tranquil_butterfly
Well-Known Member
Hello all
I promised I would write about my experience of being banded a year on – well just over a year.
I will not bore you all with the drama of the events leading up to my op and the trauma following the op – if you are really interested you can read my old posts. However having prepared myself for a bypass and waking up with a band, it took a long time to get over. I suffered some major physical problems not to mention the mental/emotional side of it. If I am truthful I only fully came to terms with things during my recent holiday – I am so glad I was not at home on my first surgiversary.
Having said that, do I have any regrets about that day – no I don’t. My health was so poor I am not sure I would have made it through another year without the surgery. It transformed my life – gave me back the chance of life. Prior to surgery I was virtually immobile – using a walking stick. I could not even walk the 10 minute journey from the tram stop to my office. Getting up and down the two flights of stairs to my flat was horrendous. I felt so awful about life.
The last year has not been easy – but having read some recent posts by a longstanding member and what he is going through I am not going to moan about my lot – I am damn lucky to be alive and have a future to look forward to. It is important to note that surgery of any kind carries risks and no matter how much you read and research, it can still throw some curved balls. Luckily my hernia – which I could have had pre op, has not been too troublesome and will be repaired once I have lost sufficient weight. Once I had had the tests done in the summer to ensure the band had not slipped, I have been slowly getting used to learning about restriction and the band.
At the start of my pre-op diet on 1 November 2010 I was 23 stone 9 ½ pounds. Ideally I would like to be around 10 stones so it is going to take a long time to get there – and I am not the fastest loser – so I am going to enjoy the scenic route
.
One of the biggest changes for me has been getting into doing some physical activity again. I love my bike although it has been sometime since I have been able to get out on it. Just being able to walk has been fantastic. When I was on holiday I loved going out on walks with my dad and the dogs. One day I even jogged a little way with two of the dogs as they were pulling so much it was the only way to keep up with them. It was only for about 20 yards or so but I could never have imagined doing that 13 months ago. I swam in the sea. One thing I wish I had checked before I went and that was that my swimsuits still fitted. They were all too big and it was lucky that there were not many people on the beach on the days we went out there. Now the weather is so cold I am going to get back into the Wii and concentrate on doing some form of exercise everyday – it really helps.
The other big thing is drinking water. I have never been one for drinking much water and it is still a battle. On my holiday I was drinking loads – I was buying 5 litre bottles at a time and it really made a difference. Alas back home I have lapsed into my bad ways and it really is the one thing I have to make a conscious effort to do.
As for food – that has been a revelation for me. Since I started getting good restriction in the summer it is not possible to eat anything like the volume I used to consume – not without doing a serious injury. I have a large band 14 ml and after my small 0.5 ml fill today (9/12/11) I now have 8.5 ml in the band. My op was done on the NHS and I have had good after care – although I think a large part of that is due to what happened over my op. The fills have been spaced out and I have had 5 so far. The earlier ones were difficult as I was told that I had to do two weeks of liquid and then two weeks of mushies which were a killer but for my last fill I was told one week of each and that was so much better.
The band has meant taking a conscious decision to change what I eat radically. There is no point in going through major surgery and then to eat crap. That may seem sanctimonious but if you are given the opportunity to have wls of any kind then you ought not to waste it. I am not a saint. I have chocolate now and again and I eat the ‘wrong’ things from time to time. However I try to eat as healthily as I can. I have discovered that processed food has a terrible impact so avoid it as much as possible. I love to cook now. There are foods I will probably never eat again – bread is one. It does not matter what form it is the band does not like it. I can manage rice in small amounts. I have not had pasta since I started the pre op diet and just do not fancy it at all. Fruit is something I used to love but struggle to eat now – again the band does not like most fruits. Eggs and chicken are again things I struggle with and I have no idea why. I keep persevering with both as they are a good source of protein. I tried to eat KFC once and after two mouthfuls it came up again. I have not tried it or any other takeaway food since and do not miss it.
One thing that I have noticed with the band is that crappy stuff seems to go down quite easily whereas the good stuff can be a struggle. It must be something to do with texture or that processed food disintegrates easily once inside your mouth. I can see why it can be so easy to eat the things you should not and then end up on the slippery slope.
I made a conscious decision not to get hung up on weighing myself and have concentrated more on how clothes are fitting. The only place where I have not lost anything much is on my bust. I am going to do my measurements again over the weekend and it will be interesting to do the comparison with my pre op measurements. Over the next few weeks I am going to have a sort through my clothes as there are some things that are now far too big and will have to go. I will be trying on a few things to see if I can get into them again. That is always motivating.
A year on I think I have turned the corner in terms of working with the band. We are all different – some find it easy to get their heads around the rules for success, for others like me it is a steep and long learning curve. For the first time I feel I can lose the excess weight I am carrying and keep it off. I am in no way complacent – if I do not make a conscious effort to eat healthily and keep active then that could change and change rapidly. I referred in one of my posts in my heavily jet lagged state to the band being a game of two halves. What I think I meant was that the first half is about getting the right restriction and then once you have that learning about the sort of foods that will help you to stay full for the longest time. Without the right restriction you will end up consuming too much. If you do not eat the sort of foods that will keep you full so you are eating three meals a day then you will end up consuming more and probably the wrong things. Carbs are a classic example. They go down far too easily and do not keep you full and you end up wanting more. For those of you who have not read them please see the posts from Neen and Mazza’s tips which are great for bandits.
I feel less conscious about my size. I do not feel that people are staring at me as they used to. I try not to pressure myself about getting the weight off and concentrate on other things in life. I have recognised that stress has played a large part in causing my health problems and that if I am going to continue to make progress that I must do something about that. Things at work are much easier, now Ming Ellen has gone and I am about to lose my useless secretary so that will help hugely.
This site has been fantastic and I would like to thank all of you who have responded to my posts and for all the support. I would also like to thank everyone from the Walsall Massiivve support group who are a great bunch.
Finally I would like to say something about the effect wls can have on your family. It was not until recently that I realised what an impact the strain of going through what I did pre op and then post op has had on Mr TB. We all go through so much during this process that it is easy to forget the impact it is also having on our nearest and dearest. Mr TB eventually admitted he was worried about the bypass and the long term effects and that he was relieved when he found out that I had been fitted with a band. We had a long talk about it when we were on holiday as he had felt unable to talk to me about it before. I realised once we started talking how much the whole process had affected him. I felt terrible and now wonder if all the anxiety has contributed to the deterioration in his condition (he has MS). This whole thing can make you become selfish in many respects.
Well that is enough from me. I have a long way to go to get down to a healthy BMI. I would love to be there by the time I hit 50 next summer but that is asking too much of myself – but it would be nice to be getting closer to it. I look forward to the challenges of the next year.
tranquil x
I promised I would write about my experience of being banded a year on – well just over a year.
I will not bore you all with the drama of the events leading up to my op and the trauma following the op – if you are really interested you can read my old posts. However having prepared myself for a bypass and waking up with a band, it took a long time to get over. I suffered some major physical problems not to mention the mental/emotional side of it. If I am truthful I only fully came to terms with things during my recent holiday – I am so glad I was not at home on my first surgiversary.
Having said that, do I have any regrets about that day – no I don’t. My health was so poor I am not sure I would have made it through another year without the surgery. It transformed my life – gave me back the chance of life. Prior to surgery I was virtually immobile – using a walking stick. I could not even walk the 10 minute journey from the tram stop to my office. Getting up and down the two flights of stairs to my flat was horrendous. I felt so awful about life.
The last year has not been easy – but having read some recent posts by a longstanding member and what he is going through I am not going to moan about my lot – I am damn lucky to be alive and have a future to look forward to. It is important to note that surgery of any kind carries risks and no matter how much you read and research, it can still throw some curved balls. Luckily my hernia – which I could have had pre op, has not been too troublesome and will be repaired once I have lost sufficient weight. Once I had had the tests done in the summer to ensure the band had not slipped, I have been slowly getting used to learning about restriction and the band.
At the start of my pre-op diet on 1 November 2010 I was 23 stone 9 ½ pounds. Ideally I would like to be around 10 stones so it is going to take a long time to get there – and I am not the fastest loser – so I am going to enjoy the scenic route
.One of the biggest changes for me has been getting into doing some physical activity again. I love my bike although it has been sometime since I have been able to get out on it. Just being able to walk has been fantastic. When I was on holiday I loved going out on walks with my dad and the dogs. One day I even jogged a little way with two of the dogs as they were pulling so much it was the only way to keep up with them. It was only for about 20 yards or so but I could never have imagined doing that 13 months ago. I swam in the sea. One thing I wish I had checked before I went and that was that my swimsuits still fitted. They were all too big and it was lucky that there were not many people on the beach on the days we went out there
. Now the weather is so cold I am going to get back into the Wii and concentrate on doing some form of exercise everyday – it really helps.The other big thing is drinking water. I have never been one for drinking much water and it is still a battle. On my holiday I was drinking loads – I was buying 5 litre bottles at a time and it really made a difference. Alas back home I have lapsed into my bad ways and it really is the one thing I have to make a conscious effort to do.
As for food – that has been a revelation for me. Since I started getting good restriction in the summer it is not possible to eat anything like the volume I used to consume – not without doing a serious injury. I have a large band 14 ml and after my small 0.5 ml fill today (9/12/11) I now have 8.5 ml in the band. My op was done on the NHS and I have had good after care – although I think a large part of that is due to what happened over my op. The fills have been spaced out and I have had 5 so far. The earlier ones were difficult as I was told that I had to do two weeks of liquid and then two weeks of mushies which were a killer but for my last fill I was told one week of each and that was so much better.
The band has meant taking a conscious decision to change what I eat radically. There is no point in going through major surgery and then to eat crap. That may seem sanctimonious but if you are given the opportunity to have wls of any kind then you ought not to waste it. I am not a saint. I have chocolate now and again and I eat the ‘wrong’ things from time to time. However I try to eat as healthily as I can. I have discovered that processed food has a terrible impact so avoid it as much as possible. I love to cook now. There are foods I will probably never eat again – bread is one. It does not matter what form it is the band does not like it. I can manage rice in small amounts. I have not had pasta since I started the pre op diet and just do not fancy it at all. Fruit is something I used to love but struggle to eat now – again the band does not like most fruits. Eggs and chicken are again things I struggle with and I have no idea why. I keep persevering with both as they are a good source of protein. I tried to eat KFC once and after two mouthfuls it came up again. I have not tried it or any other takeaway food since and do not miss it.
One thing that I have noticed with the band is that crappy stuff seems to go down quite easily whereas the good stuff can be a struggle. It must be something to do with texture or that processed food disintegrates easily once inside your mouth. I can see why it can be so easy to eat the things you should not and then end up on the slippery slope.
I made a conscious decision not to get hung up on weighing myself and have concentrated more on how clothes are fitting. The only place where I have not lost anything much is on my bust. I am going to do my measurements again over the weekend and it will be interesting to do the comparison with my pre op measurements. Over the next few weeks I am going to have a sort through my clothes as there are some things that are now far too big and will have to go. I will be trying on a few things to see if I can get into them again. That is always motivating
.A year on I think I have turned the corner in terms of working with the band. We are all different – some find it easy to get their heads around the rules for success, for others like me it is a steep and long learning curve. For the first time I feel I can lose the excess weight I am carrying and keep it off. I am in no way complacent – if I do not make a conscious effort to eat healthily and keep active then that could change and change rapidly. I referred in one of my posts in my heavily jet lagged state to the band being a game of two halves. What I think I meant was that the first half is about getting the right restriction and then once you have that learning about the sort of foods that will help you to stay full for the longest time. Without the right restriction you will end up consuming too much. If you do not eat the sort of foods that will keep you full so you are eating three meals a day then you will end up consuming more and probably the wrong things. Carbs are a classic example. They go down far too easily and do not keep you full and you end up wanting more. For those of you who have not read them please see the posts from Neen and Mazza’s tips which are great for bandits.
I feel less conscious about my size. I do not feel that people are staring at me as they used to. I try not to pressure myself about getting the weight off and concentrate on other things in life. I have recognised that stress has played a large part in causing my health problems and that if I am going to continue to make progress that I must do something about that. Things at work are much easier, now Ming Ellen has gone and I am about to lose my useless secretary so that will help hugely.
This site has been fantastic and I would like to thank all of you who have responded to my posts and for all the support. I would also like to thank everyone from the Walsall Massiivve support group who are a great bunch
.Finally I would like to say something about the effect wls can have on your family. It was not until recently that I realised what an impact the strain of going through what I did pre op and then post op has had on Mr TB. We all go through so much during this process that it is easy to forget the impact it is also having on our nearest and dearest. Mr TB eventually admitted he was worried about the bypass and the long term effects and that he was relieved when he found out that I had been fitted with a band. We had a long talk about it when we were on holiday as he had felt unable to talk to me about it before. I realised once we started talking how much the whole process had affected him. I felt terrible and now wonder if all the anxiety has contributed to the deterioration in his condition (he has MS). This whole thing can make you become selfish in many respects.
Well that is enough from me. I have a long way to go to get down to a healthy BMI. I would love to be there by the time I hit 50 next summer but that is asking too much of myself – but it would be nice to be getting closer to it
. I look forward to the challenges of the next year. tranquil x
