mahealanij

Well I'm not quite what to say "about me" so I guess i shall start with my stats...

My name is Mahealani. I am a 31 year old female from the island of Oahu', In 2006, I decided my home town was just to beautiful. tropical and perfect (with the greatest amount of sarcasm i could muster up) so I decided to move to the oh' so much more beautiful, Baltimore Maryland. I have a full-time professional job that can be pretty stressful at times but you cant beat the job security & benefits!! (well for now)

Before my late teens I always had an athletic build but nearing the end of my adolescence I started to gain a lot of weight. I'm not quite sure why but maybe it had to do with childhood/family drama that unfolded in those years. Its strange, even though i wasn't happy with my body i had grown to accept it. And that may have been the greatest detriment to my weight loss battle. I accepted defeat without even knowing there was a battle that should have been fought.

When I turned twenty I was already in a size 14/16. When i couldn't fit those jeans anymore I decided to try to lose the weight. It was hard to find a reasonable solution, I worked nights 7pm-7am in a hospital and carried a full time college course schedule. HECTIC! I really cant remember what i did but i managed to get back into a size 14 and stay there for a couple of years. Most likely i cut out my morning ritual of burger king croissant sandwiches and late lunches of fried catfish sandwiches with extra tartar sauce & french fries. What I did find was a little homey deli that made the best toasted rye sandwiches with the freshest fixings.

Through out my twenties I had my ups and downs. Apparently since I am posting here i have experienced way more UPS than downs. I tried so many diets, from weight watchers (about 6 times), L.A weight loss (which was probably more expensive than the Lapband), Atkins diet, south beach diet... Slim fast (or as i like to call it, Slim slow) and not good for someone who is lactose intolerant. There are so many... i cant even remember.

When i was 27 a friend of mine that lived in NY was debating if she should go through with the lapband procedure. She was about a size 24/26 then. We talked about it but I wasn't that educated on the topic and felt it was such a drastic measure to take. She put it off for a couple of years and in 2008 decided to have the procedure done. I really didnt hear from her much in the year to pass. It was around that time I turned 29, I was tipping the scale at about 200 lbs. I'm only five feet even so my width wasn't much less than my height.. lol.... okay I'm exaggerating but seriously.. Close enough.. It was then i really started to consider having the lap band surgery.

Then one day, i log onto my Facebook account and i have a friends request from a familiar name with a unfamiliar face. Quickly I accepted and in my amazement it was my old friend. But she was a size 10! (Whom is currently a size 8). I couldnt believe it. She looked fabulous and healthy. We discussed the procedure and i talked about it at length. I decided to do a few of the pre-screenings that lapband required and if those came back with bad results I would further consider it. After my sleep study, i found i had mild sleep apnea. After multiple visits with my doctor, I found i had high blood pressure. And after a few blood tests, I found out that i was pre-diabetic. My body was becoming resistant to insulin. WOW! On the day i went to ask my primary care physician to write me a letter of recommendation i weighed in at 226 lbs.

Feb 11, 2011 at 1100hrs I had my lapband procedure done by DR Peter Liao at GBMC. It wasn't as bad as i anticipated it to be. Everybody was very nice. I had same day surgery and went home around 1730 hours. So it was about a six hour ordeal. Everything was going fine until on the sixth day post-op i woke up in severe pain. Which scared me because most of my pain was already gone from the surgery. The doctors best guess is that i have nerve damage. I cant explain to you how bad the pain is, its stabbing, burning and constant. Ive had many tests that ruled out infection so i am grateful for that. I am now 12 days (as i write this) post op and the nerve pain has lessened some but it is still very intense. I am disappointed that i am not up and about like most of my other lapbanders.. I really had thought I'd be up enjoying life. So currently I am still waiting for the day i wake up pain-free.

Cheers!