctor. Those closest to me know that I had the Lap Band surgery in late 2008. So far I can still say it was the wisest decision I've made. I progressed nicely, lost weight, didn't have any issues, and was trucking along nicely for the first couple years. Then my surgeon decided to sell his practice, my favorite member of his group left for a better environment to work in (post-sale), and things just went down hill from there. I didn't like the new people so I just quit going. Bad decision. Over the months/years, my band managed to slip out of place and it was causing me lots of issues. I couldn't sleep laying down or I'd aspirate stomach acid/fluids. I had lots of acid reflux. Sometimes I couldn't drink fluids because even they wouldn't go down. Enough was enough, so I started calling around to find a new bariatric surgeon to take me on for after-care. It was a lot harder than I expected. A couple places I called wouldn't take patients from my surgeon (and offered no explanation). One guy was retiring, so he wasn't taking new patients. I finally tracked down a local office that would take me, but then they needed a copy of my original op report. That took over a month to get because it was archived, but once I got that, I was able to get in and have my initial consultation and barium swallow/imaging to see just how bad things were. It was bad. My Lap Band was nearly 90 degrees out of alignment and acting as an obstruction which is why I had problems with liquids as well as solids. The first step was to remove all the fluid from my band to see if it would right itself. I felt the improvement immediately, and unfortunately I was completely unrestricted for food consumption. In the 8 weeks between that appointment and my follow up, I gained around 20 pounds. I felt horrible, I was beating myself up, and I knew I just didn't have the gumption to do anything about it. At my follow up, the surgeon added some fluid back to my band, and we went forward to see how that worked. A month later, no issues, but I still gained weight. About 6 more pounds. A little more fluid was added, and off I went for another month to see how things went. I was finally feeling a little restriction. I couldn't eat as much, but I wasn't having any issues. But then I got sick - a cold, which turned into an upper respiratory infection ... three weeks I was sick, so when I went back for my follow up this last time, they decided not to do anything because I'd just spent the last 3 of my 4 weeks sick, on meds, my whole body was cranky. I was OK with that. I think I could stand to have a little more fluid added to the band, but we'll see what the doc says tomorrow. The band, plus my efforts to pay attention to what I eat as well as get back to making the majority of what I eat myself rather than packaged/prepared foods or dining out. I feel physically better when I do this anyway.
If you're thinking about bariatric surgery and want a more detailed account of my experience and my thoughts about it, let me know. I'll be happy to share. It's a hard decision to make and it's not the right decision for everyone, but the more information you have, the better!
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