cmaldavis
I am 37 and have been overweight since I was 18. The heaviest I had ever been was when I was pregnant at 372. I had the band put in April 2008 and did well, losing 55 lbs but then I started having problems. It was so tight no food would go down. I went back to the dr and they would empty the fluid and I still couldn't eat. So in January 2010 I had a revision done to check the band and find out what the issue was. My body had covered the band in scar tissue as well as extreme amounts around and to the liver. Dr. Enochs removed all of the scar tissue and checked the band, it was in perfect condition and location. I was on the way to losing weight again until about June 2010 and I seemed to start having the issues again. By July 27th I could no longer eat anything at all. Even plain yogurt would not go through so I drank fluids and all of the frappacino's and latte's because they did go through....I was so hungry. I had an endoscopy done that showed it was tight but there was no visible reason. By Sept 3rd it was determined the band wasn't working and needed to come out. After surgery on the 3rd Dr. Enochs said my body had covered the band in scar tissue again essentially responding as it had done the first time. Long story short my body rejected the band. Hindsight being 20/20 I should have gone into a sleeve but I didn't. I was so tired of not being able to eat at all that I just wanted it out. It took a month for things to go back to normal.
So I have gone through all the testing again and have a sleeve surgery scheduled for May 23rd 2012. I decided on the sleeve because I still have alot of medications that I need to take for the lupus and there is nothing foreign in my body to be rejected.
I am excited and terrified at the same time. But I hope this will help me get my life back. I dont like being in a wheelchair but am thankful I have had it to get out of the house. I want to be able to walk and run errands and climb stairs and go shopping like I used to and wear all my cute shoes and clothes again. I miss all of that and more. I have 6 large totes of clothes that I haven't been able to wear since I became sick, I can't wait to get into those again. My first goal after surgery is to be able to wear those clothes again and be able to walk and hopefully lessen the chronic pain. All the weight loss after that will be icing on the cake.
Thanks for reading and I will try to keep my blog updated :) I am happy to answer any questions as well.
Amy
