lap band surgery

I was so skinny all the way growing up. Even after my 7th child, I was thin. My 8th and last child is the one that did me in. I put on weight and it wouldn't come off. For 10 years i battled obesity and one day my doctor said I was morbidly obese. I hate that term! I had reached 262 pounds

My son was stick thin until about 5 years old and he started putting on weight also. No matter what he did, he couldn't get the weight off. I took him to the doctor to see if it might be his thyroid but was told he was fine. My son was active, he played basketball and didn't sit around and eat or sleep. I felt so bad for him. He would sometimes cry because the weight would come on and stay like an unwanted guest. By the time he was 18, he weighed 408 pounds.

I had heard about gastric bypass but that procedure is so invasive and there was something about them removing part of my stomach that didn't appeal to me. If something screws up, well they can't replace the part of the stomach they cut out. Then I began to hear about Lap band surgery and at first I didn't much attention to it.

As time went on I began to hear more and more good things about this procedure. I signed us up for a seminar to hear more. We went and were so excited about this and for once in a long time, we felt hopeful. Our insurance would cover this surgery. If they hadn't, well we would still be morbidly obese. Also it is completely reversible.

We signed up for the lap band and jumped through the hoops that we needed to. Our appointment was made and my son and I went to the hospital together. He had never had anything like this done and was scared. I let him go first, then I went. This was all done on an outpatient.

When we got home and began to look at our stomachs, we realized they had made 5 incisions. We really didn't feel as bad as what you might think but we were tender. We had to be on a strictly fluid diet for about 2 weeks and then we could go into mushy stuff. We needed to consume at least 60 grams of protein a day. If you ever need to have some ideas of what good protein shakes are out there, I can tell you.

I will explain what happens with a lap-band. They put this rubber ring with a strap coming off of it, the strap has a flat piece with a tiny hole in it, this is to fill the band with fluids. They put the strap around the narrow part of your stomach making this pouch your new stomach and they sew the port into the muscle tissue on your left side right at the base of your ribcage. This ring and port are there permanently. The pouch can only hold about 1/4 food at a time. The food takes longer to absorb and so it gives you a feeling of not being hungry as much. When you eat, you must eat slow and chew your food really good. You can get to feeling miserable if you don't.

When we get to a point that we can start eating more then we need to go into the office for a fill. . That is when they put a needle down into the port and fill it with saline to tighten up the band again and that way we are not able to over eat. Many times I have had to purge myself because I ate too fast and it is so uncomfortyable. The thing is that because it sits in that pouch with no stomach juices, anything coming back up doesn't taste as bad as if it had come from the stomach. Ever once in a while, we go in for fills to help keep us on track, It always seems to jump start out weight loss again. We are unable to eat breads, pastas,or anything with gluten. It isn't that it is forbidden, it is just that it balls up and just sits on top of the ring. I have also noticed that I don't handle spicy things, onions, and really sweet foods very well. I usually become nauseous.

Since that time my son has lost almost 100 pounds and he is looking pretty fine. I Have lost almost 60 pounds, so it does work . I figure that I am in no hurry because I am moving in the opposite direction than I was. I have time.

We both are doing really well and my goal is to get down to where I was at when I was a young girl. For anyone new out therewho needs to get something done whether you are male of female, the lap band is the way to go! I don't regret having mine done and neither does my son..