Well, for all those in So Cal, you know the weather is terrible outside. Pouring rain brings sadness to this bandster.
In June 2009, I began to have chest pains and complications. Dr. Feiz assumed it was due to the band being too tight. I was shocked to hear that because I felt like I was lacking in restriction. Well, my band was completely unfilled to see if that resolved it. It seemed to do the job initially, but I would still get the pains occasionally; so it was determined to be gas pains from me swallowing so much air (I never got the hang of drinking/eating without doing that. So, now it’s January 2010 and my doctor felt it was okay for me to get refilled after my endoscopy came back clean. While getting my first fill in 6 months, it caused bad pain in my chest. So, we tried to pull the fluid back out and realized my band has a leak. To verify, the doc put in 10cc and was only able to get out 6ccs. So, my band or something has gone bad and I need to go in for surgery once again to see if the band is bad. When in there, we’ll determine that we’ll either replace the band or just completely remove it.
I guess in a week or two, I’ll either be a born-again bandster, or a former bandster :-(
I really hope my band can be replace and I'm back on track like I was when I first got the band because back then I was rocking it!
TRIP TO THE CLINIC:
Today I went to have my surgery in Thousand Oaks, CA with Dr. Feiz. At first while driving, I was a little nervous because the area was quite residential. We make a turn and there's a bunch of run down offices on the side and I was thinking, "Great! This is where I'm going?" After realizing the office buildings weren't the correct address I proceeded to this super nice, new building labeled "Beverly Hill Physicians". Whew! close one.
PRE-OP:
Everything was nice, almost like a upgraded dentistry. After about 20 sheets of papers and consent forms I was admitted and brought into the locker area. I had to strip butt-naked, put on a gown, booties, and hair cover.
I then stepped into the recovery room and it was COLD! I lay on this bed and after several failed attempts to get an IV in place, they just said, "we'll just do it in the O.R.". So, I have to get up again, and move into the operating room.
They lay me on this table and strap me to it like I'm about to get tortured (I've never been under anesthesia so maybe it's necessary). They get a new person to attempt to get my IV in place. Success first try! They hook up an IV and proceeded to strap me in. They were talking to me and introducing themselves, I was joking with them and next thing I know I'm waking up in the recovery room. Whoa! I time traveled!
RECOVERY:
I wake up confused 3 hours down the line. I don't know what happened, all I feel is incredibly cold. As people walk by me, I'm trying to ask for blankets but words wont come out. Eventually someone brings me some blankets, but it doesn't help. I'm FREEZING!!! As I lay there and return to reality, my pains start sitting in. First notable pains are my chest and legs. My calves feel super sore like I had been cramped up for 3 hours, and they're still sore and I've been out for about 3 hours. I am having difficulty breathing. There is so much gas in my torso that the pains is making it hard to breathe (or do anything for that matter). I eventually start to have the stomach pains where the incisions are made. That pain in faint, but I feel it. I ask the nurse about the gassy pain and she made a remark along the lines of "you need to walk a lot for it to go away". So, I'm not insisting on letting me up so I can walk. I decide I want to sleep but there's too much commotion and nurses joking and laughing (and this one super loud nurse with an attitude and keeps doing the "mm hmm"). After 30-45 minutes of me just sitting there watching the nurses play horse-ass and me begging to get out of there, they eventually take my IV's out and monitors and let me get dressed. Thank God! Get me out of there. I need rest.
I get back to my hotel and the pain in setting in more and more. My prescription for pain relief isn't ready yet (they didn't even order it until I left). I am sooo tired I say "screw it" and sleep through the pain. When I'm sleeping, the pain isn't as bad. Once I woke up the pain wasn't as bad. However, I do need to walk around. So, I'm going to walk to the pharmacy and get my pain meds.
I just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive and I made it!
Its been an interesting journey for me. I went from getting banded and being a band rockstar losing like 70lbs in 4-5 months to losing all restriction for about 6 months and gaining 10lbs. Discovered my band had a leak due to a bad band. They replaced my band yesterday and I'm excited to get back on track. Lets see if this time around I can keep rocking the weight loss and meet my goal.
I'll post my surgery experience after I'm less drugged up.
