Heather R.
Surgery Date 12/2/04.
I am married to my high school sweetheart and have 2 kids age 3 and 6.
02/03/2005 - Well I am 2 months post op now and I am feeling GREAT! I couldn't ask for better health. No more blood pressure pills.
I weighed this morning and am down 27 pounds. I tell you the gym really works. After hitting a plateau for 5 weeks, going to the gym makes the pounds just fall off. Today is my 28th birthday and I am so glad that I did this surgery for myself. Good luck everyone!
04/01/2005 - Well I am four months out now and I have lost 50 pounds! I feel incredible. It is wonderful. Life is good, what can I say???? I FEEL LIKE SINGING!
Myspace.com website
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5/25/05 - I am now 5 1/2 months out and down 62 pounds. That is even including a 2 week vacation to Hawaii with lots of alcohol, luau food and chocolate so I am impressed. If you are thinking about surgery, do it!!! It won't be easy but well worth it!
6/19/05 - Well I am down 69 pounds. Feeling great, getting a lot of complements. It is coming off slower now cause I haven't been to the gym since my vacation, so that is something I need to do. I wouldn't change a thing. I am starting to consider plastic surgery, thought I could beat the extra skin, it didn't happen.
7/13/05 - Weight has been coming off really slow lately. Had a fill 2 weeks ago and going now for another one tomorrow. We will see if that makes a difference. I am down 73 pounds now. Still feeling great.
01/18/2006 - I HIT GOAL TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!! My personal goal was 150 and that is where I weighed in at today. I could sing!!!!!!!!
03/17/2006 - I am hanging tough at 145 lbs now. Doc says he thinks I can go down to a size 6, I am like, yeah right, not with all this skin. I feel great. It is weird though when I was bigger I would always think I wasn't that big until I would see a picture, now it is the opposite, I think I am not that thin, until I see a picture, and then I am like, that isn't me......Been having relationship problems lately. Coming to terms with my own problems with feeling unworthy or invaluable. It is tough, but I will make it through. My husband has been very supportive. It is difficult when guys start paying attention to you and they really didn't before. You forget that these guys wouldn't look twice at you when you were bigger, now suddenly you are the hottest girl in the room. I hate men like that.
UPDATE: 6/20/2007: Band Slip
I am sitting here a week out post op from my second surgery to FIX a stretched pouch and slipped band.
So, what happened? Well, I learned the rules, I lived them and I got to my goal weight a year after my surgery....I AM EVEN IN THE COMMERCIAL airing right now for the office! I was the poster child for lapband...then I got lazy.
So a year and a half out I started having reflux. Mine progressed to the point where stuff came out of my nose while I was sleeping. It was terrible. I started seeing Dr. FIsher and we did everything possible to fix it non-surgically. The issue was that by the time I faced the fact that I was having problems, my stretch and slip was so bad that after a year of fighting it with adjustments, it just did not get any better. So it was decided 2 weeks ago that I would have immediate surgery as my problem was pretty significant. I thought I was going through the whole approval process again, oh no. I was told two weeks ago today that I would be having surgery that next Monday, 5 days later. Imagine how quickly I had to try to wrap up my affairs and get ready to go into surgery again.
So, Monday, June 11, I had my second surgery to replace my band and put it back where it was supposed to be. Today, is my post op appointment. There were a lot more risks this time, possible second surgeries, etc due to the extent of the damage I did to my stomach. The damage was so bad that I had to have the larger band put on because the swelling was so bad. Let me tell you, it wasn't as easy this time. Same number of incisions (all new ones), bruising, swelling after surgery inside and out. And guess what, the LIQUIDS again! The whole post op diet, all over again. I had a rough time the first few days with liquids going down because my stomach was so swollen from what I had done. All this, self induced. Which brings me to my point.
Learn from me. Yes, I am the cute, average-sized girl on the commercial that says, "I'm Heather and I lost 106lbs with the lapband surgery," but even I can mess it up when not following the rules. I stopped weighing my food, long before my stretch and slip. I was good at first, me and my body were in tune and I knew when to stop eating...first mistake. Because, over time, those portions got a tee bit bigger. The biggest thing, I ate WAY too fast. I stopped eating breakfast all the time, so I was starving by lunch and ate too fast. The very thing that got me to being overweight in the first place. That was my pitfall. I ate too fast, not giving my body a chance to say stop and by then it was too much too fast and poor Mr. Band didn't stand a chance.
So, last Sunday on the eve before my corrective surgery, I pulled out my original copy of the 9 rules, slapped 'em to my fridge, I went out and got a digital scale, which was more money, but COMPLETELY worth it, and I got an egg timer. So, monitor your portions, eat ALL of your meals (the rules say, THREE, not TWO, not FIVE, so eat something in the morning), and SLOW DOWN. Your band has a speed limit, OBEY IT because the consequences are great. And, at the first sign of reflux, call the office. Correct it before it gets to my point. You do NOT want to have surgery again. And I too, thought, "not me. That won't happen to me. I learned, I lost all my weight." Well, YEAH ME, and you too if you don't follow the rules. So, with that being said, treat your band right, and it will do the same for you.
Heather
252/150/146 (beat my personal goal)
Original Surgery: 12/2/2004 - New surgery 6/11/2007
