One Month Band to DS Update (LONG)

I cannot believe how quickly the past month flew by! I am one month out today from my band removal and revision to the DS surgery. When I was doing my research I always found it so helpful & encouraging to see how others were doing at certain points in their recovery and it is still a great help to learn what others before me have experienced, so I'm sharing an update with you all.

Surgery & Post Surgery Follow Up 

I had my surgery at St. Mary's in Grand Rapids, MI with Dr. Kemmeter on 12-13-12. I was ultra impressed by the surgeon, nurses and staff at St. Mary's. From my layperson's perspective this organization clearly has a protocol for bariatric patients and all of the nursing staff appeared to be well trained (and staffed) in how to handle the needs of bariatric patients. I received 3 or 4 follow up contacts in the first two weeks after surgery from the staff at GHP. They called ME, not the other way around and asked a whole list of questions to ensure that I was truly doing well after surgery. I had a two week f/u appt. with the surgeon and he did not rush me out of his office or make me feel like he had 20 other more important things he should be doing. 

This appt. also included a small group session with one of the nutritionists on staff  -- where I received correct information about the DS diet (not just the usual RNY stuff that many DS'rs report they are given). It was kind of funny, the nut looked so sad when she said "fat content doesn't matter anymore, you need to eat full fat everything and extra fat because you malabsorb 80% of it now. You could tell everything in her (her years of training, work experience and personal diet) had a hard time accepting this.Vitamins: Proper supplementation is NOT OPTIONAL It is so commonly reported that nutritionists do not fully understand the vitamin needs of a DS patient and therefore do not counsel patients appropriately.  I had some concerns regarding her recommended supplementation regimen and asked these very pointedly and directly and pressed for a more complete answer. I was impressed with her willingness to articulate her thoughts and answer all my questions. The basic takeaway for me from that conversation is that MOST patients, no matter what surgery they have just quietly do as they are told by medical people. Medical people are not used to being asked pointed questions and to explain WHY they are telling you to do something. I recognize that irregardless of what any medical person recommends, I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR MY HEALTH AND NUTRITION. End of story.

Physical

I preface this by stating, I know not everyone gets an "easy" recovery from surgery and if you are struggling my heart goes out to you. You may have an easier time of something that is hard for me. I have had a surprisingly wonderful, easy time of healing from this surgery. Seriously, my recovery from this surgery is so great it feels like a 100x easier than when the band was put in -- and this surgery was far more complex and 5x as long! For that I am so grateful.

I haven't had any real food intolerances that I can think of yet. Early out from surgery, you know the drill; liquids in, liquids out. Once real food is introduced, no problems at least thus far. Eating is very similar in portion size to the band and I take it slow. When everything is well healed, the doctor expects that I will be able to eat a 6-8 ounce meal. With all this protein, a couple of bites of broccoli with cheese was heavenly!

As far as weight loss, I am trying very hard to resist the urge to weigh myself daily. Ideally I plan to only weigh when I go for my follow up appointments. There is a tremendous sense of freedom in doing what I know I'm supposed to do and then letting the chips fall where they may. That said -- I have weighed myself twice since my 2 week checkup. I'm down 14lbs since the morning of surgery. To meet my goal I have 83 more pounds to lose. It is so uplifting to realize that I now have an excellent chance of meeting and maintaining that goal!!

Emotional

The emotional aspect of all this is the most therapeutic for me. I lost a total of 63 pounds with the band and then started gaining weight back. To combat this I joined a gym and built some terrific muscle tone and endurance, however, the weight gain continued (I went up 2 clothing sizes). It was tremendously discouraging to be eating such small amounts of high protein, low fat  everything and exercising so much AND gaining weight. Then I started having issues with excess scar tissue building up underneath and around the band, which caused a serious enough complication that the band needed to be removed before it became an emergency. I felt like a double failure -- weight gain AND band problems.

I was planning for this surgery to take place in October, but was involved in an auto accident with a semi in early August. My husband died in this accident and I sustained injuries that still allow me to live a very normal life. I have spent the last several months going through hundreds of hours of physical therapy, healing and strengthening in mind, body and spirit. Most of this effort is so that I can have the best possible recovery outcome, but it was also so I could get well enough to have the band out and the DS done.

Having this surgery and the whole recovery process and the weight loss is a big milestone in my journey. I've always been of the optimistic sort but I would say I am even more so now. No one gets to go through this life without some scars and some really awful things happening to them. But to know that I am held in God's hand every step of the way and am making good progress and to know my husband would be so proud of me is of tremendous encouragement.

 

Sounds like you are doing great and this is a wonderful post.

--gina

 

I thank you for posting your story. I am so thankful to game you as one of my buddies on here......i had no idea about your ordeals. Know that i am here for you if you ever need anything....

Bless your heart, I can't imagine what you have gone through.  I had my surgery on 12/12, but had quite a bit of pain for a few weeks.  I just can't imagine the physical pain of surgery on top of physical and emotional pain from your wreck.  Thank you for sharing your story, I am sure it will encourage many others.

Thank you for this. I am in the process of trying to get insurance to approve a revision from band to DS. I have been curious how the pain compared. I have had a lot of surgeries in my life. And I really thought the port area after the band was excruciating! I have been really nervous thinking the DS could be worse. 

Thank you for the wonderful update. My heart goes out to you. I am having my band removed on the 30th and then being revised to the DS. I plan on having a picture perfect recovery like you! LOL Sending you a cyber hug!