For us post-ops it's a day we'll never forget and for the pre-ops a lifelong fantasy, an internal yearning, a glimmer of hope, soon to be reality (I promise, I know the wait is hard). In 2007, on that day I was a 300lb 16 yo kid, with a dream- to be me.
Let me define "me" for you: Me never wanted to be skinny (I still don't and am not) or thin. Just acceptable. My only hopes were that I would improve my health (at 16 I had a fatty liver, high cholesterol, borderline diabetic, depression, PCOS, Asthma, raging crohns disease & severe joint pain) and fit in with the rest of the "kids". I wanted the daily torture to stop. All the name calling, harassment and mental pain I suffered to STOP! I wanted to be able to walk around the mall with my friends without being winded, to ride the roller coasters at 6 flags, to fly to see my grandmother, to sit in a booth at a restaurant and to fit in a movie theater seat. That's it. That was pretty much all I wanted. Simple, I wanted to live.
I will be honest, I wasn't even scared. Yep. A 300lb 16 yo kid was wheeled into surgery with a smile on her face. Can you believe it? Guess what? I woke up with one too :} I smiled because I knew this would somehow be different then all the years of embarrassing visits to the doctor, nutritionist, weight watchers, endocrinologist etc.. that I had endured. And not just because I had a doctor (*see below for info) who for the first time didn't make me feel ashamed of my weight, instead he understood. But because I knew, this HAD to work.
While my decision to have the Lap Band ultimately came down to I rather die trying than live like this, besides I'll eat myself to death anyways (literally). And I knew it would restrict my food intake, what I didn't realize and maybe at that point was to young to grasp during the info session, is that it actually stops the HUNGER; the monster, the driving force, the thought consuming machine, the beast, the devil, the obesity.
Without the hunger & restriction, I managed to drop 105 lbs in just about a year. So at 18 years old I weighed just around 200lbs.
Unlike others, I never had a goal weight. Like I said my only goal was to be ME. At 200lbs I was able to do everything I had wanted and my health had dramatically improved. Despite still being "obese"/plus size, I was happy with my body and no longer an outcast from society. So 200lbs (with a 5lb give or take depending on the time of the yr) was where I remained until recently.
Information on my band:
In 2007 I was given the 10 cc Vanguad (VG) band. Manufactured by at the time Inamed (now Allergen).Information on my surgeon (highly recommended!):
Dr. George Fielding at the NYU WLS practice in NYC. Dr. Fielding was also banded himself and is a internationally acclaimed pioneer in the Lap Band. An Aussie with a kick ass attitude, I trust my life in his hands. Link to the practice page & an article he wrote that I LOVE "Everybody Dreams" Everybody Dreams**there are multiple surgeons in his practice (Dr. Ren & Dr. Schwack). I've meet both and would also recommend either.
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