How It Works - LAP-BAND® Surgery is the process of placing a prosthesis known as the LAP-BAND® around the upper stomach to create a smaller stomach pouch that in turn limits the amount of food an individual can fit into their stomach. The procedure itself is minimally invasive as lap band surgeons enter the stomach region via small incisions and use surgical instruments to insert the LAP-BAND®. The main reason for having the surgery performed is so that the individual having it done will not only lose weight but keep the weight off as well. This is a new method that is recommended for those individuals who experience morbid obesity and have tried to lose the weight but have failed in their attempts to lose the weight and keep it off.
By decreasing the size of the stomach pouch, individuals will be able to eat to a certain point and then they will be full. Individuals feel full much more quickly as their stomach is a smaller size than what it was prior to the surgery. After lap band surgery, eating habits will change and individuals will follow lap band diet guidelines. In addition, the LAP-BAND® creates a small stomach outlet which significantly slows down the emptying process from the stomach into the intestines. Both of these factors act together in order to aid the individual in their weight loss goals.
*Source - http://www.aboutlapbandsurgery.info/
So, get the idea? Seems simple enough right? Not quite. This will be covered under my insurance policy because I'm "morbidly obese", (BMI 47%) even though I don't have other health issues such as high BP or elevated cholesterol.. yet. In order to get the surgery approved for surgery you must go through the following steps:
Initial consultation with surgeon: This was done on August 8, 2012 with Dr. Pham. I went with him because he is who my husband chose to do his procedure. (I forgot to mention that my husband will also be having surgery, but not lapband. We are going through this journey together, however he is not as out spoken as me so this blog is about my journey not so much his) Here we talked about the 3 available procedures, lapband, gastric sleeve, and gastric bi-pas, and the differences. They took my initial weigh in amount (260lbs) and it was a number I had never seen on a scale before . Not even 9 months pregnant did I weigh that much. I knew exactly how I had gotten there but it's still never easy to see.
Seminar: You are required to attend one seminar which I did the same day as my consultation. The seminar was let by Dr. Pham and was basically a power point version of the consultation we had. We sat in a room with other obese people and frankly it was depressing. Most people there were much larger than me, however I felt their pain. We were all so pitiful.. so fat that we were uncomfortable sitting there in the chairs, feeling stuffed from our stomach rolls. Needless to say I couldn't wait to get out of there.
Nutrition Consultation: August 14th- This was a bit of a joke. We went to the Dietitian at our local hospital who was rumored to be bulimic. She was skin and bones and looked like a skeleton, so it was hard to take anything she said seriously. She didn't say much though. She basically filled out the required paperwork and sent us on our way. She didn't talk at all about the pre or post-op diet. She had nothing to offer us.
Psych Eval: August 27th- Another necessary hoop to jump through that was pointless. The woman we went to had no personality. Bryan and I had separate appointments yet had the same response. She treated us as if we were in the principles office. We felt like we were in trouble. She asked us the questions off of the form she had and I guess we weren't crazy enough since she passed us.
5% Weight Loss: This sucked a fat one. In order to qualify for lapband you have to lose 5% of your body weight which for me was around 13lbs. I did it by September 6th. I started drinking Herbalife shakes two to three times a day and that wasn't so bad. I lost but there were a lot of social events during that time frame which made it hard. This process was a good reminder of why I was doing the surgery.
2 Week Liver Reduction Diet: September 27th I started the liquid diet. It's not easy.. I slipped up already. I'm doing the shakes again which is OK because you're really not hungry, but really it's mind over matter. When I'm curled up on the couch watching a movie I want to put food in my mouth, but instead I have to sip on water. That is the hardest part.. training your mind to not want food but need it.
So October 11th is the date things will change. They say I'll be on liquids for another 2-3 weeks after surgery which I'm not looking forward to. When they told me that I couldn't have alcohol for a year after I almost fell out of my chair. I was NOT counting on that! Also no more pop or gum.. foreva.. I guess the risk of swallowing the gum is there and would cause a major problem if it got stuck.
I'm ready to do this! Just trying to take it one day at a time and get through each hoop!
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