BlueMoon~T

I've been MIA for a long time from this site because I sorta feel like a failure. Here's my Story... In August 2014 my band was too tight. I went to the the Dr. and they removed a tiny bit of fluid and had me drink some barium and asked me to do a swallow test. With tiny sips the water trickled through. I should have asked them to remove a little more but the weight was dropping off me fast because I could hardly get anything down. My mistake, but I feel like my Dr was somewhat responsible as well. It was just too tight! I was fine for two days, then I woke up on Friday morning and I couldn't drink my protein drink. i couldn't even swallow my saliva. I got the slimy yucky foamy stuff for most of the day. I called my Dr. office and had to leave a message. Nobody called me back on Friday. Saturday I woke up suddenly feeling very sick and i threw up blood. Several times Saturday I would throw up blood. My tummy would feel full and I hadn't eaten anything and I would throw up and it would be dark blood. Foolishly i waited until Sunday to go to the ER. By this time I was very dehydrated and my potassium was extremely low. Just a side note: If you ever have to have Potassium Intravenously infused it hurts so bad. I'm not exaggerating. It's very painful. Anyway... Luckily, the hospital I went to has a newly opened WLS clinic and the surgeon who i was speaking with knew about the Lab Band and how to look for slippages. He even said he wanted to see if he could try to save my band for me. Unfortunately my band had completely slipped and was wrapped around the middle of my stomach. So, it had to be removed. After he left the room I sobbed I was so upset! Flash forward to August 2015,I have a regain of about 40lbs. so i decided to have a revision to RNY Gastric Bypass. I found a new WLS Dr at a new Center that has really put me through the ringer. I had to go to a specific place to take my Psych. Evaluation. That was a little pricey $800 the Dr. was out of Network. Then I had to be approved by the surgical board to determine if they thought I would follow the program. Now, on September 15th, I am going to my preoperative class that takes all day long and I have to bring someone from my support group. I will find out my surgery date which should be in about 2 weeks because I will have to do the liquid diet. Then I will officially be an RNY Gastric Bypass Revision Patient! Revision's don"t lose weight as fast as newly operated on patients. I've heard there have been complications with revisions from the band to the sleeve. I'm not versed enough to speak to all the complications because I am sure there are plenty with the RNY, too! When I spoke to my Dr about his opinion on what he thought would be best for me he said, " Honestly, I prefer the RNY, because it has the dumping". I thought for a moment and decided that he was right and that would be another useful tool. I mean if my body rejects sweets and greasy food, then heck yeah! Here's to an awesome HONEYMOON PERIOD with my bypass surgery. I'm hoping I will continue to get support from my friends and make new ones in the process. I'm trying to look at this as a positive thing. Thanks for reading, ~T

LOVE IT!!!! The first surgeon I had a consult with told me he would only do the RNY on me. I found a different surgeon. I've been successful, too! Not goal weight yet, but I'm still losing. To those people and Doctors who think if you have a 100 or more pounds to lose can only do sleeve or bypass to be successful, I call BS...It can be done. Look at all the people on this site!!

I totally agree. The band takes work and commitment and there are those of us who can be successful. It really makes me uber cranky when I see other bandsters being disrespected. I'm going to start a new campaign called, "Stop the Band Bashing". People come to the site for encouragement, knowledge and just to share their experiences. They don't post stuff to be judged! Just my two cents!

This is a good read. I definitely lean towards the alter approach. After all, this isn't just another diet. As you mentioned, most of the time foods placed on "not allowed" list will soon be calling our names. Usually ending with a guilt ridden binge. Like TMF stated, only enough for one serving, or at least IMO a taste to soothe that craving. Lastly, the mindful eating has been the biggest difference in my weight loss process. My WLS helps me be mindful of everything I put into my mouth, how big the bites are and how long I chew. Then waiting for that sensation that what I've eaten has passed through my band. Mindful always of all things good or not so good that I put into my body. It's all altered from the place I was.

Thank you! Only five weeks until she arrives. I can't wait!!

I want to start this entry out on a positive note... I'm still doing great with my band. I'm losing inches and pounds and I still love my band. Now, if any of you know my back story you know last April I had a serious medical issue that put me in ICU for several weeks on a ventilator and dialysis. I recovered thank God and my Dr.'s were optimistic about my kidneys. I was just told under no circumstances was I to take any kind of NSAIDS. Well, a week and a half ago I started feeling sick and noticed I was retaining fluids, then it occurred to me that I hadn't tinkled in almost 36 hours. Got blood work done and of course I was in kidney failure again. I had to go back on dialysis for a week and luckily my kidneys started working again this last weekend. BTW, I'm one of those lucky people that dialysis makes me feel deathly ill. The anti nausea medication didn't help. So, I've just been miserable. My Renal specialist is less optimistic about my prognosis now. I no longer had acute kidney failure once! I now have kidney disease. Most likely... Ah, I'm not even going to say it. It just sucks because now I have to take two more medications added to the list of many that I already take. My take away is this... I compromised my health by being so fat. I was on so many medications for all my different ailments that I eventually made my body sick as it was trying to process all the meds. Now, I have to deal with the consequences. Confession: I'm not good at getting my daily fluid intake in and for someone with my history that is a huge no-no! I'm not having a pity party, I'm just dealing with the gravity that I've potentially done irreversible damage to my body that could down the road put me in need of new kidneys. But, today... I'm done with dialysis! There are now foods that I have to stay away from completely to help my kidneys function properly and no alcohol. Bummer dude! I'm kicking myself in the arse for waiting so long to have the surgery. In my mind I have those " What ifs" floating around. But, I'm still standing and as long as I am, I'm going to stay the course. I'm going to reach my goal. I'm going to finish what I've started and be the best and most healthy me I can be! Plus, I have a grand baby due next month and I wanna be a GILF! Too much? Too soon? LMAO!! Till next time, ~T

Welcome to the site! And congrats on your surgery date! You must be super excited. You're going to be dancing and doing all the things that your weight has held you back from...soon! Enjoy your journey!!

I'm glad that the gibberish I write in my blogs can be relatable to others who have gone through WLS. Change is hard, but empower yourself. Make your goal your mantra. You got this! Keep me updated on your progress.

I had heard that traveling can cause your band to become tighter. Well, in Vegas my band lost all restriction, but as soon as I got to Houston for my lay over, I was much tighter and now that I'm home I have great restriction. So, traveling did mess with my band just not the way I thought it would. My trip was awesome. Vegas is a different kinda animal. I played the slots and broke even in the end. This trip we went out to Fremont Street. I loved the live music and insanely crazy people walking around and posing for pics. We also took a bus tour out to the Grand Canyon... Awe inspiring site and I conquered my fear of heights by walking on the Skywalk. That's a check off of my bucket list! A year ago I would not have taken this trip. 1) I could barely squeeze into an airline seat and couldn't buckle my seatbelt .this time pssssh! I fit in my seat and had room to spare with my seatbelt. 2) I wouldn't have been able to walk the strip and enjoy the sights. This time I walked from early morning till late, late, well, early morning. My back still hurt like hell, but I had my meds and managed wonderfully. 3) I always felt like people would stare or make comments about my size everywhere I went. I know some of this was in my head, but not all of it! This trip a guy bought me some drinks and we danced for what seemed like hours. Got some winks and I felt sexy as hell. Life with the band takes a lot of dedication, but the pay-off is so worth it. My life is so much more fulfilling. I can't wait until I reach my goal! I was determined to make this WLS work and I haven't lost sight of that. I have my moments of disappointment. I don't want to give the impression it's been all sugar free peaches and fat free cream. But, I've chosen to focus on the positive and it's working for me. Love your band and it will love you back!

This weekend I did what I have never done before. I cleaned out my closet. I've held onto size 16 to size 26 jeans/slacks/capris for years. I would go up and down and I would always have some back up clothes to go to. Well, not anymore. I got rid of all my size 20-26. I can still wear some of my 18's but I can fit into my size 16 jeans now. I loaded up bags and bags full of clothes and dropped them off at the Planet Clothes depositories that we have here in town. Looking back in hindsight I see we have a clothes trade forum here and should have donated them to someone who might have needed them. I will definitely do that next time! I just feel so good b/c I am letting go of things. I'm learning to be more confident and in becoming that new me, I let go of the security blanket of 'what if". You know, what if I gain the weight back and need those clothes? NOPE! Not going to happen! I'm hoping my next step in this journey will be getting off of the medicines I have to take now. One day at a time, one pound as it goes, I'm getting healthier and that's what I chose!

Today I am so excited about my decision to get my Lap Band. I know I still have 70 lbs. to lose to get to my goal weight, but I've lost almost 100 lbs. I don't know what you would call that, but it sure feels like I'm succeeding. Now, if I'm going to be honest I want to vent a little bit. I rather enjoyed being ignorant/uniformed about how the majority of people (not all) who chose to have VSG or RNY look at those of us who have the band. Most days I just move on and SMH, but other times I feel disrespected. It feels like I'm being told I'm ignorant and made a stupid decision and that they are in some way guaranteeing that I am going to fail. I know at one of the seminars I went to they had a person who had the band and another who had RNY. They guy who had RNY said that he knew he would find a way to eat around his band and that is why he chose to have the Bypass surgery. I also have an Aunt who had Bypass. She lost weight but she also figured out a way to eat around her surgery and gained her weight back. She still struggles with diets now. You can find bad things about every surgery, but why such disdain for the band? The idea that you either do it the way I did it or you're doing it wrong makes me cranky. Excuse me, my way seems to be working perfectly fine for me. I also always try to be diplomatic and say that we are all on the same page if we had WLS, we want to get healthy, so why worry about which surgery you or I had. I guess its just like anything in life, you can find information anywhere to support your point of view. The integration of the site has just made me more aware of how people view me as a bandster. Often times, I get dismissed as if my opinions or my weight loss is of little or no consequence. I'm not the type to rip someone in the forums when this happens... so, here I am in my blog, pounding away on my keyboard getting it out of my system so I can go on my merry way. In the name that all is holy... people PLEASE stop posting questions in the forums on what surgery you should get. You can get that information online, from your Dr. and just your own informed decision making skills. We can't tell you what to do and it almost always turns into a battle of my surgery is better than your surgery. Aren't we all adults and cant we just be happy for each other that we're taking steps to improve our quality of life?

There are some crazy people out there. Wait, I might be the weird one! We're all "special" in our own way, I just think some people don't have common sense. Thanks for reading my blog.