K B.
I visited several times with Dr. Thomas prior to my surgery. As part of the preop examination, I had an endoscopy which indicated I had a hiatal hernia that was rather large. Since I had originally came to him to investigate the cause of my reflux, not responding well to Nexium, I was not surprised to hear this diagnosis. Since I had decided to have lap band surgery, I was to have the hernia repaired during the lap band placement. However, this did not turn out to be so simple. As most of you have found, insurance companies tell us what to do, so they denied approval of the hernia repair if I had the lap band done as they did not want to have anything to do with bariatric surgery. So, my choices were to have both done together and pay the entire bill myself (well over$21,000) or have 2 surgeries and they would pay for the hernia repair, leaving me to have a 2nd procedure and pay for the lap band myself. After much thought and prayer, I decided to have 2 procedures. My laproscopic hernia repair went well and I had immediate relief of my severe reflux. I was ecstatic and anxious for the lap band. Dr. Thomas suggested I wait at least 3 months to give myself time to heal. I had the lap band surgery done without any difficulties. I went home the same day and immediately began drinking fluids and taking short walks. I had minimal discomfort and no problems. On about the 4th day postop I started feeling short of breath and just really tired. I also had a weird feeling of anxiety and was scared to be alone. My husband was at work so my mom came to stay with me. Later that day I continued to have shortness of breath and was very panicky. This was not something I do typically, so I knew something must be horribly wrong. Since Dr. Thomas was an hour away, I went to my family practice doctor first. She checked my oxygen level and saw the way I was breathing and immediately became alarmed and called for an ambulance. She thought I had a pulmonary embolism, which can be a live-threatening post op complication. To make a long story short, I had an ER dr tell me I would have to have the band removed or I could die as he thought I had an esophageal tear. After calling Dr. Thomas, he convinced them I didn't have a tear,they were just seeing the mesh he had sutured in my diaphragm to repair the hernia. I had a collapsed lung on one side and was in the ICU for 9 days! The only good thing during all of this was losing 15 lbs! I had to convince the staff over and over that this was a good thing-they kept weighing me daily thinking I had some kind of problem that was making me have weight loss. I did lots of educating about the lap band during my stay.
Well, after all of this, here I am 1 yr 5 mos later feeling great and have lost 72 pounds! I have about 30 more to reach goal! I still look in the mirror and see someone that's overweight. I hope time will "train" my eyes...I can tell I've lost by the clothing I can wear. From a size 22 to a 12!!! If that's not proof, I dont know what is. I get positive comments from friends and family. They have all been great.
I thank God every day for the knowledge he has given surgeons to help us who need help with losing weight. I couldn't have lost this much weight on my own. I tried too many times and failed. I finally feel like a winner!
