pamela P.

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I Had my gastrectomy on April 30th. It was rough for the first three days and I was ICU for them but since day four no pain meds and have been getting better and stronger by the day. One week out and I saw my surgeon for the staples to be removed and guess what I am down 12 pounds. Much better than the Lap Band even in a month. The recovery was actually easier than the first time around with the Lap Band. I am very happy and impressed with my ability to get around as well as I have been. Hoping for the best and soooooo Glad to be able to say I am finally on the loser's bench.

 I got approved again for a second time. Thank God for excellent insurance. I have been diagnosed with gastroparesis, which was caused by the first surgery. I have no choice now but my a subtotal gastrectomy which is very similar to a RNY. Thank God for my new surgeon and his partner who seem to think this is the best option and that it should be able to be done laproscopically. Open incision scares me to death. The whole idea of losing my stomach is hard to grasp also but the symptoms of the gastroparesis is pretty unbearable. My lawyer and I will try to make that easier to swallow once we get the malpractice lawsuit going. It was proven that three weeks before the first surgery for lap band and hiatail hernia repair that my stomach was normal in both motility and caliber and now seven months after surgery I only have 7.6% motility and my new surgeon believes damage to my vagus nerve was caused during the surgery. That was never told to me as a risk. I since searched the websites high and low looking for answers and find nothing mentioned about this. Everyone is sold on lap band as being safe and reversible but this is irreversible. Think things through. I am sure there are a lot of risks to any surgery but I never thought less than a year after what was supposed to a new beginning I would be faced with a life altering decision.

Is this all a big waste of time? I am really doubting this band 150%. I am really disappointed my band has had to be unfilled do to the fact that my stomach has seemed to start pushing its way up through the band and I have had severe nausea and have been throwing up on and off since christmas eve. I saw my primary dr on 12-26 and was told I had a bacteria infection in my stomach and was prescribed antibiotics and an anti-nausea medication. When I was finally acknowledged by my surgeon for an esphogram a week later was when the damaged was revealed and I was awarded with the unfortunate news of most likely another surgery will be needed if my stomach does not heal itself. I was told that I probably would gain all the weight back and if all else fails that I would then qualify for full bypass which I was not happy to hear. I feel that going into this that my surgeon should have used his discresion and determined based on my stomach condition whether or not I was a canidate for the band or not. I went into his office with the wanting of the band based on being referred by my primary dr but feel that maybe I should have been stirred toward another surgery if I was going to have such a hard time with the band and such complications only 6 months out. Am I over re-acting????? I scheduled an apt with another surgeon next week to discuss my options since my current surgeon is saying to wait 4 mths to see if the band can be refilled if not then they offer a one time re-positioning of the band , then possible removal, then possible full bypass with the impression that I would have gained back if not more of the weight. I refuse to gain it back so I had my primary dr give me a diet pill in the meantime until all is figured out.

Well I woke up Wednesday morning with the most painful stabbing abdominal pains ever. I went to work and had an appointment with my PCP that afternoon so suffered the entire day until then. When I saw my PCP, who also gave me a B-12 shot that I recently just started, her advice was to take Tylenol and if it got worse to go to the ER. Well I thought I should contact my surgeon (which I probably should have done in 1st place) and tried to but he did not return my calls to his service until 4 hours later. Even then it was another surgeon from his practice. His only advice was to come in the morning to be checked. Well when I did he said that he thought it could be a couple of things one of which my be an infection that would cause the band to have to be removed. With that upsetting news i was not to happy but thank God the pain went away on its own so far. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Well I  know that I haven't written in awhile but I still check in on a daily basis. This are going slow but steady as far as losing. I now have a total of 8.5 to 9 cc in my band. i am not quite sure if I have any restriction but I just vomited 3 times tonight after feeling no restriction at all today. I am wondering if the fill I got yesterday just kicked in. I have had a bad month as far as sticking to the rules and eating right this past month and was scared I gained weight but when I went to the Dr yesterday I still lost 2.5 lbs. I was very surprised but still wish it was more. I am asthmatic and am on a lot of medicine and my lungs have been pretty bad lately causing me not to be able to exercise. i also have been feeling pretty lousy this month but the Dr says I still was able to lose so I am doing fine. He says due the large hernia he repaired and the large size of the band it is just going to take longer to get to my "sweet" spot but once I do the weight will fall off. I even tried one of his recommended support groups for post op and felt even more disappointed with the whole surgery. Everyone in the group had the band and even the larger band and all had lost much more weight than me and faster. I left feeling even worse than ever. I started to think why did I waste my time? Hopefully the next couple of weeks will change my mind. My Dr seems to think the last fill should last a full 6 wks but said if I feel otherwise I can come back earlier, appointment on Nov 20th. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I have been having a hard time in life and with the band. I had my first fill on 8/7 and it hurt more than be expected. I thought the dr would atleast numb the area first. I guess I should be glad that my port worked seeing that we weren't sure if it had flipped. So I guess that is a relief. My personal life is one hell of a mess but that is getting to be an unfortunate routine. I don't think that losing weight is going to improve anything either. It is only going to add to insecurities on thier part. My weight loss has slowed down a bit but I haven't reached my "sweet point" yet. I guess the amount of loss is good for only 2 months out. I know I am not eating nearly enough and not enough protein because my hair is already falling out. I am not sure if it is from stress or the lack of eating. I have put my body in starvation mode I believe because there is days I eat nothing and days I eat hardly nothing and the scale doesn't move but again I think a big part is stress because my skin is also a mess. Atleast the scale isn't going up either. I try very hard not to be an emotional eater too. The good news is I am at the weight I was when this all started and before I had to take those horrible steriods 6 months ago and before surgery. Yeah! Now anything I lose is going to finally feel like an accomplishment. I also found out that when I had my first fill that the dr did put some fluid in the band during the surgery and added 3 ccs on that day so hopefully the restriction will soon follow. Looking for things to only get better.

Well I went to the Dr. yesterday and I am down a total of 21 Lbs since surgery! Yeah! I felt like I was at a plateau already because I am having a hard time eating anything. I am very tired all the time but I know it is from hardly eating anything. I started taking some of my ulcer medicine again to help with the stomach cramps when I eat. Well at least I am not gaining. I am not scheduled for my first fill on August 5th.

Well the first week was pretty painful but finally I can move with ease. I wanted to die when they sent me home only 4 hours after having what the surgeon says to be the biggest hernia he ever saw fixed on top of having the band placed. The pain was very bad but the Dr. says it from having both done. When I got home all I wanted to do was crawl in bed and sleep but I couldn't bend at all due to the pain which made laying down impossible. The recliner and homedics heat massage mat were my best friends along with constant ice bags on my stomach. Finally after 4 days of sleeping sitting up I was able to climb on my bed, which seemed at the time Mt Everest, using a step stool. I used many pillows to support my stomach. It will be 2 weeks tomorrow and finally I have little to no pain, except where I can feel the port. The air that was trapped in my stomach was unbelievable and I thought it would never leave. Gas-x was my life line but I really don't think it did a lot.  I think  when it was time to  escape  my  body just  started  letting out the stalest nastiest burps ever. I found when the gas pain was too much to bear I would chew a lot of gum and it seemed to help. The air had a favorite spot right under my left rib cage and behind my port which was miserable. The best part is I have already lost 14 pounds and I am not really hungry. I am more afraid that I am not eating enough and I don't want my hair to fall out. I am still on liquids because after  a week I saw the surgeon who said he defiantly does not want me to push it. Anything in excess could send me back to the beginning by tearing the stitches holding my stomach. I defiantly don't want that. I am praying nothing goes wrong with my band as it is because I really never want to be cut again. The anthestia was rough on my lungs. They said they gave me multiple breathing treatments on the table even after they gave me one directly before entering the ER. The surgery also was twice as long as expected(4 hours instead of 2 hours) due to the size and reconstruction of my hernia. It even surprised the surgeon. I must have screwed up the whole OR schedule for the entire day. But it's all worth it now.

Well the trip to surgery has finally grown near and the hurdle to a new life is just begun. I never thought that it would come but it actually has. It has certainly had its ups and downs but it will be well worth it in the end. I can't wait to start seeing the results. In eleven hours  I will be at the hospital and I'm not sure if it has hit me yet because I am not nervous and thought I would be due to never having any type of surgery before. I guess delivering five children naturally has made me stronger than I realized.

Saw my surgeon and primary  Dr. on June 5th, just some last minute questions and answers. Everything supposed to set for June 16th. June 9th went for pre-op tests. I didn't even need to have test done just a consult about operation day. Uh oh, guess what a problem. This time its the surgeon's fault. They didn't book the OR for enough time they forgot all about the hernia repair and now want to delay everything for another week. Spoke to the surgeon's office a few times today and we agreed on June 17th. Things could be worse. So now I will wait one more day but as long as it happens I fine with it. I saw someone waiting for  a family  member today at the hospital  when I went for  my pre-op . I was soooo jealous. I wish it was me and I was on the way to recovery. Soon enough.