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Dr. Ariel Ortiz at the OCC



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Hi all' date='

My name is Angie and I had my revision on Sept. 26th with Dr Ortiz and Dr Martinez. This was my 5th Surgery At the OCC. I got my first band on April 2005. Worked well for me ( as I thought) I lost 140 lbs in 5 months. Well turned out that was a bad thing the band had slipped I was vomiting everything I ate or drank. Returned to the OCC for band removal. I was devastated as I had never been a normal weight. I now had to wait 6 months to be rebanded. So that my tummy could heal. Went back to OCC to be rebanded at exactly 6 months to the day ( I was counting down that 6 month wait). In Oct. 2007 was rebanded ready to lose the 75 lbs that I have regained. So excited . Never could lose weight with the new band. In 2008 my 19 year old son died. So next few years went by that I didn't care about anything. Not about my weight or how to make that band work for me. Then this year after not taking care of myself and eating right I got gerd. The gerd was going into my lungs and making it very difficult to breath. It was determined that I needed to lose my second band and needed to lose it fast. I knew that I couldn't trust anyone other than my Dr.'s at OCC. As even though I had lost 2 bands I knew it wasn't there fault but that I never used the tool the way it was designed. After discussing with my husband what I needed to do we decided no more bands. My husband wanting me to just be done with all WLS I knew I could never lose or maintain on my own. I convinced him to let me go with the sleeve . I'm now 5 weeks out I feel great. This is so different from the band. I have been keeping up with all your post and other post on here. I was really hesitant to post on the forum as I was afraid that I might say something that would offend someone and it turn bad. But after reading all your post I felt comfortable enough to tell my story and hopefully become one of the losing buddies here. Sorry this turned out to be so long once I started it just kept coming out.

HW: 274(preop)

SW: 260

CW: 241[/quote']

Angie welcome, so glad your hear!

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Hi all' date='

My name is Angie and I had my revision on Sept. 26th with Dr Ortiz and Dr Martinez. This was my 5th Surgery At the OCC. I got my first band on April 2005. Worked well for me ( as I thought) I lost 140 lbs in 5 months. Well turned out that was a bad thing the band had slipped I was vomiting everything I ate or drank. Returned to the OCC for band removal. I was devastated as I had never been a normal weight. I now had to wait 6 months to be rebanded. So that my tummy could heal. Went back to OCC to be rebanded at exactly 6 months to the day ( I was counting down that 6 month wait). In Oct. 2007 was rebanded ready to lose the 75 lbs that I have regained. So excited . Never could lose weight with the new band. In 2008 my 19 year old son died. So next few years went by that I didn't care about anything. Not about my weight or how to make that band work for me. Then this year after not taking care of myself and eating right I got gerd. The gerd was going into my lungs and making it very difficult to breath. It was determined that I needed to lose my second band and needed to lose it fast. I knew that I couldn't trust anyone other than my Dr.'s at OCC. As even though I had lost 2 bands I knew it wasn't there fault but that I never used the tool the way it was designed. After discussing with my husband what I needed to do we decided no more bands. My husband wanting me to just be done with all WLS I knew I could never lose or maintain on my own. I convinced him to let me go with the sleeve . I'm now 5 weeks out I feel great. This is so different from the band. I have been keeping up with all your post and other post on here. I was really hesitant to post on the forum as I was afraid that I might say something that would offend someone and it turn bad. But after reading all your post I felt comfortable enough to tell my story and hopefully become one of the losing buddies here. Sorry this turned out to be so long once I started it just kept coming out.

 

HW: 274(preop)

SW: 260

CW: 241[/quote']

 

Welcome! I'm sorry to hear about your hardships.

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Thank you all for the warm welcome. Look forward to taking this journey with you all.

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Welcome Angie! Sorry to hear of the loss of your son... Glad to hear another good report on OCC

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Hi all' date=' My name is Angie and I had my revision on Sept. 26th with Dr Ortiz and Dr Martinez. This was my 5th Surgery At the OCC. I got my first band on April 2005. Worked well for me ( as I thought) I lost 140 lbs in 5 months. Well turned out that was a bad thing the band had slipped I was vomiting everything I ate or drank. Returned to the OCC for band removal. I was devastated as I had never been a normal weight. I now had to wait 6 months to be rebanded. So that my tummy could heal. Went back to OCC to be rebanded at exactly 6 months to the day ( I was counting down that 6 month wait). In Oct. 2007 was rebanded ready to lose the 75 lbs that I have regained. So excited . Never could lose weight with the new band. In 2008 my 19 year old son died. So next few years went by that I didn't care about anything. Not about my weight or how to make that band work for me. Then this year after not taking care of myself and eating right I got gerd. The gerd was going into my lungs and making it very difficult to breath. It was determined that I needed to lose my second band and needed to lose it fast. I knew that I couldn't trust anyone other than my Dr.'s at OCC. As even though I had lost 2 bands I knew it wasn't there fault but that I never used the tool the way it was designed. After discussing with my husband what I needed to do we decided no more bands. My husband wanting me to just be done with all WLS I knew I could never lose or maintain on my own. I convinced him to let me go with the sleeve . I'm now 5 weeks out I feel great. This is so different from the band. I have been keeping up with all your post and other post on here. I was really hesitant to post on the forum as I was afraid that I might say something that would offend someone and it turn bad. But after reading all your post I felt comfortable enough to tell my story and hopefully become one of the losing buddies here. Sorry this turned out to be so long once I started it just kept coming out. HW: 274(preop) SW: 260 CW: 241[/quote']

 

Hi Angie!

It sounds like your journey has been a long one with lots of peaks and valleys- your story shows what a strong person you are- you've proven to be a woman of perseverance. I've learned that this thread is a safe place to post. I'm sorry you didn't post sooner! So glad to see another OCC patient. Don't be a stranger :)

 

{)i(} Sent from my iPhone using VST {)i(}

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Started my pre-op diet today. Hasn't been too bad so far.

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Can someone kindly tell me where to buy the Unjury chicken Protein powder that everyone talks about?

 

http://www.unjury.com/store/protein/reg/chicken_soup_flavored_protein.shtml

 

{)i(} Sent from my iPhone using VST {)i(}

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Dang Angie....you have had a heck of a ride! Glad you are here...even more pleased that your surgery has been successful. Thanks for sharing your story...we could probably all learn something from YOU! Lead us my friend! Oh, and welcome to the sleeved side!

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Dang Angie....you have had a heck of a ride! Glad you are here...even more pleased that your surgery has been successful. Thanks for sharing your story...we could probably all learn something from YOU! Lead us my friend! Oh' date=' and welcome to the sleeved side![/quote']

Thank you

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So this is probably a dumb question but I'm going to ask it anyway... How long till I can get my incisions wet? I'm trying to pack... we leave in the morning and I wondered if it was worth taking my swimsuit?

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So this is probably a dumb question but I'm going to ask it anyway... How long till I can get my incisions wet? I'm trying to pack... we leave in the morning and I wondered if it was worth taking my swimsuit?

 

Hehe I don't think you'll be doing much swimming dear :P it's still surgery, those other days there you'll still be recovering. I could be wrong though.

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Yeah that's what I figured... Lol. But back2barb said she had planned to spend time at the pool! :) I guess the key word there was AT the pool not IN the pool? I would love to lay in the sunshine but I guess I could do that in my pjs!

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Yeah that's what I figured... Lol. But back2barb said she had planned to spend time at the pool! :) I guess the key word there was AT the pool not IN the pool? I would love to lay in the sunshine but I guess I could do that in my pjs!

 

Hopefully she'll get back to you soon about that :) I'm excited. Officially seven days til I leave fore OCC, eight until surgery

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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