forwardleap
Hi, my name is Christie and I had the Lap Band surgery on Christmas Eve, 2007.
I like so many others had a past full of losing weight only to experience the frustration of gaining it all back and then some! I lost 80 pounds in 2006 only to gain 100 pounds back. This has been my pattern for the last 10 years or so. I have lost more then 80 pounds 2x in this time period, and then I would gain it back and some more.
I have spent many agonizing hours wondering why I tried so hard but as soon as I ate any normal food I gained it all back. In 2006 I used a program called Isagenix. I drank shakes 2 times a day and ate a total of 400-600 calories the rest of the day. Part of the program also required "cleansing". Which I did 2 days a week, I drank the solutions and ate nothing the rest of the day (well, sometimes I just could not stand it and would eat some celery on those days). I lost weight rapidly and was so excited. I saw me shrink from a size 26 to a size 14! What a thrill! But I soon started getting really sick when I tried to take the cleanse solution, and just got to the point I could not drink it. (I now know it was probably my gallbladder causing me the problem) The weight unfortunately started creeping back on.
I have tried through the years just about every new diet or pill that came out. I joined a gym and even bought a bike and elliptical for my home, but I just always seemed to have something come up or just could not stick to a daily program. I just finally gave up. I figured some people are just heavier and fortunately for me I am tall and did not look as heavy as I truly was.
I soon started having health issues, and was not sleeping well at night due to all the reflux. Basically I just started feeling worse and soon started feeling overwhelmed with never feeling good. I finally broke down and went to the Dr. because I had gotten to the point I could not swallow food and was pretty much eating all the soft fattening foods just to eat. I had to have a surgery, and it seems from that point on my body just rebelled on me.
I tripped and fell down some stairs at my home and really hurt myself. When I was on the ground, my husband was trying to help me up and for the first time I was so overwhelmed with the fact that I could not pull my weight up. I literally was to heavy to get up. I made up my mind something had to change, I needed help. I could not lose the weight on my own.
I saw a commercial on TV that was about Lap Band Surgery and it had a lady saying her hunger was like this roaring lion. That is how I felt. All my life I had a huge appetite. I won several all you can eat contest when I was in my teens and thought it was great. I even proudly wore a shirt that had a big super S on the front and said suey (pig) on the back. LOL.....
I called and spoke with someone at the
I had insurance approval within 1 week and surgery was scheduled! The only downside was I was unable to have the gallbladder removed at the same time, as my surgeon said he preferred not to remove the gallbladder at the same time he placed the band, as infection was an issue. So he removed my gallbladder Dec 10 and 2 weeks later I had my hiatal hernia repaired and the lap band placed. I also had Fundoplication surgery on my stomach which has resolved all the reflux, and pain issues. I know a lot of people get relief with just the lap band but my GERD was so bad and I am glad the surgeon took the extra steps to protect me. What a relief! I also no longer have the problems breathing that I was experiencing due to the hernia. Removing the gallbladder solved the pain issue as well.
The Lap Band surgery has given me HOPE. Hope that for the first time I really have a chance to overcome this battle with weight. Hope that I can and will lose this weight but this time I have the tool that will help me keep it off. I am getting my health back and am so excited with what may seem like little accomplishments-but to me they are big deals. I look forward to the day when I can say I have lost 100 pounds and have kept it off!
