Wow... where to start?

I knew things were out of hand and I knew I couldn't do it on my own. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get the pounds to go away. We all have a moment where we know we have to do something and my moment was at work. I was working in a hospital and it was a very small hospital. We had a patient that we estimated to be around 800#. She was in ICU and we had to have two beds chained together to hold her.

She was quite ill and she was unable to turn herself. On the night shift we did not have enough strong staff to turn her every two hours. We had to call the fire department every two hours and have them come and help us turn her.

We had to do a procedure where we had to thread a tube in her groin artery. trying to get to her groin was no easy task. We just didn't have the strength to lift her stomach fat away so ... we called the fire dept again.

I'll never forget it, one fireman was on his knees pushing up on her gut fat and another fireman was on the other side holding her gut fat back. The guy on his knees was shaking and sweating trying to hold the massive gut out of the way. There were two police officers watching from the doorway (they come anytime the fire dept is called) and they were gagging and ready to vomit with what they were seeing.

That was my moment. I realized that the lady I was looking at was my size at one time, there was a time when she weighed 252 just like me. But she just got bigger, I was getting bigger by the day. Would I be that person one day?

I knew I didn't want bypass, I heard of the sleeve but there were no long term studies and I hadn't heard of the band. I think I was preparing myself for bypass and trying to talk myself into it. Then on 11/6/06 I discovered the Lap Band. I spent 18 hours a day researching the band. At that time there wasn't really a great deal of info on the negative side of banding. Today there is a great deal of info and such on the down sides of banding, there wasn't so much 2-3 years ago.

I researched everything I could get my hands on, I had a friend in Mexico that is a surgeon help me with my decision. I did nothing but research and read anything related to the band. I knew the rules, I knew I could do it.

So one month later on 12/6/06 I was banded in Mexico.

I knew four days after surgery I made a mistake. I lost weight not because of the band, I lost weight in spite of the band. I could either eat an entire steak with potatoes, salad, and desert or I couldn't swallow my own spit. I really questioned if my doctor did something wrong as everyone else seemed to be doing well. I thought it was just me. I went to two bariatric surgeons and they both said the band was perfect, the surgeon did a good job. Then I went to a GI doc for an endo and he... well, he had no idea what he was looking at. But I showed the video of the upper endo to a GI surgeon that knows about banding and he said it was fine, perfect as a matter of fact.

So it was me. Or so I thought. I tried and struggled for 18 months. Finally at 14-15 months post band I couldn't eat any solids at all. I was on liquids for 4 months. I had my revision from band to sleeve on 6/3/08 and as of today I am 2 days shy of a year of being sleeved. OMG, sleeves are the best thing ever! I can't believe how much I struggled with the band when I could have just had the sleeve to begin with.

I've lost 132#. Today, life is just easier. It's so much easier being a thin person than struggling as a fat person. My entire life has changed, my attitude, my outlook, my perceptions of those around me... everything has changed.

I have learned so much about myself. I have discovered I *am* capable of doing damn well anything I want in life. If I can lose 132# I can do anything. I went from being a couch slug to a runner while I was losing. I just got back to running a week or two ago and feel great. I couldn't run 1 block before WLS, today I can run several miles a day. Anywhere from 4-8 miles depending on how lazy I am that day.

If you feel like you are the only person in the world that can't lose weight, you aren't. It's a hard journey but one well worth the work.

Wow, That is such a great success story! I cant wait until I can have my sleeve.

Life is sooooo much easier as a thinner person. I want the whole world to get WLS, even skinny people just so they never get fat! ;o)

Congrats on your date! You won't be sorry you did this for yourself!

I want everyone to get WLS too!

I want everyone who has never had a weight problem and thinks obese people are lazy to experience life for one day as an obese person.

Thanks, Suzanne, you are always so sweet. I know of a lot of people that wish I was more like you. HA!

OH HECK NO -- I love you just the way you are!!!!:biggrin0:

Life is sooooo much easier as a thinner person. I want the whole world to get WLS, even skinny people just so they never get fat! ;o)

My best friend, who is thin now but had weight issues in the past, is going to be the one taking me for surgery. She watched the procedure on youtube and called me to say, "God should have just made our stomachs that way in the first place!' Good idea! :biggrin0:

My best friend, who is thin now but had weight issues in the past, is going to be the one taking me for surgery. She watched the procedure on youtube and called me to say, "God should have just made our stomachs that way in the first place!' Good idea! :biggrin0:

I think it is Dr. Cirangle that refers to it as "resizing" your stomach. ;o) Sounds just about right to me.

I wish I would have been born with a smaller stomach, makes sense. Smaller stomach, bigger boobs... that would have been perfect. HA!

I'm glad someone who has battled weight issues previously is going with you. She will "get it" unlike those who are skinny their whole lives.

I think it is Dr. Cirangle that refers to it as "resizing" your stomach. ;o)

He calls it "right-sizing". It really does make sense to me. When people say "I can't see paying someone to cut off my perfectly good stomach", my response is "my stomach wasn't perfectly good; it was broken."

It was too big and it made too much ghrelin. Now it's the right size and makes the right amount of ghrelin.

He calls it "right-sizing". It really does make sense to me. When people say "I can't see paying someone to cut off my perfectly good stomach", my response is "my stomach wasn't perfectly good; it was broken."

It was too big and it made too much ghrelin. Now it's the right size and makes the right amount of ghrelin.

Great response Mac - it makes perfect sense!

My 15 month old grandson can eat more than I can1

Michelle is my hero! She provided me with wonderful, detailed information to help me make my decision on which surgery and doctor. She was very patient and talked to me for a very long time before convincing me I could do it and helped reduce my fears. I finally did it and found she was right. It worked so well for me that my husband followed soon after. Now we are encouraging several friends who could really benefit healthwise if they had the surgery. Michelle you started an amazing chain to better health that I hope I can continue.

Edited July 17, 200917 yr by NewburyUK

Hi Newbury, and welcome to our forums. We are happy to have you here and hear you are doing so well. I agree, WASa is a wealth of information and a great resource.

What the heck was all of that???????

I don't know, but I got rid of it, lol.

See WASa, you are missed!

See WASa, you are missed!

Definitely!