hoping4june

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I have my revision surgery tomorrow, March 16th @ 10 a.m.  I thought this day would never come.
I am so ready that I am not at all nervous!  Here's hoping for a decent recovery.

Today, I found out the date for my revision surgery...March 16th!  I will be having my Lap-Band removed and have gastric bypass.  I am so excited!  After all I've been through...I need to pinch myself!  { I haven't recorded the fact that my husband's insurance policy had changed 6 days after my approval and bariatric surgery was no longer a benefit as of Jan. 1st...long story short, it was back in the policy as of Feb. 1st!}  My heart is pounding like this is too good to be true.  It seems so far away but, I know it will come fast.  I am soooooooo  grateful.

In November, I had to have all of the fluid removed from my band.  I had acid reflux so bad at night I was coughing, throwing up, and losing sleep!  I decided to try for revision surgery.  Initially, the band removal was approved, but the revision surgery was denied.  My doctor and I wrote letters of appeal.  I just found out Friday, Jan. 7th, I was approved for gastric bypass surgery.  Now...it's the final jumps through the hoops...waiting to be scheduled.  I feel like I have won the lottery for the second time!  Anxious for the next chapter...
(to be continued)

...What it feels like to have too much fill!  It felt to me like I was unable to function towards the end.  I honestly thought...if I have to go in to see the doctor now...I'm going to have to go in a wheelchair.  It all started out 4 days after a fill...(.4cc fill) added to the 4.0cc's that was already in there.  I started getting acid reflux @ night.  I would wake up coughing because of the reflux...eventually would be throwing it up!  I tried everything....1. I didn't eat so many hours before bed.  2.  I didn't drink within an hour before bed.  3.  I elevated my chest and head.  4.  I ate rolaids before bed.  5.  I tried sitting up while sleeping.  6.  Eventually, the doctor gave me a prescription for prilosec.  I thought that would take care of it...in fact, I had two good nights...then, it was back!  Soon I started throwing up during the day... I tried some more things...1. Pay attention to what I was eating  2.  Make sure to chew, chew, chew.  3. switch to purees.  4. Switch to liquid.  5.  Eventually, the only thing I could keep down was the protein drink...however, I couldn't take my medicine.  I found that I was getting pain in my chest and back that was probably a "7" on the pain scale.  The only thing that would relieve the pain was a bath.  After losing 4 pounds in a week...taking way too many baths, throwing up more times than I care to remember... I gave in and went in for a partial unfill.  Guess what, SMARTEST THING I EVER DID!!!  I was instantly back to normal!  I felt great, and appreciated that I was finally able to not only eat and drink again...but also, sleep in my bed laying down again!!!  I won't take those for granted for a while :)

Wow, how time flies when you are having fun!  I can't believe it has been six months already!  I am down 97#.  I started as a size 22/24 and now I wear a size 11/12 nearly ready to move down.  This was the first year in my adult life that a New Year has come and gone and I didn't have to make a resolution about my weight!  (Just like the Jenny Craig commercial)!  It is so nice to focus on everything else in my life rather than having food as the focus!  Here's to a lifetime of continued "firsts", "NSV's",  and health improvements! 
I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO SAY ALL OF THIS AND BELIEVE IT!

80# gone!   (SIZE 12/14)
I had my third fill in September.  I have really good restriction right now and lost 12 # since my last fill so I skipped my October fill.  I'll wait to see about November.    
I'm calling 2008, the year of my firsts!  (things I haven't done at all before or haven't done since I was in high school).  Things like...sledding, snowmobiling, swimming, four-wheeling, dressing up for halloween, etc. 
I am so glad that I don't have to always think about my weight anymore!...Like, worrying about if I will fit in a booth at a restaurant, or a seat at a movie theater...sitting in a lawn chair...going through a turnstile...wearing seatbelts...etc.  It is a very freeing feeling!
Who would think that I would actually look forward to getting my picture taken.  I have a couple decades (no pictures).  Noone would know that I existed!
My biggest pet peeve throughout this experience continues to be when people comment about how much weight I've lost and they say..."Wow, you can really tell in your face!"  I think about the comment an OH member told me to use..."Thanks, that's exactly where I wanted to lose that 80#!!!"  LOL

 ...The journey continues...
As of today, I've lost 60 pounds!!  I've gone down from a size 22/24 to a size 16 (which I will soon be leaving).  I'm learning so much about how I used to live my life and how different it is now!  I'm proud of what I have accomplished and am thankful for my LapBand.  I love the support that I receive on this messageboard as well as the support I receive in the two area support groups I attend.  I have met so many wonderful people!  I appreciate every road block that I encounter because I learn so much.  I celebrate every little success...from sitting comfortably in a movie theater seat to wearing a swimsuit in public for the first time in 20 years.  I'm finally LIVING life not just going along for the ride!  I can't wait to see what's next! 

I started my journey in September of 2007.  I was listening to one of my friends talk to someone else I knew about their weight loss.  That person was explaining about the Lap Band (I had never heard of it b/4).  She told me about it and gave me a phone number so I could attend an information seminar.  I attended the seminar October 20th.  At that time, they set up my first appointment to meet with a nurse and dietician.  At that time, I thought things were moving along nicely.  I immediately made my appointment to take the MMPI which is required prior to an evaluation by a psychiatrist.  This is where my journey came to a CRAWL!  I didn't get in to see the psychiatrist until January 8th...two months later!  They didn't finish the report and fax it to the WLS dept. for two months after that (after weekly follow-up calls).  I was so excited on March 18th when the WLS team reviewed all of my information and accepted me for surgery!  I then had to start a program with my insurance company: Health Partners: "A call to Change"  That was the best part of my journey!  It was a 10 week mandatory program that helped incorporate all the lifestyle changes that are necessary to make the Lap Band successful!  I lost 25 pounds while I was doing this program!  That goes to show how important and helpful and life changing that course was!!!!!  I completed the program May 27th.  I had my consult with the surgeon May 29th.    I was approved by my insurance company June 6th.  I had my pre-op teaching June 25th and started my 14 days of a liquid diet on that day.
Now, I have 4 days left of my pre-op liquid diet (July 5th) and have lost a total of 33 pounds!  My surgery is scheduled for July 9th!!!  
I'll add more informaiton about the start of my life after WLS later: