Post-Op :)

So today I am 12 days post-op. The pain is gone, the dressings and steristrips came off on day 3. Its all looking food! Only 2 days until I can start my soft diet, I'm so looking forward to being able to chew something. I would have been on a liquid diet for four weeks on 26th. I have not been feeling very hungry but have in the last few days leading up to starting mushies.

I can no longer feel or hear fluids or food going through the band now so the swelling must had reduced a lot. Today my weight is 19st 10lb! Just 4lb more then I have shed 2 stone! I have never been able to get below 17. When that day happen, I will have a party! ;)

I am part of a fantastic weight loss surgery forum called wlsurgery.com They have sections for the gastric band, bypass, gastric plication and sleeve.

I have an appointment for my first band fill on the 17th august, in which they will assess my weight and probably put 1ml of fluid taking me up to 5ml in my 4ml band :)

So I started at 21st 6.8lb and I am now 19st 10lb. Quite a quick and rapid weight loss but I am prepared for it to slow down when I start eating solid food and even prepared for a possible gain while my body adjusts. I just really can't wait until I notice I'm getting smaller and I need to get smaller clothes :)

Picture Below: June 2013





 Picture on the Right:
Me on 21st July >>>

                                                                         May 2013 ---->

My gastric band surgery experience with The Hospital Group Dolan Park

 My fantastically supportive boyfriend completely exhausted bless him!

 About two hours after surgery

 The box my band came in :)

I officially have a gastric band! My dreams have come true! I am so happy!

I was banded yesterday with a 10ml band at Dolan Park Hospital, Bromsgrove. It's the hospital groups own hospital.

I arrived at my admission time which was 7am. I sat in reception area while they called everyone to there room. At 9am I was taken to my room number 10. My weight was taken. I had gone from 21st 6lb to 20st 8lb from the pre-op diet!

I settled in and waited for sometime. The nurse came in to admit me at 12pm, followed shorty by the anaesitist and Mr Richardson my surgeon. was quite a long surgical list that day so I was told I was on the afternoon list. As you can understand my anxiety level was increasing throughout the day. I had been NBM since midnight the night before so had a really bad dry mouth, and stated getting ulcers. Eventually the nurse came in to tell me to get showered, put on my paper pants and stockings.

I kissed my boyfriend good bye and walked down to the theatre with the theatre nurse who was lovely. I then went into the anaesthetic room to have the canulla placed. The anesethtisist was a lovely guy. I was then walked into the theatre and was introduced to the staff in there. I was told to lay in the table and open my gown. I laid down and placed my arms outstretched on the supports. A mask was placed over my face and I was informed of every step. I was aware of tears running down my face at the point. They talked to me while I had the mask on, then I began to feel funny and started wiggling my legs saying I feel funny, the last thing I remember is him telling me it's okay, then I came round.

When I came round in recovery, I was with the nurse who had taken me down before. I'm not sure how long I was there for. I woke up still intubated which was horrible. As soon as they saw me fighting the tube, they removed it. I was in quite a lot of pain and was seeing double from all the meds. They gave me more pain relief and I didn't feel sick at all. After a while I was taken back to my room where my boyfriend was waiting. I had oxygen in etc. by now it was 5.30 pm. The surgeon came to see me after but I don't really remember what he said. My blood pressure was very low and I couldn't drink due to the pain and drowsiness so I had 3 bags of fluid throughout the day and night.

The night nurse was not the nicest person. She seemed moody and irritated. I didn't really need that while I was in pain and feeling sick. She got irritated at me for not am drinking but when I explained I felt nauseous she said oh sorry ill get you some anti sickness.

After an awful nights sleep, I got up at 5.30am and attempted to wash myself. I was in quite a bit if pain. I then got dressed and the night nurse came in and gave me a heparin injection, painkillers and my breakfast, cranberry juice, a smoothie and a yogurt.

I struggled to get dressed on my own and waited for my boyfriend to return. Then we left it was 7.30am.

The journey home was fine. I find pressing a pillow against your stomach when you have position really helps with pain.

I was only able to have other than breakfast yesterday less then 1/4 Heinz soup and a miller light. Drank plenty of peppermint tea due to the gas pain but I slept through last night!

 Can't wait to start seeing results, I'm so full of hope

The milk & yogurt pre-op diet...

Sounds as appetising as the title.

When obese (or morbidly obese in my case) people have surgery on the stomach, they are required to go on a two week 'liver shrinking' diet. This makes surgery easier and safer to access the abdominal cavity etc.

Because obese people usually have a diet high in fat, more fat then usual can surround the liver and cover the stomach, making it more difficult.

I started my pre-op straight away the next day. I was told to drink three pints of raw semi-skimmed milk, but could use my allowance to make three slim fast shakes a day. I could also have four to five low fat no sugar yogurts (In this case all you can really chose is weight watchers yogurts) and an oxo cube drink in the evening.

The first 5 days were the easiest, which I found strange. I wasn't hungry but had a bad headache for the first three days (ketosis due to the high protein diet) but after I got through that it was okay. I did get very hungry towards the end of the pre-op diet and it was hard but I soildered on. I was really looking forward to the fact I could start having soup after surgery (although that has to be seized of bits ha ha)

I did get very bad constipation which is expected but thats all finally solved.

Today is my last day of my pre-op diet and quite frankly I am looking forward to being nil by mouth!
In the past two days I haven't really been able to stomach my milk allowance but have had my slim fast and yogurts. But I would rather starve then have anymore of that lol!

Surgery day tomorrow! I am so nervous and so excited at the same time! My boyfriend and I are driving down tonight to stay in the travelodge near the hospital reading for my 7am admission time tomorrow!

Wish me luck....

Consultation Day :)

After a lovely week away to Majorca with my boyfriend, I came home ready for my consultation on the 30th June. The Hospital Group london clinic is not a far drive from my house so we leave to attend.

Its on Weymouth street, just off Harley street. It is nothing like going for an appointment in an NHS hospital (No marble in site!)

I had applied and been accepted for a loan for the surgery cost, I just needed to send the papers within 30 days back and I would receive the money within one working day.

I had my consultation with Mr El Hasani and Nurse Julie. Julie had had the gastric band ten years earlier and had lost a huge amount of weight. By the end of my thorough consultation I was completely sold! I now wanted the surgery a thousand times more than before! I grabbed a pen and signed on the dotted line. I chose the 12th of July for my surgery and paid £500 deposit.

I left the clinic feeling like my life was about to change. and the next day, I started my pre-op milk & yogurt diet.

From The Beginning...

I have been overweight my whole life. It started when I was was six years old. My first ever realisation I had was when I was six. My mother had taken to me to a kids clothes store but I couldn't fit into the size 6-7 clothes. Little did I know that this would be the case as I grew up too.

The thing is, I feel bad for my mum. People must have looked at her and judged her for having a fat child. But my mum always cooked healthy food for my meals, She never took me to McDonald's, She gave me healthy packed lunches, She encouraged me to join a swimming club where I swam on a Tuesday and Friday night. She took me to the under 16 gym sessions for two years.

My mum never stood in the kitchen deep fat frying chips and serving up turkey twizlers. My two other sibling were living proof that we were looked after and healthy. Neither of them had an ounce of unwanted fat on them. So when I see parents today with overweight children, I don't judge the parents.

I not sure what I weighed then, but the last weight I remember being was 15 stone and 2 pounds. I was in year 10 at school. Before or after that I can't remember.

As of today, 20/06/2013, I am 22 years old and weight 21st 6.8lbs. I don't know how I got here, but I know that I don't want to be anymore. And I'm not going to be.

Today I phoned The Hospital Group and booked a consultation with a Bariatric Surgeon.

Considering Surgery...

The reason for the name of my blog is because I have been told by my consultant and GP, my BMI and by the scales; I am carrying a whole extra person in weight!

I can't put a date of when I considered surgery because it was the day I found out the gastric band existed! I did tons of research on it and looked at before and after photos, results, risks, I even watched the live surgery on you tube. Then I saw the price. £6000.00. Although I was a health care assistant for the NHS on quite comfortable money, I was 19 and couldn't budget for money left over, let alone save that sort of money.

I took a positive and upbeat walk to my good old NHS doctors surgery. I had rehearsed what I was going to say and even had information ready to prove I was a good candidate for Weight loss surgery.
I had been to a dietitian, I have tried diet tablets that had been prescribed, I had participated in the 'get active' scheme, I had never lost more then two stone and maintained it. I had always been overweight since I was a small child, whereas my siblings where a healthy weight. So when talking to my GP about it she agreed to refer me for a consultation. I was on cloud nine and so happy, finally hope at the end of the tunnel. She gave me a leaflet with my NHS number on it and that they would contact me in four weeks.

Four weeks came and went. I called my doctors surgery and they said that had nothing to report. When I contacted the next week, they told me to attend the surgery to collect my letter of refusal from the Kingston Primary Care Trust. The letter was full of formal tones and a contradictory information page of statistics about how weight loss surgery has been proven to show permanent results of weight loss then any other diet.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! My GP at the time basically told me I needed to gain weight. I already felt huge and disgusting and my confidence zero. So putting weight on would have been even worse, and still there is no guarantee of actually getting it either.

So I moved on and tried to put it to the back of my mind. But this year in April I had had enough. I had gained about two stone since then, and decided to try again. I was prepared to argue, to write letters to the PCT, to accept rejection. But I had to try. 
My BMI was 48.9 but it had to be 50. Yet again rejection.

But I knew this time wouldn't be the end of the line for me...