Hello and welcome to my new blog!! I have decided to start a blog to catalog my new journey with weight loss surgery. I thought I would start with a bit of a backstory.
I am a 32 year old, married mother of two beautiful boys! I married my high school sweetheart and we have been together since 2000. My oldest, Noah, was born on my 28th birthday. He is my miracle baby. We tried for over 2 years to conceive him. His cord blood flow decreased and so he was delivered early at 36 weeks via c-section. He has the biggest heart and is the sweetest little thing. My youngest, Jack, was also c-section, early at 37 weeks. He is stubborn and has a HUGE personality. They are my world and the reason I wake up every morning. They keep me busy for sure!
Since I can remember, I have been overweight. I have always been the "fat" one of any group I have been a part of. Just like most overweight people, I have tried it all. I have been on a ton of diets and a ton of programs. I see success for a small amt of time and then regain it all and most times more.
In 2009 at 309lb, I decided that it was time to do something for me and I got a Lap-Band placed. I decided to go with the Lap-Band because it was adjustable and we wanted children and I felt that nutrition wise, it was the "safest" option. My surgeon at the time let me decide without much discussion. My first fill of the band, he was having difficulty finding the access port. After an hour of poking around, he finally decided to take me radiology to try. He found that the port flipped so within 2 weeks, he had to take me back to surgery to flip it back around.
My surgeon left the area shortly after my surgery and all of his patients went to another group. When I saw that Dr, I was 270lb and he told me that that was about as much as he thought I would lose. I was completely heartbroken and devastated. If my original surgeon had told me that I was still going to be that heavy, I would've rethought my decision.
In 2012, we found out that I was pregnant with Noah and I got all of the fluid taken out of band. It was in the moment, that I realized just how miserable I was with the fluid in it. With my pregnancy, I gained around 15lb. After I had Noah, I decided not to have the fluid put back in. I stuck around 280lb.
In 2014, we found out we were pregnant with Jack. I gained around 15lbs with him as well. Shortly after I had Jack, I could tell that I was getting more restriction without any fluid in the band.
Currently, I have pain in the port, reflux even with taking medication 2 times a day, and food gets stuck daily. I can not go to eat with friends without the fear of having to throw up. It is literally a miserable life.
For a very long time, I have contemplated getting the band out and converting to the gastric bypass. I had been so busy with the boys and work that it was never really a reality. Last year, I started the beachbody journey and when I followed it, I was successful. The workouts were enjoyable and I did enjoy drinking the Shakeology but the price was just too much to handle. Since then, I have gained even more and I am back over 300lb.
A friend of mine just had the gastric bypass surgery and it really put my life into perspective. It really brought the thought back into my mind and with her support, I decided to give it a shot and see a new surgeon.
Feb 7, 2017, I had my first consultation with Dr Wilcox of Hope Bariatrics and he was super positive. He told me that he thought he would be able to get me approved without doing the 6 months of a dr supervised diet since it was a band failure.
Feb 14, 2017, I had my dietitian consult with the practice. Since I am a nurse, my nutrition consult with my first surgery was with my hospital dietitian. She was a diabetic educator but was not specialized in bariatric surgery. The consult had very little information regarding bariatric surgery. This time around, I paid a program fee to have access to Hope Bariatric's dietitian and plans. This dietitian works for them and does this day in and day out and was a WEALTH of knowledge. She gave me so much information and it was a super positive consult. It was also at this time that I found out that the person that was supposed to submit my stuff to insurance, had not yet.
After weeks of playing games with this person, I FINALLY got my information submitted and Monday, I got my letter of approval for the surgery! So on March 24th, 2017, my newest journey will begin. Dr Wilcox will remove my Lap-band and revise to a gastric bypass!
Thanks for reading!
***Carrie***
