socrangel
I have always struggled with my weight. In high school a guy used to tease me about my spread being as big as the Ponderosa. I was slimmest during college but still 15- 20 pounds overweight. When I got engaged and had the final fitting for my gown they had to take the sides out 2 inches. Then I got pregnant with my first son and my weight ballooned to over 200 pounds. In the 3yrs after I had him I joined Weight Watchers and lost 40 pounds. Then I got pregnant with my second son and all the wieght came back and more. I have gained more weight in the last few years. I have tried Weight Watchers several more times but never had the success that I had the first time. I just don't have the will power anymore.
In February of 2006 a colleague of mine had Lap Band surgery. She left our school shortly after she had it and I didn'te see her until June. She had lost 30+ pounds and loved it. I then saw her again in August and asked her the name of her surgeon and if insurance covered it. She told me that it was covered and Felix Spiegel was her surgeon. I began to investigate lap band and Dr. Spiegel on the web. After reading about it from many different sources I decided to sign up for one of Dr. Spiegel's free seminars. I called and made the appointment and they took my insurance information. They called back later to confirm my appointment and to tell me what my co-pay would be for a consultation with Dr. Spiegel. I attended the seminar with my husband, whose BMI is 25, and Dr. Spiegel gave a very imformative presentation. He actually had a band to show us and passed around so we could look at it closely. He answered all the questions anyone asked. I asked quite a few. Then after the seminar I had my consultation and Dr. Spiegel calculated my BMI to be 39 almost 40. He said I was an ideal canidate and that I would be able to get off all my blood pressure medicine eventaully. He was also very surprised that I don't snore or have sleep apnea and that my husband does.
My husband and I decided that it would be to my benfit to have the surgery so I called Dr. Spiegel's office and they started the insurance approval process. It took 2 weeks and I was approved. We then scheduled my pre op and surgery date. They told me the amount to bring to pre op and it was considerably less that I thought I was going to have to pay. My only complaint about the money issue is that they only take cash, cashier's check or money order. My pre op went fine and I found out that I would be having the surgery at the new University General Hospital in Houston. I read up on it on their website. I was impressed at the pre op.
10/13/06 I had to arrive at the hospital at 5:30 AM. All of Dr. Spiegel's patients arrive at 5:30 AM so it is first come first serve. I was the lst to arrive of his 3 patients that day and I was in my room in the hospital by 10 AM. Dr. Spiegel came to see me before surgery and asked if I had any questions and answered the ones I did have. Then he told me that I would be spending the night in the hospitale as he felt it would be safer. I was surprised by this as I had believed I was having it outpatient. All his patients that day stayed overnight. I saw him briefly during recovery as he walked by and commented that I looked better that I had before surgery. That is the last time I saw him. I spent the rest of the day in the hospital. When I first got to the floor they checked me in and I was able to rest for a few hours. Then they took me downstairs for a cat scan. It was hard to drink that whole cup of Barium even though they gave me all the time I needed. They wanted to make sure that nothing leaked out of my stomach. I went back to my room and slept off and on as I was still really groggy from the anesthesia. They gave me some pain medication and anti-inflamatories. Then they left and I didn't see them again. My husband left to go home around 3 PM and I still hadn't had anything to drink except ice chips that I had to ask for so around 4 I asked about it and they said that they had to check my cat scan results. And hour later I asked again and they gave me some jello and said that they would be back to get my clear liquid dinner order. They never came back. They checked on me one more time when I was in bed and were going to put on the compression pads so I said let me go to the bathroom first and when I came back a few minutes later she was gone and I never saw her again. When the night staff came on and came to check on me I asked about dinner, by this time it was like 8PM, and they said they'd check and with 15-20 minutes they brought me more jello and juice. I walked the halls alot to try to get rid of the gas pain as my shoulder and back hurt. When I was ready to go to bed I called for the nurse and asked for pain medication. She was there within 5 minutes. I slept fitfully during the night and was checked on several times by the night staff. I had a hot broth with jello and juice for breakfast which I couldn't eat it all. Then the nurse told me that I could leave whenever I felt ready. I took a shower when my husband brought my things and we left. Dr. Spiegel never came to the hospital to check on me. He just left dismissal orders. I spent the rest of the weekend walking and resting. I was still in alot of pain from the gas in my shoulders back and neck. When I looked at my dressings I saw they had used plastic adhesive bandages and I am allergic but they used it anyway and now I have a red welt around each incision. I went back to work on Monday and was a little sore but moving around helped a little. I called Dr. Spiegel's office to set up my follow up and asked what I could do about the allergic reaction and was told to take Benadryl. I went for my follow up today at Dr. Spiegel's office. I did not see him just a nurse practioner. She was very attentive and wrote down my complaints about the rash, hospital and also the gas and nausea feeling I'm still having. I'm still to take Benadryl until Tuesday if it's not better by then they'll call me in a prescription. The nausea and gas are still from the gas they pumped into my stomach will go away eventually. I feel good with those exceptions and have lost 12 pounds. Now I get to eat creamy soups and a thin milkshake if I wish.
I had to have them call me in some hydrocortisone cream which I had to spell for them and remind them they needed a pharmacy number. I got it and my rash is improving. I feel better this week with no pain or gassy feeling. Tomorrow I get to eat soft foods. I have lost 17 pounds. I have my first fill scheduled for Nov. 6 at the Surgery Center.
11/06/06 I had my first fill today. The technician put in 1.8cc. It took all of 5 minutes. I had it done at the Surgery Center on South Main. I got there early and had to wait only a few minutes. It is pretty much painless. I did feel the needle pull when I had to go from a laying down position to a standing position for my barium x-ray and continued feeling it while they took the x-ray but it was bearable as it didn't last very long. Then I had to drink water to make sure the fill was not too much. There was also one of Dr. Spiegel's people there to talk with me about how I was doing and tell me what to expect and answer any questions I had. It was a really positive experience.
