Laura B.

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Obesity & Me

Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.

I have been overweight my entire life. I was the opposite of anorexic though, I never saw myself as overweight. I knew I was bigger than my friends, but never saw the fat.. until I took pictures! Then I would be disgusted with the pictures. I am 6'0, so even if I was skinny, I knew I would be bigger than everyone I knew. By age 17 I had tried diets without success, and resigned myself to getting RNY Gastric Bypass. My parents were extremely against it, and that was that. By age 23, I had gained 100lbs since my revelation at age 17. I decided I would get RNY without their approval, because I could no longer walk without being in pain, I was always hurting in my hips and back, and I was just tired of being big. While doing research on it, I discovered the lap-band. I discussed it with my parents, and they were actually supportive of it. I got the ball moving quickly, because I was self-pay and within 2 months I was banded.

What was (is) the worst thing about being overweight?

I had crippling lower-back pain, and it made it impossible to go shopping, go to theme parks, go out and have fun.. I was miserable.

If you have had weight loss surgery already, what things do you most enjoy doing now that you weren't able to do before?

I'm still early out, but I notice my back pain is getting better! I hope to be able to walk long amounts of time pain-free.

How did you first find out about bariatric surgery and what were your initial impressions of it?

I first knew of gastric bypass, when I was a senior in high school I had a teacher that was having it done.. and it worked wonders for her. I was glad I had an option out there when diets had failed me.

Describe your experience with getting insurance approval for surgery. What advice, if any, do you have for other people in this stage?

My insurance policy does not cover anything that has to do with obesity. I was lucky enough to have my parents support so they funded it, but if they were going to say no again, I was fully prepared to sell my car and other costly items to raise the money. I also would have gone to Mexico since it is cheaper to self-pay and I have heard wonderful things about most of the doctors in Mexico.

What was your stay in the hospital like? How long where you there? What things are most important to bring?

It was miserable.. I was in a lot more pain than I expected to bein, I have a high tolerance for pain and had heard you're just sore post-op.. I was in excruciating pain, and the nurses would not respond quickly enough for my liking to give me pain medicine. I was there a little over 24 hours. There was the Virginia Tech shootings the day of my surgery, so I woke up in and out of consciousness listening to it throughout the day. That really bothered me too, I don't know why I didn't just change it! I brought a lot of stuff in an overnight bag. I had read forums and was prepared.. I brought gas-x strips, nightgown, underwear, slippers, sports bra, books, magazines, hairbrush, deoderant.. The only things I ended up using was the underwear, hairbrush and deoderant. I was too tired and restless to do anything but sit there and watch tv.

Did you have any complications from the surgery? If so, how did you deal with them?

I had no complications.

In the weeks after you got your surgery date, how did you feel? How did you cope with any anxiety you might have felt?

Extremely anxious! I only focused on the positive, I knew I wanted the surgery 110% so there was no need to stress myself with 'what-ifs'. I checked out a lot of before&after pictures, recipe ideas, how it changed people's lives for the better.. I thought about myself skinny.. I refused to let the negative thoughts come in until post-op!

Describe your first few weeks home from the hospital. What should people expect from this period?

The first few weeks were great-hunger wise. I was not hungry for 2 weeks, I only drank my liquids because I knew I needed hydration and protein. It was a wonderful feeling for someone who could stuff her face all day long and never get the satiated feeling. It was new to me, and I embraced it. It did go away, and now I need a fill.. I hope to get back there. 4 days post-op I developed sharp pains in my stomach.. if I took a deep breath it 'hit' whatever hurt and I would buckle over in pain. I gave it a few days and finally went to the local ER to make sure it was not a blood clot. They did a CAT-scan, and said they did not see anything.. told me to take it easy and go home.. I called my surgeon's office the next day and they called in pain meds for me, told me to keep taking them and rest more.. I guess it was a pulled muscle or maybe gas pain (which I did not know how to tell the difference), and it did finally go away a few days later.

What aftercare support group/program do you have? How helpful/important is this?

www.lapbandtalk.com ..the best forum for my support! The closest lap-band support group is 2 hours at best from me... which is not feasible with my busy lifestyle. The forum has great support, lot of answers, and caring people.

What is your scar like? Is this what you expected?

My scars are not bad at all. I was done laproscopically, I have 4 small incisions and 1 large port incision. They are healing well, and I have no complaints about them.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

I am technically not suppose to be worrying about losing weight right now, just healing. My first fill is 6-6-07, and I'm writing this on 5-23-07. I have lost 33lbs since operation on 4-16-07. I seem to plateau quite a bite right now. I'll lose 2lbs in a day, then stay at that weight for 3-4 days, repeat. I'm not worried about it right now.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

A little bit. I told any and everyone I was having it done. At work, people will make comments that they can tell I've lost weight, or they ask if I'm able to eat yet, things like that. My mom likes to tell people 'She can't eat that much, so just give her xxx amount'. Right after surgery, the 2 weeks I was not hungry, my fiance and parents were afraid I had food-envy and would feel guilty eating around me. I would explain I didn't want it, so it didn't matter, but they did finally get over that.
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