HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLO!

 Hi Everyone!

I just switched from having gastric bypass (Scheduled for march 10) to Realize Band (Scheduled for April 14) so I wanted to introduce myself!

IT was a crazy road that took me to switch ( a week in the hospital for salmonella, then diagnosed with ulcerative colitis...yikes!) but I'm here now and SO EXCITED to still be able to have weight loss surgery.

I just wanted to introduce myself, see if anyone else has had a hiatal hernia repaired at the same time as banding surgery? Also, I would LOVE to hear about results and what life was like the first week, month, 3 months after surgery--I've spent a year prepping for gastric bypass, so I feel like I have to re-learn a few things! :)

A little 'bout me: I'm a mom to a fabulous and funny 5 3/4 year old boy, Logan; a doting servant to a basset hound named Belle and I currently take care of the home and family full-time. In my professional life I was a professor of journalism and a TV anchor/reporter (in the skinny days..). We currently live outside of DC but are moving to the Ft. Knox area in the next few months--probably about 2 months after surgery. I'm SO EXCITED to have some space and chickens! :)

So, please, introduce yourselves! I want to make some friends and gain some support! :)

Candace

Hello!  It seems we have a lot in common.  First, I see we have the same doctor.  Second, I, too, live outside the D.C. area, though I am farther south and west than you.  I am a full-time Mom to three wonderful children, my youngest will start Kindergarten in the Fall.  I absolutely love it and we also have an adorable three-year-old basset hound named Abby who is as sweet as can be.
I just had the Realize band on 3/4/10, so I am not yet a week out, but I will share my experience.  I kept hearing that you will have "buyers remorse" and I did not believe people when they said this because this has been something I have worked for for so long.  Well, immediately after surgery and the following two days I was seriously rethinking my decision.  I even thought that I was going to have it undone and go back to my regular life and just try to lose weight on my own...which of course I had been unsuccessful at for years.  (Let's just say that you aren't thinking your clearest when you have anesthesia in you and you are hungry.)  
What I was most surprised about after surgery was how hungry I was.  I did not expect to feel hungry, so it was hard seeing my family eat all these wonderful meals that my Mom was preparing (she came in from Chicago to help) and I had to drink a stupid protein shake.  Well, I do have a better outlook now.  Sally Myers is a great resourse and so is this website.  These wonderful people have helped me make it through the past few days and they really had some great ideas on how to feel full on the limited diet.  Use them as a resourse.  Post all your needs and you can believe that someone else has gone through it and have valuable advice to give.  This site has been a godsend.
Today I got the good news of what my diet will be like for the next 4 weeks.  I have never looked forward to pureed food as much as I am now. 
I'll try to keep you posted on the challenges I've faced, but as of right now, I really wouldn't go back and not do it.  I know that this tool is going to change my life.  Yes, it will take determination, but we can do it!  Of course we can, we're women and moms.
Best of luck on your journey!
-Heather

Candace -
I could relate to your situation. I�prepared for months to have RNY (Kaiser required classes). Then two days before I�called my surgeon on a Saturday night�and asked if I�could switch to the LapBand for my Monday morning (crack of�dawn) surgery. He said he would call the hospital on�Sunday and have them change the setup to the Band. I�didn't have any medical issues that made me switch, I�just got really scared at the last minute and whimped out. Reading�the regrets and failure forums will do that to you. My family was also concerned about me having RNY and encouraged me to have the Band. Kaiser only covers those two surgeries so I�didn't consider any others. Anyway, I was in surgery at 7:30 am and home my� noon. I�lost all my�extra weight (105 lbs.) in just over six months. Of course this is not typical for�Band patients. But�I�think my many month mindset and training to prepare for RNY�surgery made a difference. I�ate like I�had the RNY and started out at only 300-400 calories a day. I�worked up to about 600-700 calories over the next few months, but essentially stayed in�starvation mode. I would not recommend this to you or anyone else. But it did get my weight off quickly which is good�as I am an inpatient person. I was also very scared�to break any of�the Band "rules" for fear�I would mess things up. So now I am 10 lbs. under goal and very happy I�didn't have my guts rearrannged. My six month blood�work came back perfect and I'm a new person in many ways. But it has not been easy by any means. I walk religiously�every night 2.5-3�miles (much of it up hill). I do feel like I am on a diet all the time.��I sometimes wish they had banded my brain rather than my stomach as I�still struggle with the urge to binge at night.� I�just had my port replaced yesterday as my first one had flipped. So they replaced mine with a low profile one since mine was sticking out quite a bit from my weight loss. I�think the Realize band has a lower profile port anyway.�Even with needing my port replaced within 9 months, I still am happy with my decision to go with the Band.
So good luck with your journey!
Regards,
Matt

 I had a hernia fixed. The surgeon mentioned it 5 minutes before surgery as she only found out about it from upper gi just before surgery. She said it was very common and I was just at a little higher risk of band slippage in the future is all. Surgery just took a little bit longer is all. Not sure if I was in any more pain or anything but first few days sucked. 

I had Realize Lap Band surgery Monday.  My doctor also repaired a hiatul hernia.  Not long after I got home, I started having the worst indigestion ever.  Couldn't even ge****er down without awful pain.  Tuesday was pretty bad.  I almost had my husband take me to the hospital Tuesday night.  But I started Lortab elixer and soluble prevacid (I took it more often than prescribed) and this morning I feel much better.  Hardly any indigestion and I am able to drink water and even coffee (lukewarm).  I'm really not hungry at all and the pain from the incisions is manageable.  I hope you do well!

I am 56, married 34 years to a great guy, and I have a beautiful 29 year old daughter.  I am an interior designer and also bookkeeper for my husband's law firm.

Peg

   Hi, My name is Sharon, I am a stay at home mom of 2. My son is 17 and my daughter is 2. I am 40 yrs old and have a twin sister who also had realize band surgery on 3/2/10. We are doing well. We both had the hernia repair during our surgery. The first two days after surgery were the worst. I have felt better and better each day. Today I start pureed foods. The liquid diet was a bit tough. A lot of people said they weren't hungry the first week but, my sister and I were both hungry during the liquid part. I followed the diet though and am so happy to eat pureed foods lol. I have only one week of pureed food and then 2 weeks of soft food before I can eat so called regular food.
This site is great and I like bariatric tv.com too.
Shrinking Sharon  

Hi Candace,
My name is Wendy.   I have been a stay at home mom for the past 5 yrs.  We adopted 2 adorable little boys.  They are now 7 and 8.  I had my surgery 4 1/2 months ago and have lost a total of 51lbs so far. Like most people on here I had been on every diet you could think of and lost the weight but soon after slipping back to the old eating habits I would gained it back.  With the band I feel I can finally lose the weight and keep it off.  Good luck with your upcoming surgery.

I'm a little over 2 weeks out from surgery. My surgeon repaired a very large hiatal hernia before he put the band on me. That turned an hour in the OR into almost 4 hours! I stayed one night in the hospital and then came home. The soreness in my diaphragm from the hernia repair was probably the worst thing as they insisted I breathe deeply and continue to use the spirometer they sent home with me.

I had a lot of second thoughts right before the surgery but I have absolutely no regrets now. Not only is the band controlling my hunger but I've had absolutely zero GERD since the hiatal hernia repair. My old PCP had told me that my GERD was because I needed to lose weight -- that was his response to almost every issue I had. When my surgeon ordered an upper GI exam and found out how large my hernia was, I switched to a new PCP. My surgeon has shown much more concern for my overall health than my old PCP ever did. I'm so grateful to have found him.

Keep us posted and don't be afraid to ask questions. Welcome!

I had to have hiatal hernia repair during my Realize Band insertion and for the most part, it wasn't that bad. I was up and walking around right after the surgery and went for a walk to a relative's house later that afternoon after having had surgery the same morning. Gas pains were the worst part but that will give you incentive to do as the song says and "Walk It Out". Lol!!!!