Crazymomto5

The third attempt was successful. It has now been 2.5 years from the surgery. I feel awesome. I have so much more energy, no longer require medication for high blood pressure or diabetes. I have gained some of the weight back. chocolate is my best friend and nemesis at the same time.

The third attempt was successful. It has now been 2.5 years from the surgery. I feel awesome. I have so much more energy, no longer require medication for high blood pressure or diabetes. I have gained some of the weight back. chocolate is my best friend and nemesis at the same time.

My name is Haley. I'm 19 years old and I got the vertical sleeve gastrectomy on October 22. My surgeon was Dr. Boorse at the Lehigh Valley Hospital in Pennsylvania. I choose to get the surgery because I have dealt with my weight all my life. I tried taking diet pills, did weight watchers and so on. But I always seemed to gain the weight back. What really hit me and made me choose to get the surgery would be my doctor telling me I was at a high risk for a heart attack. It made me think do I want to have a heart attack at the age of 19? So from then on I decided to change my life to a healthier life style than what I was use to. My highest weight was 265 pounds. The day of surgery I weighed in at 245 and as of today I weigh 180 pounds.

After preparing for a full year, I had the surgery on 01/07/15. I was feeling great until 6 days out when I began to have excruciating pain in my left shoulder that radiated down to my back. My surgeon told me to come back to the ER (a 1.5 hour journey for me). So, on 01/14/15, I was admitted to the hospital with a leak in my stomach. I was in the hospital for a week. Kaiser decided that a stent was the way to go, so on 01/16/15, I had a stent placed in my esophagus and stomach. I also had a PICC line placed in my arm. I was released to home on 01/23/15 and placed on TPN (total parental nutrition - basically nutrition from a bag through the PICC line in my arm). They tried to remove the stent on 02/20/15 but wouldn't you know it, the stent had gotten stuck to my esophagus! They had to put a smaller stent inside the first stent to try and break the adhesion. Boy, if anything could go wrong, it seems it did for me. I have an appointment this Friday, the 13th (thank goodness I am not superstitious) for both stents to be removed. I will be so relieved when I won't have to feel the pressure of the stent pushing out on my esophagus anymore. When I will be able to actually eat something, a pleasure which I have not enjoyed since 12/31/2014. I hope when all this is said and done, that I made the right decision for myself in getting this surgery. I am a 46 year old woman with five children and all I want is to be healthy so that I can enjoy the time spent with my children. I want to be medicine free, no more Metformin, no more high blood pressure. Let's hope that Friday's removal of the stent is successful and I can get back on the road to a healthier me.

After preparing for a full year, I had the surgery on 01/07/15. I was feeling great until 6 days out when I began to have excruciating pain in my left shoulder that radiated down to my back. My surgeon told me to come back to the ER (a 1.5 hour journey for me). So, on 01/14/15, I was admitted to the hospital with a leak in my stomach. I was in the hospital for a week. Kaiser decided that a stent was the way to go, so on 01/16/15, I had a stent placed in my esophagus and stomach. I also had a PICC line placed in my arm. I was released to home on 01/23/15 and placed on TPN (total parental nutrition - basically nutrition from a bag through the PICC line in my arm). They tried to remove the stent on 02/20/15 but wouldn't you know it, the stent had gotten stuck to my esophagus! They had to put a smaller stent inside the first stent to try and break the adhesion. Boy, if anything could go wrong, it seems it did for me. I have an appointment this Friday, the 13th (thank goodness I am not superstitious) for both stents to be removed. I will be so relieved when I won't have to feel the pressure of the stent pushing out on my esophagus anymore. When I will be able to actually eat something, a pleasure which I have not enjoyed since 12/31/2014. I hope when all this is said and done, that I made the right decision for myself in getting this surgery. I am a 46 year old woman with five children and all I want is to be healthy so that I can enjoy the time spent with my children. I want to be medicine free, no more Metformin, no more high blood pressure. Let's hope that Friday's removal of the stent is successful and I can get back on the road to a healthier me.

Wow that's a lot of complications to endure. Praying for a speedy recovery from here on out and I have always found Friday the 13 th to be lucky. Prayers. Sent!

I'm not just hoping, I'M PRAYING!!! Let us know how it goes, we're here for you....

Aside from setting my wedding date, this was probably the most exciting date I have ever set in my life! My surgery date is June 15th and I am thrilled. For the last 10 years I have put on an average of ten pounds a year. I feel like garbage and I am exhausted all the time.
I am a 6th grade teacher and so I scheduled my surgery for the first Monday we are out of school. My husband is very supportive, my mother is terrified and 99% of my friends are very supporttive. I have one friend who is less than thrilled I am choosing to have this surgery. This is also my friend who I have yo-yo dieted with since we were 13. She has struggled with her weight all of her life as well. Either way I am excited to start this journey and share my experiences with all of you! Looking forward to learning lots and lots!