Sarah S.
It's weird
May 30, 2009
I was told in October 07 that I should consider weight loss surgery because I have alot of health problems with my lungs and if I were to ever need a transplant at least then I would be in good enough shape and would have a better chance of survival - Never even thought about wls before then so I was shocked when my pulmonologist dr said that. So I thought about it and thought it would be great but knew I could never afford it. I didn't have a job, I didn't have private insurance so if I was going to get it, it would be because I won lotto lol. So that january (08) I got a call saying to come in and see the endocronologist for some reason and he said got me an appointment with the surgeon that actually does the lapband at my hospital. Fast forward to may 08 and I signed the consent forms to have surgery, I was supposed to be on the category 2 list which was 3-6 months. so that would of been end of november, still hadn't heard anything at that time and then got a call saying that I was approved for around december. That didn't happen, then was screwed around a little more and got an actual date - March 17th - 6 days before my 21st.
So I did the preop diet for 2 weeks as required, and then on the 14th I think, I got a call from the surgeons nurse saying that I was being postponed (which I always knew was a possibility but hearing that made it 100 times worse) because there where cancer patients that needed urgent surgery but that I was on the side line in case they couldn't have surgery. So up until that point I had been paranoid about surgery, having alot of doubts about whether this was the right thing for me. So i went in on the 17th and it just clicked at that time, I was so worried about the outcome but the only possible outcome is that I'm going to be healthy. So surgery didn't happen and I was put on the list again for the 31st of March. That came around and I rang my hospital on the 30th to find out what time I needed to go in and when I rang they said that I wasn't even on a list. So that was pretty horrible hearing that - I'd done the preop for a month for absolutely no reason.
So I got over it, I continued to eat, I didn't gain weight (although I felt like I had) and then I got a call this month on the 1st saying that my surgery was schedulled for the 12th. I didn't really know whether or not to take it seriously. I didn't start the preop until the 3rd and even then I cheated (anyone in my case would have) so I went into hospital on the 12th & here I am.
Coming out of anaesthesia is always bad for me, I just react to it horribly for some reason so when I woke up, my stomach muscles where convulsing and I thought I was going to be sick, thankfully the nurses gave me the anti-nausea medication and all that came up was burping from the gas. The first 3 days where so slow for me, I walked half the speed I normally do and had such dry lips because of the dehydration. Then I went onto mushies on the 26th and at the moment my energy is at an all time low, hopefully it'll come back up again soon but right now it sucks - Especially when you get 10 hours sleep and then 2 hours later you feel like you could go back to bed again.
So that's my story. If you're in the process of getting surgery and wondering if it's the right thing for you, I think it's right for anyone that needs to be healthy, no matter which surgery you're having as long as you know it's the right thing for you then you shouldn't worry about anything else.
Sarah
Why are some people so against each surgery?
Aug 14, 2008
Overall what I really wanted to say in this is don't pressure others on here to think that the surgery there going to have is a mistake, if you do chances are your going to make alot of enemies because of what you say. I support most in what they choose, I mean I dont like the gastric bypass at all but that doesnt mean I go around saying "Oh you shouldnt get that because chances are you'll die or put the weight on plus more" Because I actually have seen people like that, I've read numerous clinical trials about it and the percentage of people that gain weight back after 3-4 years is about 27% higher than those with the lapband.
All of the surgeries
Aug 05, 2008
I think it's kinda stupid how people ask on here why are you getting a particular surgery or others try to tell you the negatives about a certain surgery, everyone has an opinion and of course the people that get that certain surgery are definitely going to be more biased towards the particular one they have. I mean I personally have kind of alot to loose but not enough to get the gastric bypass, at the moment I weigh 115 and I know that if I was somewhere along the lines of 130 or higher I probably would have asked my hospital for the gastric bypass instead but the reality is I don't have as much to loose as certain people that are getting the bypass, I understand the facts like if certain people that get the bypass need to loose it quickly so I understand why they get that but other than that I don't understand why others don't just choose the lap band overall. I mean unless you have a serious medical condition and you've been told that you've got like 6 months to live unless you loose the weight then really theres no reason to drop 50 kgs in 3 months right? But that's just my opinion, I just think it's kinda unhealthy to loose that much so quickly I would have thought that loosing that much so suddenly would be associated more with starvation, even if I 'd never heard of the gastric bypass, but I know it helps alot of people straight away and considering that everyone on here is here for one reason - to loose weight then I don't see the problem in it.
One thing I do have a problem with though is I don't think anyone under 18 should have the bypass, same as the lap band and any other weight loss surgery, I think that all of the wls should have physciatric (sp?) evalutations even if they know what there going through, I mean I'm getting the lap band, I know why I put on this weight, I know the right stuff to eat, the wrong stuff to eat etc but still even though it's not required of me I'd probably feel better if I saw a physciatrist just to know that I'm not doing this for some stupid reason, although I know I'm not doing it for some stupid reason, mainly its the fact that I'm looking at a transplant in 5-10 years depending on if my disease keeps reoccuring everytime I get sick and the thing is, the hospital board won't put me on the transplant list at the weight I am now which is understandable, I mean I don't even know how much I have to loose to go on the list, chances are I may never need this transplant but if something did happen and I did need it I would feel soooooo much better in myself knowing that I was at least the right weight to have it.
Another thing, I don't feel overweight, I know alot of people say it but I don't I mean sure I can see the fat but I look at people that are bigger than me and I just don't feel like I fit into that categoree either. It's funny I'm actually happy with the way I am now, I mean sure I don't like the stretchmarks but apart from that I'm happy with myself and that kinda worries me as well I mean if I'm happy with myself now what's going to happen when I loose 50kgs or so? WIll I be unhappy then? Will I be exstatic about the weight loss? That's another reason I wanna see a physciatrist, just to put my mind at ease basically.
Anyway that's all I really wanted to rant about, feel free to comment if you want =)
Sarah
Support
Jul 06, 2008
So I joined this site thinking that all I would get is support and good reviews and what not right? Wrong. Some people on here are definitely rude. I mean I posted one thing in the main forum about the fact that I didn't like gastric bypass (which everyone is entitled to there own opinion) and some of the stuff I knew about the lap band and one woman was just so rude to me, she said that I bought into advertising way too much which is ridiculous, I know all the pros and cons of the surgery and that comes across that I buy into advertising? Go figure lol. She went on to say stuff like there’s a risk of re implanting and what not - obviously I know all this. I went thru all of that with my surgeon, I know that after a certain amount of time the risk of surgery again for the lap band goes up a percent each year which I am absolutely fine with, I feel like I've spent almost my entire life in hospital so another procedure is definitely no biggie, anyway this lady just kept on criticizing and going on about how I'm this millenniums youth and I think the whole world revolves around me lmao whatever. I know the world doesn't revolve around me and I'm glad it doesn't, I don't go out every day saying "Oh my god I'm fat, be a bitch to me, or look at me" and the way she insinuated that I do is just ridiculous. Sorry about the ranting but I thought I'd just get this off my chest, so naturally I bit back, I'm in no way sorry for what I said to her, it was her own fault - you piss off the bull you get the horns (stupid metaphor I know but the only thing I could think of lol) but whatever I'm over it now - Luckily for me I don't hold grudges and those that do need to revaluate there life.
So what else is new with me other than that little "spit" hmmm I had an appointment at the hospital last week with my respiratory/pulmonologist Dr and thankfully he dropped my dose of prednisolone down, my face has gone completely round from the side affects and I hate it, just when it had kinda gone away from the previous dose it comes back, it's just so annoying, I mean I know all of the side affects of prednisolone and yet that’s one thing you can't stop - the moon face thing - Everyone gets it. Kids that are on chemo and are treated with it get it, why can't they do something to curb that side affect? They can invent a cervical cancer vaccine and they can't do that? Pffft stupid much? So at the moment my dose is 15mg which isn't too bad, not the highest I've been on and not the lowest. I also asked him what to do when I eventually do have surgery (what with all my medication and what not) and he just said that don't take it for the day of surgery or the day after and then try to take it 3 days later, also he said that skipping one day won't hurt, which is good because I was paranoid about that, sucks when you can't crush or open the capsule. So apart from that the only other thing I may be on for surgery is the prednisolone which my surgeon once I talk to him again can just prescribe it via the iv and I won't have to swallow them.
Overall I'm not worried about surgery at all which is good, considering I still don't have a date I don't think I'm going to be worried about it until I get a date, but that's the price you pay when you go public right? Actually in my situation it's kind of good, I'm being pushed through all the barriers to have this done (even all my surgeons have said this) which in a way is good but also definitely makes me nervous just the fact that they are pushing me through the barriers and what not. I know that they only want the best for me - health wise which is great but I dunno. So I have to go to the hospital (yet again) on the 24th I think for the regular stuff - See my respiratory Dr and get numerous breathing tests - the tests don't bother me at all - I mean you sit in this box and they tell you to breathe in and do all this other stuff - but when they close the door - that annoys me - only because it's so fricken hot in that box lol and then they have to do 3 tests with the door closed and they open the door and there like "oh was it hot in there" well uhh yeah when your in a confined space and asked to pant and then hold your breathe and then breathe and then pant - it gets a bit hot lol. Anyway I'll update again once I've gone to the Dr
Oh and one other thing - Is it really that hard for people to learn CORRECT spelling? I was looking through someone’s blog, I'm not gonna name names but seriously, it's not that hard to spell correctly right? Maybe it's just because I'm good at spelling that I notice other people’s bad spelling but I dunno - Use spell check people - Not that hard!
