Re: Cyrena I just read your story

[Guest guest]

Hey April,

Welcome to Oregon. I am in Eugene. Not too far way

Suzanne

In a message dated 1/3/2011 9:59:35 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, april.white@... writes:

I'm a little behind due to a residential move. Hi to all who might be living in Bend, Oregon where I am now.

I'm so glad that you got the band taken out. I know what a struggle it was, and now you can heal and gain some weight. I hope that you'll be able to get the sleeve if/when you feel it's time. Your appetite will come back and at first you'll think it's great, it's OK, you can stand to gain the weight. Hopefully all that you've gone through will be sufficient to keep your weight balanced where you need it to be. I'm just glad you're able to have a life again, because the way you were going wasn't good. Best of luck to you.

A few of you asked me to let you know how my story ends, here it is...> 1/19/07 I had a lap-band placed with Dr. Aceves, I damaged a lot of> relationships in my family by going to Mexico but after time those family> members understood why. It took 9 months for me to lose 100 pounds. I LOVEDmy> band!!! After 2 very successful years I started having problems with my band,> way way too tight and NO fill. I had all the fill taken out Aug 2009. I have> lived on liquids and acid medicine since then. I continued to lose weight,down> to 124 pounds. I have said it a THOUSAND times, I will live on liquids forthe> rest of my life if it means keeping this 100 pounds off. I LOVE my life! I> love my confidence, no more depression, I want to keep it this way!! But in> November 2010 I got way too stressed out, my stomach really tightens when Ideal> with stress. The liquids would no longer go in. N ow what??!!?? I did acouple> of ER visits to get an IV and a bag of saline, I called Dr. Aceves, I calledmy> local Doctor, both agreed I needed to have the band removed. I tried to workit> out to get the sleeve at the same time but that isn't wise when you don't know> what is going on inside. I finally consented to having an EDG (scope down the> throat) to see what was going on inside. By the time I got to that appt on> Tuesday of last week, I knew I was going to have the band removed. I couldn't> live with this kind of restriction. I was measuring 2 tbls of gateraid every> hour to make sure I wasn't getting dehydrated, it was work to keep that 2 tbls> down. My iron is low, I'm miserable, every day the scale would show another> pound down and no end in site. I couldn't believe I was tired of losingweight> My local dr that did my aftercare on my band had moved away so I had tos ee> a new doctor that I had never meet. I was miserable and my husband was saying> "enough all ready" I want my wife back. So on Tuesday I had the bright idea> that maybe I had some fill left in my band and we just didn't realize it. I> meet with Dr. Kavalie in North Dakota and he said, it's possible, let's look.> No luck, nothing in the band but it was functioning perfectly, fill went inand> came back out w/out a problem. He said "if you were my daughter the band would> come out tomorrow". That was the final word I needed to hear. We scheduled> surgery for Wed, Dec 22. At 10:45 AM they took my band out.>> I have such a mix of emotions, relief is first and foremost. I'm so gratefulto> gain a few pounds back and "feel" healthier again. I was so run down. So> exhausted from just daily life. I'm looking forward to getting my iron backup> and the anemia gone. I have 5 little in cisions and one big one where the band> and port came out. Some pain in my body from the gas they use to do> laproscope. My stomach feels funny, when I take a deep breath it's like I can> feel where the band used to be. When the surgeon got inside he saideverything> looked perfect, no erosion, no excessive scaring, no reason for therestriction> other than my body rejecting the band. That is the good and bad news, no> reason. He said I had a perfectly working band that was placed perfect. He> said, don't let anyone say that this was because you went to Mexico, thatisn't> the case, your body just didn't want that in there any longer.>>> On Thursday I had an Upper GI, a test I have had 4 or 5 times since banding. It> was funny to watch the barium free flow through my stomach, no stoppinganywhere> My stomach is super small and the radiologist tech commented on it. I< BR>know> that I have ability to stretch it back out but I hope that 4 years of training> of my head has done some good. Maybe given some time I will be able to savefor> the sleeve but that isn't a possibility right now. My prayer is that I have> learned enough to not go back.>> Sorry I took so long getting back to everyone about what happened but Ihaven't> really wanted to write >> I hope this didn't sound as depressing as it reads right now Life is good> and all will be well, just not how I thought it would turn out >> Blessings,> Cyrena>