The wonders of medical science

It's amazing to think that I have one of these inside me! I had a prod around my tummy area this morning and think I can feel roughly where the 'port' is situated. It feels like slightly harder tissue than elsewhere - but in a general area - not like a hard lump or anything. I must say, if I'd only ever seen the picture and not actually seen and felt a complete band, I might have been a bit less enthusiastic about having the surgery because it looks rather large and intrusive. In practice, the band that I was shown is really soft and floppy - it's made of silicon so it's quite a nice texture and very flexible. The length of the tube connecting the port and the band is adjusted to suit your individual body size so that there isn't a lot of loose tube flopping about inside me!

I've just been looking back at my documentation on the surgery and I suddenly began to marvel about the wonders of medical science and the amazing things that can be done these days. I know it's very early days yet, I am only 17 days post-op, but so far I don't have any regrets at all. I'm finding the fluids and purees quite easy to cope with and just see this little man-made contraption inside me as a potential life-saver. More than that, I already feel tonnes better emotionally. My head is starting to tell me that I have an acceptable and fit body ('fit' in the old-fashioned sense!), even though the reality of that is months or even years away yet. My only worry at this stage is that I'll get impatient.

The link is to an article (hosted on the Healthier Weight web site) about the relative success of intensive weight loss programmes compared with gastric band surgery. But I think we all knew that anyway....!